The shocking truth about how my pal Jim Morrison REALLY died

[SoFlaJets]

by PETER ALLEN - 7th July 2007

Morrison was thought to have died from natural causes

Police may reopen 36-year-old case after nightclub boss claims rock star was killed by heroin overdose and that drug dealers launched cover-up by moving body

For more than three decades it has remained one of rock music's most tantalising mysteries.

Why did Jim Morrison, legendary lead singer of The Doors, suddenly collapse and die in his Paris apartment, aged only 27?

The official death certificate states he died in the bath of "natural causes".

But now, in an exclusive interview with The Mail on Sunday, a former close friend of the singer says he knows the truth.

According to Sam Bernett, Morrison died of a massive heroin overdose in the toilet of a nightclub he was managing, the Rock 'n' Roll Circus on the French capital's fabled Left Bank.

Bernett, 62, a French-born former New York Times journalist, claims the death was then covered up by two drug dealers who transferred Morrison's body from the club to the singer's apartment and dumped it in the bath.

Bernett was then warned by the club's owners never to tell anybody about what he had seen.

This extraordinary testament is contained in Bernett's forthcoming book "The End - Jim Morrison" soon to be published in France.

The allegations are being taken so seriously that they are being examined by the French authorities and may lead to the investigation into Morrison's death being reopened.

Jim Morrison first arrived in Paris in March 1971. One of the most widely-recognised stars in the world, thanks to hits such as Break on Through and Light My Fire, he had just finished recording what was to become The Door's most popular album, LA Woman.

He lived a notoriously wild life, abusing both alcohol and drugs, and soon became a regular at the Rock 'n' Roll Circus, a club frequented by the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix.

It also played host to trapeze artists and, on one memorable occasion, a live tiger and monkeys from a nearby circus.

In the early hours of 3 July 1971, the underground disco was heaving with 500 revellers, including 24-year-old British siren Marianne Faithfull who had recently split up with Mick Jagger. Morrison, who was living in Paris with his girlfriend Pamela Courson, arrived at about 1am.

"I greeted Jim as I always did," recalled Bernett from his home in Paris.

"He didn't look in great form, and immediately went to his usual spot at the bar and ordered a bottle of vodka. He was also drinking beers.

"I was used to talking about everything with him - from Janice Joplin to the beatniks - but that night it was just a bit of small talk.

"He'd come in to pick up heroin for Pam. He was always collecting drugs for her and the club was full of dealers."

According to Bernett, Morrison bought the heroin from two men working for Jean de Breteuil, a French playboy and drug dealer.

"The dealers who Jim was talking to were well known," said Bernett.

"Both were French guys in their 20s. I knew what they were up to, and kept an eye out for Jim. He disappeared to the toilets at around 2am.

"Then, about half an hour later, a cloakroom attendant came up to me and told me someone was locked in one of the cubicles and wasn't coming out. It was then that I got a bouncer to smash the door down.'

Bernett was met by the sight of Morrison's body, slumped on the toilet.

In his book, he writes: "I recognised the US Army combat jacket and the riding boots from the Camargue region of France which he never took off. It was Jim Morrison, with his head between his knees, his arms dangling.

"For a few seconds our eyes were glued to the unmoving corpse. We were mesmerised by the baffling spectacle.

"The flamboyant singer of The Doors, the cool and good-looking Californian guy, was now a collapsed and inert lump lying in a nightclub toilet.

"Seeing Jim in such a bad way was pretty awful. We were certain he'd been snorting heroin because there was foam coming out of his lips as well as blood. He was scared of needles so never injected drugs. He just snorted them."

Bernett's first reaction was to send for one of his regular customers, a doctor. The medic, who Bernett refuses to name, "recognised Morrison but kept his cool. Very calmly, and expertly, he examined the body for a few seconds.

"He pushed Jim's head back, lifted his eyelids, opened his mouth, and fixed his ear to his chest to listen to his heartbeat. He looked for marks and bruises on the body and the arms.

"It was a quick and professional examination. His diagnosis was very confident: 'This man is dead. Apparently the victim of a cardiac arrest.' The doctor was not stupid and spoke of a lethal overdose."

In the meantime, Morrison's two "friends" from the bar who had sold him the heroin had arrived. Ignoring the doctor's verdict, they insisted the singer 'had just fainted' and they would take care of him.

