Strangulation Death Was Consensual Sex, Suspect Says

Update: A charge of manslaughter in the death of Jennifer Zale was upgraded to second degree murder Wednesday. St. Petersburg homicide detectives said they changed the manslaughter charge, after an autopsy revealed additional injuries to the victim's body "consistent with intentional homicidal violence."

ORIGINAL POST:

Scott Alexander Greenberg does not deny that Jennifer Lee Zale died after he "put his hands around her neck and squeezed," St. Pete Police said.

But, he claims, her death was an accident – the result of "sexual asphyxia " – when the two were engaged in sexual intercourse, according to police.

On Tuesday, Greenberg was charged with one count of manslaughter in the death of the 26-year-old Jennifer Lee Zale.

Zale's body was found Tuesday morning in Room 114 at the Kenwood Inn Hotel in St. Petersburg, when Greenberg called police. He had waited eight hours to call 911, police said.

Here is the account that police provided of Zale's death:

Greenberg and Zale returned to their hotel room early Tuesday morning after a night out. The couple had lived at the hotel, at 451 34th St. North, for the past two weeks.

Greenberg told police that the two engaged in sexual intercourse, during which he strangled her in a consensual act of "sexual asphyxia."

Greenberg claimed that Zale was a willing participant. He said that at some point his girlfriend lost consciousness and he could not awaken her.

Panicking, Greenberg said he waited eight hours to call 911 because he was unsure what to do.

Greenberg insisted that he had no intention of killing Zale and that act was
strictly consensual, police said.

Detectives will be awaiting additional information from the Medical Examiner's
autopsy before any final determination is made on any possible additional
charges.