EXCLUSIVE

The widow of a CBS engineer who died accidentally from hanging during an auto-erotic act is suing the network, which denied her life insurance claim.

Deborah Conradi claims in a new lawsuit, her husband Lawrence LaFave was in Tarentum, PA in June, 2016, when he was found dead in the closet of his hotel room ... the result of hanging while performing an auto-erotic act. He was found in a partial kneeling position and "hanging from a wire closet shelf in his hotel room by a scarf. He was wearing a slip, bra, women's underwear and pantyhose.

The medical examiner ruled the death as accidental ... the result of asphyxiation.

Turns out the CBS life insurance policy, written by AIG, now has a specific exclusion for auto-eroticism. AIG sent a letter to Deborah, which reads in part, "These actions, which carried the risk of death by hanging, would not constitute an unanticipated accident that resulted in his death, as required by our policy. Rather, they would indicate death resulted in whole or in part from ... a natural and probable consequence of intentionally self-inflicted injury, specifically excluded under this policy."

Deborah clearly begs to differ, insisting her husband's death was accidental.