How did Morrision really die?
A new question is raised about the death of Jim Morrison, frontman for The Doors. Did he die from a heart attack while in his bathtub, or did he die of a drug overdose in a bathroom stall in a bar?
We all know the first version, but now a Paris nightclub manager is telling a different story. In a new book, Sam Bernett says Morrison died in a toilet stall of his club after a heroin overdose. He writes about the details in his new book, “The End: Jim Morrison.” In it, he says of the singer, “…The beautiful California boy, had become an inert lump crumbled in the toilet of a nightclub.” He goes on to say that two drug dealers brought his body back to his apartment.
He offers details of that fateful night of July 3, 1971. He said Morrison was at the club with two men, who were drug dealers who sold him heroin. They later found Morrison in a toilet stall unresponsive. A club customer happened to be a doctor, so he examined him. The doctor said Morrison was dead, and that he had a little foam on his nose and blood, too. He concluded it was probably a heroin overdose.
The two drug dealers insisted he was just unconscious, and carried him out of the club. Bernett said he wanted to call the paramedics, but the club owners ordered him to keep quiet to avoid a scandal. Bernett believes the drug dealers put Morrison in the bathtub in an attempt to revive him. Morrison’s girlfriend, Pam Courson, gave a different version. She said they went to the movies, went out to eat dinner, listened to records, and fell asleep. She also told police that Morrison woke up in the night feeling sick, and took a hot bath. Courson found him dead in the tub. Morrison was buried in Paris, and no autopsy was performed.
Even though rumors have long suggested that Morrison died of an overdose, and that he had fallen ill at the nightclub, witnesses did not come forward.
Stephen Davis, author of “Jim Morrison: Life, Death, Legend,” said he’s not going to rewrite history because of the new book. Based on his book, Davis believes Morrison did overdose at the club, but that it was shortly before his death – not the same night – and he survived the overdose. Davis said if Morrison did die in the toilet stall, it would have come out before now.
So what do you think about all this? Is this new version believable? If so, why did they wait so long to come out with the truth…in a book no less?
August 1st, 2007 at 3:38 pm
I am a huge fan of Jim Morrison. His life story is very colorful just as is his death. He would want it no other way but controversial. It is like the Elvis story- people won’t let Jim “die”. I would love to see a follow-up on this story. Thanks for keeping Jim alive!!