Is death from strangulation very painful?

Is it worse than drowning? In particular, this bizarre method of strangulation which actually happened in my town a couple of months ago; A 17 year old male was found strangled in his car. The pathologist determined from the bruising that he was strangulated between ''a set of thighs'' (so the bruising must have been bad if it showed up so early and extensive enough for a coroner to determine how he was strangled). He was last seen at a restaurant with 3 people who a witness said ''looked like they were from the local chess club''. He was found dead (and alone) in his car early the next morning.
I got upset after reading about him, I'm hoping his death was quick.