Then, according to Bernett, they lifted Morrison's body out of the toilets and along a corridor that linked the Circus with Alcazar, the club next door which still exists today.

That was the last Bernett saw of the body but, from Alcazar, he says it would have been easy to place Morrison in a car or van waiting in the small side street outside, and then take the body to the singer's apartment across the river in Rue Beautreillis.

Minutes after the tragedy, a representative of the club's owner - a well-connected Paris businessman called Paul Pacini still alive, we are trying to get a comment from him] - warned Bernett not to tell anyone what had happened.

Bernett says: "I was told, "Since Morrison's friends want to take him with them, we have nothing more to do with this story.

"The club has no responsibility for what happens here. It was a sad accident, certainly, but that's fate. So we saw nothing, we heard nothing, we shut up! OK? It's what we better do to avoid a scandal."

Bernett adds that he saw little point in calling the emergency services, as he was convinced Morrison was already dead and nothing could be done for him.

And he says anyone else in the club that night who had an inkling of what went on - including Marianne Faithfull - was also sworn to secrecy.

Incredibly, after Morrison's body was found in his apartment, no proper investigation into his death was carried out.

Pamela Courson, Morrison's girlfriend since they were at university together in Los Angeles, swore on oath that her lover had been alive and well the night before.

She told police they had been to the cinema together and then returned home at 1am - the time Bernett claims Morrison was arriving at The Circus - where she did the washing up and he watched a film, before they retired to bed to listen to music.

Then, in the middle of the night, Morrison had woken up coughing and she had watched him leave the room to take a bath "and relax".

Max Vassille, a compliant French doctor, was happy to write off Morrison's demise as "death from natural causes", pointing out that the singer had been suffering from a serious stomach ulcer and asthma attacks after moving from America earlier in the year.

He ruled that no autopsy was required, as there was "no evidence of foul play".

Vassille and Pamela Courson have both since died.

Morrison's official death report, still filed at Paris town hall, has been used ever since to quash countless conspiracy theories ranging from security agency plots to theories that Morrison faked his own death to escape the trappings of fame.

As for Marianne Faithfull, Bernett says she and Jean de Breteuil left Paris for Morocco the moment they heard about Morrison's death.

"De Breteuil was Pam's dealer, and had supplied the heroin on the night," said Bernett.

"He and Marianne immediately packed their bags and headed for Casablanca, where De Breteuil had relatives. They didn't want to hang about.

"Marianne never mentioned Jim again. She won't talk about what happened in the club to this day."

The Mail on Sunday contacted Marianne Faithfull but she was unavailable for comment. De Breteuil died of an overdose not long after Morrison.

Bernett, a former journalist who now presents programmes on French national radio, says he has finally decided to break his silence despite risking prosecution for covering up the death in his club.

"I was 26 in 1971," he said. "Today, I'm past 60, and want to get rid of my heavy load. At least everything is now out there to be discussed. I've said what I have to say."

According to French law, criminal cases cannot be reopened after 20 years have lapsed. However, civil law - as well as international law - may provide an opportunity for investigators to re-open the case.

A spokesman for France's Police National said: "The new evidence will have to be considered.

[TaborJet]

Perhaps we will never know what exactly happened. Two conflicting stories.

Funny how Morrison, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Kurt Cobain were all 27 when they died.

Ever see this before?

[JetCane]

Max Vassille, a compliant French doctor, was happy to write off Morrison's demise as "death from natural causes", ...(H)e ruled that no autopsy was required, as there was "no evidence of foul play".

Keep moving. Nothing to see here. It's an all too familiar ending for some extremely talented people.

*******************************

Jimi Hendrix entered the St. Mary Abbot Hospital alive and breathing, then shockingly at 12:45pm, he was pronounced dead.

The autopsy showed Jimi's system contained nine sleeping tablets of Vesparax, small traces of another barbiturate Seconal, and twenty milligrams of amphetamine. Contrary to some popular stories that have evolved since Jimi's death, no needle marks or other signs of hard drugs were found. In fact, a leading forensic scientist said at the time that the dose of sleeping pills was too low to be fatal in itself. The official cause of death rendered was "inhalation of vomit due to barbiturate intoxication".

