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Celebrity
Autopsy Reports
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Belushi, John:
(January
24, 1949 - March 5, 1982)
John Belushi was a prominent actor
and comedian who overdosed on a
combination of cocaine and heroin.
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Benoit,
Chris:
( May 21, 1967 - June 24, 2007)
Chris Benoit was a
former professional wrestler who wrestled with several
organizations including the World Wrestling Entertainment,
Extreme Championship Wrestling, and New Japan Pro Wrestling. On
June 25, 2007, Chris was found dead as a result of suicide by
hanging. Also found dead were his wife, Nancy; and their son
Daniel. His wife was bound before being killed; and his son was
found dead after being strangled. It was determined that Chris
killed both his wife and son in the days before his suicide. His
toxicology report listed therapeutic amounts of hydrocodone and
alprazolam (Xanax) in his system.
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Breitbart,
Andrew:
(February 1,
1969 – March 1, 2012)
Breitbart was a
publisher; and commentator for The
Washington Times, who died of heart failure.
On March 1, 2012,
Breitbart died at the age of 43 at the UCLA Medical Center after
he collapsed while walking in Brentwood, California. An
autopsy revealed that he had
cardiomegaly
and died of heart failure. The toxicology report showed "no
prescription or illicit drugs were detected." Blood
alcohol was .04%. No significant trauma was present and foul
play is not suspected." He had suffered an apparent heart attack
months before his death.
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Bryant, Kobe:
(August 23, 1978 - January 26, 2020)
Review the autopsy report of NBA basketball All-star,
Kobe Bryant.
On Sunday, January 26, 2020, a
Sikorsky S-76B helicopter crashed in the city of Calabasas,
California, around 30 miles northwest of Los Angeles, while in
route from John Wayne Airport to Camarillo Airport. Nine people
were on board the helicopter including, retired
professional basketball player Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna;
baseball coach John Altobelli; his wife, Keri; their daughter,
Alyssa; Sarah Chester, her daughter, Payton; Christina Mauser;
and pilot, Ara Zobayan; were killed on impact. The
autopsy reports for all other individual have been posted externally
by various readers
here
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Carpenter,
Karen:
(March 2, 1950 - February 4, 1983)
Karen Carpenter was a young and
talented singer and songwriter who
along with her brother, Richard,
formed the musical duo The
Carpenters. In April 1969,
The Carpenters signed their first
recording contract and throughout
the course of the 1970's, the duo
had several # 1 and # 2 hits
including, "(They Long to Be) Close
to You," and "We've Only Just
Begun." Unfortunately, during the
same time Karen battled dieting
problem and anorexia nervosa, which
is an eating disorder characterized
by extremely low body weight,
distorted body image and the fear of
gaining weight. Although Karen spent
years in therapy and was in and out
of hospitals getting treated for the
disorder as well and the physical
problems associated with it, Karen
health eventually deteriorated. On
February 4, 1983, Karen passed away
at her parents' home. The causes of
death was
listed as "heartbeat
irregularities brought on by
chemical imbalances associated with
anorexia nervosa."
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Carter, Aaron:
(December 7, 1987 - November 5,
2022)
Carter became a teen sensation in
the 1990's He released his
self-titled debut album in 1997 at
age nine, selling a million copies
worldwide. His second album
Aaron's Party, sold three
million copies in the United States.
Carter began making guest
appearances on Nickelodeon and
touring with the Backstreet Boys
shortly after the record's release.
Carter's next album, Oh Aaron,
also went platinum, and in 2002 he
released what would be his last
studio album in over 15 years,
Another Earthquake! On
November 5, 2022, Carter died at his
California home at age 34. His body
was found in his bathtub by a
housekeeper. An autopsy was
performed and revealed that Aaron
caused of death was drowning
secondary to effects of
difluoroethane and alprazolam.
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Chasen,
Ronni:
(October 17,
1946 - November 16, 2010) Chasen was an American publicist who was
noted for her Academy Award pubic relations work on films
including Driving Miss Daisy and The
Hurt Locker; and other PR work on films including
On Golden Pond, Wall Street, and
Wall Street 2. She represented many
actors including Michael Douglas. On November 16, 2010,
Chasen was heading home from the Hollywood premiere for the
movie, Burlesque, when she was shot
while in her car. Chasen was shot through the passenger
side window while stopped at a red light at the intersection of
Sunset Boulevard and Whittier Drive. She sustained multiple
gunshot wounds to the chest and back. She made a left turn and
drove 1/4 mile before colliding with a light pole. She was taken
to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center where surgical interventions were
unsuccessful and she was pronounced dead at 0112 AM PST. It was
suspected at the time of her death another vehicle was involved
pulling up along side of Chasen's car. However, a tip lead
police to investigate man by the name of Harold Martin Smith who
was suspected as being involved in Chasen's death. Smith
was being approached about the incident and committed suicide.
