On May 18, the world awakened to the sad news that iconic Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell had passed away unexpectedly after performing at a concert in Detroit.
At first conflicting reports emerged regarding Cornell’s cause of death, but eventually police and medical investigators were able to arrive at a conclusion about the singer’s final hours.
To the utter shock of his friends, family, and fans, Chris Cornell had taken his own life.
The full results of the investigation, published today by The Detroit Free Press, paint a harrowing scene of a frantic wife enlisting the aid of a bodyguard to try and save her husband’s life from several hundred miles away.
Vicky Karayiannis told police that her final conversation with her distraught husband led her to the conclusion that Cornell had fallen off the wagon after several years of sobriety.
Fearing the worst, she called his bodyguard from her home in Los Angeles, and asked him to check on Cornell, explaining that the 52-year-old did not sound like he was okay.”
Martin Kirsten forcibly entered Cornell’s hotel room, only to find that he was too late.
The singer had hung himself with the aid of a mountain climbing clip and an exercise band.
“I went inside and the bathroom door was partially opened, and I could see his feet,” Kirsten told police in a sworn statement published for the first time today.
The investigation answers two lingering questions regarding Cornell’s final moments – namely, was he intoxicated, and was foul play involved?
According to today’s report, Cornell did have several prescription drugs in his system at the time of his death, which may have contributed to his decision to take his own life.
As for foul play, investigators have concluded that there is no reason to believe any second parties were involved in Cornell’s passing.
Rumors that circulated on social media this week, seem to have been the result of photos from the scene of Cornell’s death that were recently published by TMZ.
The images showed blood on the floor of the bathroom where he hanged himself, which many amateur sleuths took as a sign of a struggle.
However, medical experts say it is not uncommon for hanging victims to bleed from their nose and mouth.
Hopefully, the new information published today will help provide a modicum of closure to the many who are still grieving the loss of one of the music world’s great talents.