************

Janis Joplin's Coroner's Report

Coroner's Report

File #70 - 10463

OFFICE OF CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER - CORONER

Date October 5, 1970 Time 0935 Hours

I performed an autopsy on the body of JANIS JOPLIN

at OFFICE OF CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER - CORONER, HALL OF JUSTICE,

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

and from the anatomic findings and pertinent history I ascribe the death to:

ACUTE HEROIN - MORPHINE INTOXICATION

DUE To: INJECTION OF OVERDOSE

******************************

Paul Butterfield: Age 44

(BORN: December 17, 1942, Chicago, IL; DIED: May 4, 1987, Hollywood, CA)

Paul Butterfield was a white harmonica player from the south side of Chicago. Paul Butterfield was considered the premier harmonica player of his time. In 1965 "The Paul Butterfield Blues Band" was released and remains a classic to this day. Caught up in sixties flower-power, subsequent releases strayed from the blues format and lacked the power and intensity of their debut album. The band also appeared at Woodstock, and their song "Love March" is featured on the soundtrack album. His death on May 4th, 1987 at the age of 44 was attributed to alcohol and drug abuse.

***********************************

Pete Farndon: Age 30

The Pretenders

(b. 2 June 1952, Hereford, England, d. 14 April 1983).

Pete Farndon was found dead in his bath from a drug overdose.

*****************************

Keith Moon: Age 31

The Who

(b. 23 August 1947, Wembley, London, England, d. 7 September 1978).

As the unpredictable, madcap drummer in the Who, Keith Moon cultivated a reputation as one of rock's great characters. Tales of destruction were legendary, but Moon was now increasingly debilitated by drug and alcohol abuse, and his professional life inevitably suffered. Indeed Music Must Change, a track on WHO ARE YOU (1978), was left without a drum track when he was unable to hold the required beat Sadly, the album was to be the last to feature Moon. The cause of death, according to the death certificate, was an overdosage of Chlormethiazole (Heminevrin), self administered but with no evidence of intention.

*********************************

Within hours of Jerry Garcia's death on August 9, 1995, paramedics transported his body to the County Coroner's office at San Francisco Medical Center. The Medical Examiner went on to perform an autopsy of Garcia, a heroin addict...

*******

John Belushi: Age 33

The Blues Brothers

(b. 24 January 1949, Chicago, Illinois, USA. d. 5 March 1982, 8221 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood: The Chateau Marmont hotel, Bungalow #2, Los Angeles, CA, USA).

Comedian/actor/singer John Belushi died of an overdose of heroin and cocaine on March 5,1982, at the age of 33.

*************************

Mike Bloomfield: Age 36

(b. 28 July 1944, Chicago, Illinois, USA d. 15 February 1981).

For many, both critics and fans, Bloomfield was the finest white blues guitarist America has so far produced. A second burst of activity occurred shortly before his tragic death when another three album's worth of material was recorded. Bloomfield was found dead in his car from a suspected accidental drug overdose, a sad end to a

[Mavrik]

Jim Morrison attended FSU briefly, so maybe that's where he got his wild ways from.

Some decent music from them, but I'm not gonna shed a tear over anyone on that list. People who make millions and snort it up their nose aren't going to get much sympathy from me.

[Alk]

Perhaps we will never know what exactly happened. Two conflicting stories.

Funny how Morrison, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Kurt Cobain were all 27 when they died.

Ever see this before?

That is a kick a$$ painting. I need to get my hands on a copy of that one.

[Green DNA]

...and the list goes on

John Entwistle

John Entwistle died in a hotel room at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on June 27, 2002 one day before the scheduled first show of The Who's 2002 US tour. The number of the actual room in which he died has remained a closely guarded secret, likely to prevent the room becoming a shrine/place of pilgrimage.

The Las Vegas medical examiner determined that death was due to a heart attack induced by an undetermined amount of cocaine. Though the amount in his bloodstream was not great, the drug caused his coronary arteries, already damaged due to a pre-existing heart condition, to contract. Entwistle battled cocaine addiction through much of his adult life.

John Bonham

On September 24, 1980, John Bonham was picked up by Led Zeppelin assistant Rex King to attend rehearsals at Bray Studios for the upcoming tour of the United States, the band's first since 1977. During the journey Bonham had asked to stop for breakfast, where he downed four quadruple vodkas (roughly sixteen shots (2/3 pint, or ~8dl) of vodka), with a ham roll. After taking a bite of the ham roll he said to his assistant, "Breakfast." He then continued to drink heavily when he arrived at the studio. A halt was called to the rehearsals late in the evening and the band retired to Page's house

[124]

More drug deaths for these "amazing" music artists. What a surprise.