Police concluded that Chasen's death was the result of an
attempted robbery gone violent. It is noted that the
bullets from the gun Smith used to commit suicide had similar
ballistic properties from the bullets that killed Chasen.
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Cobain, Kurt:
(February 20, 1967 - April 5, 1994)
On April 8, 1994, Cobain's body was
discovered at his Lake Washington
Boulevard home by an electrician. A
suicide note was found, addressed to
Cobain's childhood imaginary friend
Boddah, that stated that Cobain had not
"felt the excitement of listening to as
well as creating music, along with
really writing ... for too many years
now". Cobain's body had been there for
days; the coroner's report estimated he
died on April 5, 1994, at the age of 27.
The official cause of death was a
"contact perforating gun shot wound to
the head." Manner of death was stated as
suicide. There has been a lot of
fascination and controversy surrounding
the circumstances of his death in his
fan base. Cobain was cremated and his
ashes into McLane Creek in Olympia,
Washington.
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Colvin,
Douglas:
(September 18, 1951 - June 5, 2002)
Douglas Colvin is best known as Dee
Dee Ramones, musician and
songwriter, bassist and founding
member of the band, The Ramones.
On the evening of June 5, 2002,
Dee
Dee Ramone was found dead by his
wife Barbara at his Hollywood,
California apartment.
His cause of death is listed as an
"acute morphine (heroin)
intoxication." He is buried at the
Hollywood Forever Cemetery in
Hollywood, California.
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Duerson, David:
(November 30,
1960 - February 17, 2011)
David Duerson is a former National Football League safety who
played with several teams including the Chicago Bears, New York
Giants, and Phoenix Cardinals from 1983 until his retirement in
1993. On February 17, 2011, Mr. Duerson died as a result of a
self-inflicted gunshot to his chest.
His last wish was that his brain be
donated to the Boston University
School of Medicine so that it could
be studied for chronic traumatic
encephalopathy.
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Earnhardt, Sr,
Dale:
(April, 29, 1951 - February 18,
2001)
Dale Earnhardt, Sr. was an
outstanding race car driver who
spent most of his career driving on
the NASCAR circuit. Dale Earnhardt
was known as "The Intimidator," for
his aggressive style of driving.
He was tragically killed after
crashing into the wall on Turn 3 of
the last lap of the 2001 Daytona
500.
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Fatu, Edward:
(March 28, 1973 - December 4, 2009)
Edward Fatu,
also known as Umaga, was a
professional wrestler with World
Wrestling Entertainment, where he
was a two-time Intercontinental
Champion. Umaga started his
wrestling career with the WWE in
2002 where he was known as Jamal at
that time. After a few years with
the WWE, Umaga left and wrestled in
Japan. In 2005, he returned to the
WWE. His personal and professional
life was scarred with rumors that he
obtained drugs, specifically, the
human growth,
somatropin,
through the Internet. In 2009, he
was released from his contract from
World Wrestling Entertainment after
it was said he violated the WWE 's
"no drugs from online sources" rule
and would not seek rehabilitation
for his problem. On December 4,
2009, he was found unresponsive and
bleeding from his nose. He was
transported to Houston Northwest
Medical Center and was pronounced
dead after suffering a second heart
attack. His death was attributed to
"acute toxicity from the combined
effects of hydrocodone, carisoprodol,
and diazepam."
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Flynn, Errol:
(June 20, 1909 - October 14, 1959)
Flynn was an Australian-born
American actor who was best
known for portraying Robin Hood in
The Adventures of Robin Hood;
Santa Fe Trial;
San Antonio; Dodge
City; Captain Blood;
and The Charge of the Light
Brigade . On October 14,
1959, Flynn was en-route to the
Vancouver airport for a trip when he
started to have back and leg pain.
He was taken to the residence of a
physician, Dr. Grant Gould, where
the physician gave Flynn an
intravenous dose of Demerol (a
powerful opioid) for his pain. Flynn
felt much better and after a rest,
the physician went to check on him
and found him unresponsive. Despite
resuscitation efforts, Flynn passed
away at Vancouver General Hospital.
The autopsy report listed his manner
of death as natural causes due to
myocardial infarction secondary to
coronary thrombosis and coronary
atherosclerosis.
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Foster, Vincent:
(January 15, 1945 - July 20, 1993)
Vince Foster was the Deputy White
House Counsel during the first term
of Bill Clinton's presidency. His
death was none the less
controversial as he was found with a
gun in his hand and a gunshot wound
through the mouth. His death was
ruled a suicide.
