Barry Walsh suffered five broken ribs and a ruptured spleen after his girlfriend's Staffordshire bull terrier launched a frenzied attack in January this year.
A post mortem examination gave the cause of death as blunt trauma to the chest which ruptured the victim's spleen, and revealed it could have been caused from him falling on furniture.
The attack happened after Mr Walsh had a row with his girlfriend Purdey Clarke.
Miss Clarke, 36, told the inquest at Chelmsford Coroners' Court that she walked out after the row and returned two days later to find her boyfriend dead.
She told the court she had left Mr Walsh and her dog, Gypsy, alone in the flat after the couple had a row on January 7 this year. However, she had initially told police she had been away from Mr Walsh's flat for only half an hour, but at the inquest she admitted she had been away for two days.
She said: "He slapped me round the face and my dog bit him. She was scared and she attacked him. He held her up by her two front legs and was going to go like this (pull them apart) and I had to take Gypsy out of his house to mine, because he would have done it."
She added: "I left and Gypsy didn't come out with me - it was very unusual for her not to come out with me."
She told the inquest she came back two days later to find Mr Clarke dead on a mattress, however Det Supt Lucy Morris told the court Miss Clarke had never given a "coherent account" of the incident.
The dog was "running riot" when police arrived, she added, and because it had a history of violence, Miss Clarke signed over ownership to the police for it to be put down.
Consultant forensic pathologist Benjamin Swift told the court the blunt force which ruptured Mr Walsh's spleen could have been caused by him falling on furniture, but said that could not be certain.
At the time of the attack, neighbours said the dog, which has now been destroyed, was "highly protective and edgy".
One said it was a "very protective" animal that made him feel uncomfortable.
Billy Morgan, 53, who lived in the flat above Mr Walsh, said he had shared a drink with him and his partner at their flat to celebrate his birthday - where he also met the brown Staffordshire bull terrier.
He said: "His partner told me it was very protective of her and they were always telling it 'move,' 'shut up' and 'sit there' while I was there having a beer. When I got my arm out to say 'Can I borrow that?' the dog looked up. If you made a move, it would look at you or growl at you, it made me feel really uncomfortable.
"I don't know whether it attacked him because they were arguing- I have heard them talking loudly before but never shouting or rowing."
Mr Corner Caroline Beasley-Murray said there were "bits of the jigsaw missing" in the evidence and, as Mr Walsh and the dog were the only ones in the room at the time, she had no choice but to record an open verdict. She said: "We will never, ever, know or ever be entirely clear what happened.
"He was clearly much loved and it's good to see all of his family members here at the inquest. I hope you will be able to look back on the happy memories you have of him."
(Mirror UK - Oct 28, 2014)
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