A veteran CBS engineer died by accidentally hanging himself as he performed an 'auto-erotic' act in a hotel closet while dressed in women's underwear, it has been revealed.

Lawrence LaFave died in his hotel room at a hotel in Tarentum, Pennsylvania, in June 2016 after accidentally strangling himself.

He was discovered kneeling on the ground and was dressed in a women's slip, pantyhose, panties and a bra.

The 65-year-old father was a revered member of the CBS team who facilitated the broadcast of the Superbowl and Thursday Night Football games during his career.

The cause of his death was revealed this week when his widow Deborah Conradi filed a lawsuit against the network which has refused to pay out his life insurance because of the nature of his death.

Lawrence 'Larry' LaFave, 65, died in June last year as the result of accidental asphyxiation when a scarf he had around his neck while performing an auto-erotic act strangled him. His wife Deborah Conradi is now suing AIG and CBS for his life insurance benefits

In court documents obtained by TMZ, Conradi's attorneys revealed how her husband was found 'hanging from a wire closet shelf in his hotel room by a scarf.'

The medical examiner who carried out his autopsy ruled his death an accident by asphyxiation.

Because of the nature of the accident, however, AIG, the insurance company which wrote his contract, is refusing to pay out.

Conradi claims in her lawsuit that they told her her husband was putting himself at risk by performing the sexual act.

In a letter she cited in her lawsuit, she claims they said: '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 who or in part from ... a natural and probably consequence of intentionally self-inflicted injury, specifically excluded under this policy.'

Ms Conradi claims AIG refused to pay her the money because they believe her husband put himself at risk by performing the erotic act

It is not clear how much the original life insurance policy would have paid her.

However she is now asking for $1.4million in benefits and damages and wants CBS to foot some of the bill.

Representatives from neither the network nor the insurance company responded to DailyMail.com's requests on Saturday.

Ms Conradi and LaFave had one son together.

He was popular among colleagues and his memorial service was even live streamed by the network last June.