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Gibb, Maurice:
(December 22, 1949 - January 11,
2003)
Maurice Gibb was an
outstanding musician, singer, and
songwriter, who was part of the
music group, the Bee Gees, along
with his brothers Robin and Barry
Gibb. The group also had a
younger brother, Andy, who died in
March 1988, of myocarditis or
inflammation of the heart muscle
most likely contributed from
extensive drug and alcohol use.
Maurice Gibb died in Miami, Florida,
as the complication of result of a
ischemic small intestine, due to a
volvulus or twisting of the
intestine. He was cremated after his
death.
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Grimmie,
Chrisitina:
(March 12, 1994
- June 10, 2016)
Christina Grimmie was an American singer and songwriter.
On
June 10, 2016, she was fatally shot and murdered at The Plaza Live in Orlando,
Florida during an after show autograph session. Grimmie first made popularly
with her self-made YouTube videos covering songs by many popular artists. In
2014, Grimmie participated in Session 6 of "The Voice" and came in third
place. She is known for her debut album,
With Love. Posthumously,
Grimmie's family released her other album,
All is Vanity. Grimmie
is buried in Berline Cemetary in Berlin, New Jersey.
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Halladay,
Roy:
(May 14, 1977 - November 7, 2017)
Halladay
was played for
the Toronto Blue Jays and
Philadelphia Phillies between 1998
and 2013. His nickname, "Doc",
and was a reference to Wild West
gunslinger Doc Holliday. An
eight-time All-Star, Halladay was
one of the most dominant pitchers of
his era. Known for his
outstanding durability, he led the
league in complete games seven
times, the most of any pitcher whose
career began after 1945.
On
November 7, 2017, Halladay died when
his airplane he was piloting crash
in the Gulf of Mexico.
Pinellas-Pasco Medical Examiner's
Office released in January 2018
revealed that Halladay's blood
contained morphine, hydromorphone,
amphetamine, fluoxetine (an
antidepressant), baclofen (a muscle
relaxant), and zolpidem (a sleep aid
sold under the brand name Ambien).On
April 15, 2020, the National
Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)
released a report stating that in
addition to the drugs, Halladay was
executing aerobatics including steep
climbs and turns, and the plane
sometimes came within 5 feet (1.5 m)
of the water before a final climb
caused its speed to fall to 85 mph
(137 km/h), after which it nosedived
into the sea and Halladay was killed
by "blunt force trauma and
drowning."
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Hastings,
Michael: (January
28, 1980 - June 18, 2013)
Hastings was an
American journalist and author and contributing editor
to Rolling Stone magazine and reporter for
BuzzFeed
website. Hastings was noted for his profile in Rolling Stone
about General
Stanley McChrystal, commander of NATO's International Security
Assistance Force in the Afghanistan war. The article documented
the widespread contempt for civilian officials in the US
government by the general and his staff resulting in
McChrystal's resignation. In the early hours on June 18,
2013, Hastings died in a single-vehicle automobile crash in his
Mercedes C250 Coupé. His autopsy report lists his cause of death
as "traumatic injuries due to massive blunt-force trauma"
consistent with a high-speed impact. His toxicology report was
positive for marijuana and amphetamines.
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Holley,
Charles: (September
7, 1936 - February 3, 1959)
Charles Holley, known to his
fans as Buddy Holly, was a talented
rock and roll star. Buddy Holly
joined Ritchie
Valens, The Big Bopper, and Dion and
the Belmonts for the "Winter Party
Party." On the morning of February
3, 1959 around 1 AM, Buddy Holly,
along with Ritchie Valens, and J.P.
Richardson perished in an airplane crash
as it was taking off from the Mason
City, Iowa airport. Buddy Holly is buried in the
City
of Lubbock Cemetery in Lubbock,
Texas. A formal autopsy was not done
at the time; however, the cause of
his death is listed as massive head
as the result of the plane crash.
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Hulette, Elizabeth Ann:
(November 19, 1960
- May 1, 2003)
Elizabeth Ann Hulette is best known as Miss Elizabeth
in the wrestling industry. She was the former wrestling manager
of Randy "Macho Man" Savage, and was the girlfriend of Lex Luger
at the time of her death. Her cause of death is listed as an
accidental overdose resulting from "acute toxicity of alcohol
and multiple drugs."
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Iron, Andy:
(July 24, 1978 - November 2, 2010)
Andy Irons was a
professional surfer who has won several surfing titles including
three world titles, three Quicksilver Pro France titles, two Rip
Curl Pro Search titles, and other titles including the Vans
Triple Crown of surfing four times. Andy learned to surf the
dangerous and shallow reefs of the North Shore in Kauai, Hawaii.
