Cesar Mercado, the Nicaraguan diplomat found with his throat slashed in his Bronx apartment, may have killed himself because a recent HIV diagnosis. While cops were originally suspecting murder, they now think Mercado's injuries were self-inflicted.

34-year-old Mercado's body was discovered Thursday when his driver came to pick him up for the UN's General Assembly. Police say that a number of "pinprick-size punctures" on his throat seem like the sort of test pricks someone would try before doing the deed. Mercado had recently learned he was HIV positive, and an investigator told the Daily News "He was really feeling down and out for the last week" because of the news.

One other strange detail: Police found human hairs in Mercado's hands—10 in his right, five in his left.