Jock Zonfrillo’s cause of death explained: What we know so far and what police mean when they say they say a death is ‘not treated as suspicious’
When Victoria Police confirmed the death of MasterChef Australia Jock Zonfrillo, they issued a statement saying his death was ‘not being treated as suspicious’.
This phrase is often used by police media agents when a famous person has passed away – but what exactly does it mean? And does it suggest a certain cause of death?
With details of Zonfrillo’s death not yet available, the statement that his death was “not suspicious” has sparked public speculation.
In the simplest terms, when a death is not considered suspicious, it means no one else was involved.
This could mean that the person died by accident, natural death or suicide.
When Victoria Police confirmed the death of MasterChef Australia Jock Zonfrillo, they issued a statement saying his death was ‘not being treated as suspicious’. This phrase is often used by police media agents when a famous person has passed away – but what exactly does it mean?
With details of Zonfrillo’s death not yet available, the statement that his death was “not suspicious” has sparked public speculation. In the simplest terms, when a death is not considered suspicious, it means no one else was involved. (Pictured: Zonfrillo with his MasterChef co-hosts Andy Allen, left, and Melissa Leong, center, on Oct. 11, 2019)
When the police say that a death is ‘not being treated as suspicious’, it means they are confident beyond a shadow of a doubt that no crime could have occurred.
In contrast, a death is considered suspicious when the circumstance or cause is medically or legally unexplained or insufficiently explained.
Zonfrillo, who was appointed MasterChef judge in late 2019, was found dead by police at Zagame’s House hotel in Melbourne at about 2 a.m. Monday.
Zonfrillo, who was appointed a MasterChef judge in late 2019, was found dead by police at Zagame’s House hotel in Melbourne around 2 a.m. on Monday.
A Victoria Police spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia: ‘Police went to an address on Lygon Street for a welfare check and found a dead man at around 2am on 1 May.
“The death of the 46-year-old man is not considered suspicious.”
A report is being prepared for the coroner.
Zonfrillo is survived by his third wife, Lauren Fried, and his four children: teenage daughters Ava and Sophia, from his first two marriages, and six-year-old Alfie and two-year-old Isla, with Fried.
Zonfrillo is survived by his third wife, Lauren Fried, and his four children: teenage daughters Ava and Sophia, from his first two marriages, and six-year-old Alfie and two-year-old Isla, with Fried. (Zonfrillo, Fried, and their two children are seen here in a recent family photo)
“With hearts completely shattered and with no way of knowing how to go through life without him, we are devastated to share that Jock passed away yesterday,” his family said.
The hotel where he died is meters away from his former downtown home in Carlton.
He and his family had moved out of the four-bedroom mansion three weeks earlier to start a new life in Rome.
Their old home went back on the rental market in April at $3,000 a week.
Before he died, Zonfrillo had come back to Australia to promote the fifteenth season of MasterChef, which was set to premiere Monday night at 7:30pm but has since been postponed.
His wife and children were left behind in Rome and expected Zonfrillo to rejoin them once he completed his publicity duties for Channel Ten this week.