Andy was to perform in an event in Puerto Rico before backing
out of the event after becoming ill. He was flying home and made
a layoff in Dallas, Texas after missing his connecting flight to
Hawaii. Andy was found unresponsive in his hotel room the next
day. The official cause of death is listed as "sudden cardiac
death associated with coronary artery disease" with a secondary
cause listed as "acute mixed drug ingestion" from
a mixture of drugs
including alprazolam,
methadone, benzoylecgonine
(a metabolite of cocaine) and traces of methamphetamine as the
drugs found in Andy`s body at the times of his death.
Also, review the
official police report filed after the investigation of his
death.
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Jackson, "Jeep" Hernell:
(March 13, 1964 - May 3, 1987)
Hernell was the first team all-Western Athletic
Conference basketball player who played four season at the
University of Texas El-Paso with the Miners from 1983 to 1986.
Jackson was participating in a charity basketball game at
Fort Bliss Logan Heights Fitness Center with two other ex-Miners
and four members of the NFL’s Houston Oilers, when he collapsed
while sitting on the bench. He was taken to Beaumont Medical
Center and was pronounced dead after unsuccessful attempts to
revive him. The official cause of death is listed as "cardiac
arrest due to arrhythmia" caused by an anomaly of his coronary
artery.
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Jones, Anissa:
(March 11, 1958 - August 28, 1976)
Anissa Jones starred as
Buffy in the 1960 -1970's CBS sitcom Family Affair.
She also starred in an Elvis Presley comedy film, The
Trouble with Girls. Jones career was cut short as she
started to take drugs. On August 28, 1976, Jones was dead
in a bedroom of her friends. The coroner's report stated that
she died from a combined drug intoxication consisting of
barbiturates (Seconal), phencyclidine (PCP), cocaine, and
methaqualone (Quaaludes). The coroner had stated at the time
that Jones died of one of the most severe drug overdoses he had
ever seen.
Thank you for one
of our faithfully website viewers, Steve Smith, for providing
Anissa's autopsy report! Thanks, Steve!
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Joplin,
Janis: (January 19, 1943 -
October 4, 1970) Janis
Joplin was a
prominent singer and songwriter in the 1960's and lead singer of
the band, Big
Brother and the Holding Company. She also ventured as a solo
artist and performed at Woodstock. Janis was found dead
at the Landmark Motor Hotel, now known as the Highland Gardens
Hotel. Her death was the result of acute heroin-morphine
intoxication by injection. Janis is part of the "The
27 Club,” with other rock legends who also died at the age of
27, including Rolling Stone Brian Jones, and rockers Jimi
Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Amy Winhouse, and Kurt Cobain
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Mays, Billy: (July
20, 1958 - June 28, 2009)
Billy Mays
was a notable advertising
salesperson who was notable for his
appearances in infomericals
promoting products such as OxiClean
and Orange
Glo cleaning products. He also
appeared in the Discovery Channels
new TV series, Pitchmen. Billy Mays was born in McKees Rocks,
Pennsylvania not far from the home
of
Autopsyfiles.org.
On the morning of June 28, Mays was
found unresponsive by his wife in
his Tampa, Florida home. Ironically,
the evening before his death, Billy
Mays was aboard a plane that had a
difficult landing, causing items in
the overhead compartments to hit him
in the head. After the landing, he
was interviewed and said to have no
ill-effects from the landing.
An autopsy revealed that he suffered
from hypertensive heart disease and
that he most likely suffered heart
attack. He is buried in the
Beth
Hamedrash Hagodal Cemetery located
in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania.
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McCormick,
Malcom:
(January 19, 1992 - September 7,
2018)
James McCormick also known as Mac
Miller was an outstanding rapper and
record producer who
released his breakthrough
mixtapes
K.I.D.S.
and
Best Day Ever.
Miller's debut studio album,
Blue Slide
Park,
became the first independently
distributed debut album to top the
US
Billboard
200
since 1995. On September 7, 2018,
Miller was found unresponsive in his
home by his personal assistant.
On
November 5, 2018, the Los Angeles
County Coroner's office determined
that Miller died from an accidental
drug overdose due to a "mixed drug
toxicity" of
fentanyl,
cocaine, and
alcohol.
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Miller, Billy
:
(September 17, 1979 - September 15,
2023)
Miller was an American actor who was
known for his soap opera roles
including his award-winning work as
Billy Abbott
on
The Young and the Restless
and his dual portrayals of Jason
Morgan and Drew Cain on
General Hospital.
Miller struggled with bipolar
depression. On September 15, 2023,
Miller took his own life. The
autopsy report stated Miller's cause
of death was suicide resulting
from "gunshot wound of head".
Toxicology reports found the
presence of "ethanol, cocaine, and
its metabolites, diphenhydramine,
and amphetamine" in his system.
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