A self-portrait of Eva Rausing from her MySpace page.  An inquest into the mysterious death of Eva Rausing was held on Friday morning, four days after the 48-year-old socialite’s body was found in her family’s London mansion.  The troubled heiress’ husband Hans Kristian Rausing, scion of a $10 billion Swedish packaging fortune, wasn’t at Westminster Coroner’s Court for the hearing. He remains in hospital, where he is undergoing treatment for alcohol withdrawal.  Rausing was arrested on suspicion of drug possession on Monday when he was spotted driving erratically in South London’s Wandsworth, a crime-ridden area a world away from the couple’s five-story mansion in pricey Cadogan Place. After finding narcotics in his car, police searched the couple’s $110 million home and found Eva’s body. Rausing was arrested in connection with her death.  The Metropolitan Police have yet to establish a cause of death, according to the officer who outlined the case for the coroner’s court at Friday’s inquest. Detective Inspector Sharon Marman described the hearing as a formality at such an early stage in the case. “We are satisfied that the body is who we think it is,” Det. Insp. Marman told Forbes.  The inquest has been adjourned until October, in part because of the upcoming Olympics and in part “because of the nature of the investigation”, which cannot continue in earnest until Rausing is out of hospital and physically well enough to cooperate. “At some point, we will question him,” Det. Insp. Marman said.  Rausing already has some high-powered legal support on his side. A clerk for barrister Neil Saunders QC confirmed he’d be representing the billionaire heir in court. He’ll be joined by solicitors from London firm Hickman & Rose, who were not willing to comment on the case on Friday.  Since news of the bizarre death broke on Tuesday, UK newspapers have speculated that Eva may have succumbed to a drug overdose. The couple has a long and well-publicized history of drug abuse, and indeed first met at a rehab facility in the 1980s.  They narrowly avoided prosecution on charges of crack cocaine and heroin possession in 2008, when they were caught trying to smuggle drugs into a party at the U.S. Embassy in London.  A larger stash of crack, heroin and cocaine was then found in a search of their Chelsea home. In an unusual arrangement, police decided not to prosecute after the couple agreed to drug counseling.  Detectives have not yet confirmed how long Eva Rausing was dead before Police discovered her body, but it has been suggested that her husband lived alongside her corpse for days during a drug and alcohol binge. The couple had reportedly been living in self-imposed isolation for some time, rarely speaking to friends or neighbors.  Eva Rausing, herself a generous patron of drug abuse charities, left one indelible record of her battle with addiction: her MySpace page, last updated six years ago. In a section labeled ‘About Me’, she wrote of her troubles in thinly veiled terms, describing years lost to drug abuse.  “I fell back into the same hole as before and have been there for nearly 7 years,” reads the MySpace entry. “I once read that I would have 7 bad years (I don’t normally believe in hocus pocus horoscopes) but so far it has been right, and I’m hoping for 7 good years starting 2007. I’m still married, amazingly, to a very kind, patient and loyal husband. I’m very lucky that he has stuck with me – many would have not.”  Drug Addict Billionaire Packaging Heir Arrested As Socialite Wife Found Dead  Profligate Son: A Billionaire Scion’s Sex Crime Allegations Rock A Company Town  The Mystery Monk Making Billions With 5-Hour Energy  Billionaire Baby Daddy Drama: Linda Evangelista Takes Salma Hayek’s Husband To Court  Follow me on Twitter and Facebook.
Hans Kristian Rausing wasn't at the coroner's court in London this morning for his late wife Eva's inquest, which was inconclusive. He remains in hospital undergoing treatment for alcohol withdrawal. He's under arrest, but police don't suspect homicide. A sad, mysterious case deepens.