Two Mississippi men were found dead, hanging from trees. What we know about both cases

[Jedi Guy]

10. Choking someone to death or even to unconsciousness leaves visible marks on the neck.

Even if he was asleep when someone began choking him he'd have awoken and struggled, most probably clawing at his attacker's hands. Unless his attacker(s) thought to clean beneath his fingernails before hanging him, the medical examiner would have found blood or tissue beneath his fingernails and concluded that he fought back. Strangulation also leaves visible signs beyond marks on the neck in most cases such as burst blood vessels.

I suppose it's possible they may have pressed a pillow against his face but even then, he'd have almost certainly grabbed at his attacker's hands in an attempt to get them off of him, ending up with blood and tissue beneath his fingernails from the struggle. Smothering with a soft object is more subtle than manual strangulation but still leaves signs that an alert medical examiner can detect.

And now that I've googled "does smothering with a pillow leave marks" I'm probably on some kind of watchlist, so hooray for me, I guess.