THE death of a nurse in South America nine years ago has been described as suspicious with murder not being ruled out at her inquest.

East Sussex Coroner Alan Craze found it was possible that Laura Hill had been murdered by someone giving her an overdose before she was found dead in an apartment in Buenos Aires in October 2007 with a toxic amount of cocaine in her system.

But he said there was insufficient evidence to support a verdict of unlawful killing "even on a balance of probabilities".  Convicted drug smuggler Leslie Philip Graham gave evidence to the inquest in Eastbourne by video link from prison in Preston.

He said when he left the flat which he and Laura had been living in at 7am on the morning of her death that she had been alive and well.  On a previous day fellow gang member Jason Bowley had told the court Laura had been in fear for her life while in Argentina.  But in delivering his verdict, Mr Craze said: "I simply don't believe a word of the evidence that either of the two criminals have given."

He added that members of the drugs gang with which Laura had become involved "probably do know what happened" but that their evidence could not be relied upon.

Her cause of death was found to be acute cocaine intoxication.

But the coroner said he did not believe that Laura Hill had a drug addiction which had led to her death.  And he said he believed that the Argentinian police had been bribed, saying: “it would account for the quite obvious enquiries that any competent adult police officer should have made and which were not made.”

He promised the family that he would write to the Attorney General personally if in future evidence comes to light which would allow a re-examination of the case.  The coroner gave a narrative verdict, concluding that the dental nurse from Eastbourne met an "unexplained suspicious death in Argentina".

He paid tribute to the composure and dignity of the 25-year-old's family and thanked Sussex Police officers Detective Chief Inspector Trevor Bowles, and Laura Karen who acted as the family's liaison officer, for going "way beyond the call of duty" to help his investigation.  After the inquest Kevin Hill, Laura's father, said: "The verdict says everything and it says nothing."

He added: “We definitely believe it wasn’t an accident.”

Laura's mother Alison said: "It could have been worse. He was understanding to the fact that he believes that it's probable that her death was suspicious."

“She was with some bad people, some nasty people and she was out of her depth, and I think that’s come across quite clearly.”