[nj meadowlands]

Tabor where can I get that painting?

[Alk]

Tabor where can I get that painting?

You don't have to buy it for me. Really you don't...

[TaborJet]

Tabor where can I get that painting?

http://www.art.com/asp/sp-asp/_/PD--10291864/SP--A/IGID--790769/Forever_27.htm?sOrig=SCH&ui=94F6E51D627D4FA282A2790C8B872133

[Alk]

http://www.allposters.com/-sp/Forever-27-Posters_i314844_.htm

[Barton]

kurt cobain looks like such a tool in that poster.

[Alk]

kurt cobain looks like such a tool in that poster.

You go to hell...you go to hell and you die!!

[Thor99]

You go to hell...you go to hell and you die!!

He not only looked like a tool, he was most certainly a tool as well.

[Alk]

He not only looked like a tool, he was most certainly a tool as well.

As I'm not an expert on tools, I'll have to defer to Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor.

[Barton]

He looks a stupid dork. Jimi probably d#ck slapped him outa the place when he showed up.

[Alk]

He looks a stupid dork. Jimi probably d#ck slapped him outa the place when he showed up.

Cobain was a better guitarist than Hendrix, I'm just sayin'...

[Thor99]

Cobain was a better guitarist than Hendrix, I'm just sayin'...

You cannot possibly believe that.

I realize that "Nevermind" just made it to your podunk town, but you are incorrect, sir.

[Barton]

Cobain was a better guitarist than Hendrix, I'm just sayin'...

My dog plays the guitar better than cobain. I know, its hard to believe your hero was a homo (thats why he killed himself ya know) and had no musical talent.

[Thor99]

My dog plays the guitar better than cobain. I know, its hard to believe your hero was a homo (thats why he killed himself ya know) and had no musical talent.

He didn't kill himself, his crazy ass wife murdered him.

Thank you, Courtney.

[Alk]

You cannot possibly believe that.

I realize that "Nevermind" just made it to your podunk town, but you are incorrect, sir.

You're in denial. The only reason Hendrix got so much credit was because he was black.

btw, Bleach is where it's at.

[Thor99]

You're in denial. The only reason Hendrix got so much credit was because he was black.

Then how come Charlie Pride isn't a superstar?

[Alk]

Then how come Charlie Pride isn't a superstar?

Because...who in the flying f#ck is Charlie Pride?

[Thor99]

Because...who in the flying f#ck is Charlie Pride?

You can't tell me that your country ass doesn't know who Charlie Pride is.

[L.I.MikeBleedsGreen]

You're in denial. The only reason Hendrix got so much credit was because he was black.

btw, Bleach is where it's at.

For sure Alk ,Great album,someone stole mine .

[Alk]

You can't tell me that your country ass doesn't know who Charlie Pride is.

Oh but I can. I can name about 5 country artists.

[Thor99]

Oh but I can. I can name about 5 country artists.

Now, when you say 'country artists' you really mean 'neighbors', right?

[JetCane]

Cobain was a better guitarist than Hendrix, I'm just sayin'...

Pffft.

PJmPtneBibU&mode=related&search=

[Alk]

Pffft.

PJmPtneBibU&mode=related&search=

[JetCane]

Sleeping thru Hendrix?? Where do U live, in Kansas?

[L.S. Dylan]

jimi hendrix went to africa and was told my some tarrot card lady that he was going to die before he reached 28... supposedly he believed it. i heard tarrantino was making a movie on hendrix (since that other one really blew)

cobain wrote some decent music but wouldnt survive in the late 60s with all the great guitar players, thats for sure

[The Troll]

That's weird because before I even heard about this, I had been listening to the Doors all day.

Also, it is blasphemy to even mention Kurt Nobrain in the same breath as Morrison and Hendrix.

[Smizzy]

Cobain was a better guitarist than Hendrix, I'm just sayin'...

You should Curt Cobain yourself for that post!

[Alk]

That's weird because before I even heard about this, I had been listening to the Doors all day.

Also, it is blasphemy to even mention Kurt Nobrain in the same breath as Morrison and Hendrix.

I agree. Morrison and Hendrix were both great but definately a notch or two below Cobain.

[Ryno the Jet]

More drug deaths for these "amazing" music artists. What a surprise.

There's drug deaths all over, man. Life's a bitch; you'll see...