Edward Archbold, bug and worm-eating contest winner dies from choking, according to medical reports

A West Palm Beach man who died after winning a bug and worm-eating contest at a Deerfield Beach reptile shop on Oct. 6 died as a result of choking, the Broward County Medical Examiner's Office said Monday.

Edward Archbold, 32, a canvas worker, retched violently and collapsed outside the Ben Siegel Reptile Store during a contest in which he ate cockroaches to win an expensive ivory ball python for a friend. The medical examiner ruled the death accidental, finding that Archbold died of asphyxia "due to choking and aspiration of gastric contents."

The autopsy's toxicology tests didn't reveal any lethal substances in Archbold's system. The insects obstructed his airways, the medical examiner said, causing him to suffocate.