Here it is:
This is a clip of me reading from my debut book–The Bone Cutters. This snippet includes an introduction by Elizabeth Searle, and then me reading chapter 1. I did read the first three chapters that night, with a little musical ending, but this here will give you just a taste to see if you want to go for the full ride with The Bone Cutters. I hope you all enjoy!
3rd Annual Halloween Grownup Storytime at Quiet City Books
Come on out and join us for an evening filled with haunting dark tales.
I am headliner and co-host of this fun Halloween event at Quiet City Books in Lewiston, Maine from 6-8 PM this Friday, October 11th. I will be doing a reading from my debut book, The Bone Cutters.
Joining me are nine more horror authors, reading creepy and disturbing tales to set the haunting mood of October. Some of what you’ll hear at this event are true ghost stories.
Event Details:
Kids get all the storytelling fun- until now!
Join us for an evening of fun, scary, and haunting stories and poems tailored for grownup audiences (not X-rated, but adult language and themes are fair play). Light refreshments provided, BYOB. Teenagers are welcome with a parent or guardian present.
THE LINE UP:
Headliner Renee S. DeCamillis Author will read from her newly released novella, The Bone Cutters. Copies will be available for purchase!
We’ll also hear from:
Emily DuFour , true stories and classic poetry
Jason DuFour, original fiction
Deborah Eifert, poet
JoshGauthierWriter.com., fiction writer and curator of Local Writers Read
Jen George, original fic
Claire Guyton, fiction writer and curator of Local Writers Read
Lauren B. Harris, Fantasy Author
Faegan Pan, reading classic poetry
Linda Scott, true ghost stories
Quiet City Books, 97 Lisbon Street, Lewiston, Maine 04240
I am thrilled to announce that I am co-host and headliner for an upcoming Halloween reading event on Friday, October 11th from 6-8 PM (EST). Details from Quiet City Books below:
3rd Annual Grownup Halloween Storytime At Quiet City Books
Public Event
Happening At:
Quiet City Books
97 Lisbon St
Lewiston, Maine 04240
Bookstore
(207) 449-0538
Kids get all the storytelling fun–until now!
Join us for an evening of fun, scary, and haunting stories and poems tailored for grownup audiences (not X-rated, but adult language and themes are fair play). Light refreshments provided, BYOB. Teenagers are welcome with a parent or guardian present.
THE LINE UP SO FAR:
Headliner Renee S. DeCamillis Author will read from her newly released novella, The Bone Cutters. Copies will be available for purchase!
We’ll also hear from:
Deborah Eifert, poet
Josh Gauthier, fiction
Claire Guyton, fiction
Linda Scott, true ghost stories
…and more to be announced. Stay tuned!
Released on September 1, 2019 as part of the New Bizarro Author Series for 2019 from Eraserhead Press ( https://eraserheadpress.com/ ), my debut book. The Bone Cutters is a book that doesn’t fit neatly into any one genre box: part horror, part psychological thriller, part supernatural, part weird/bizarro, & it weaves in bits of satire & humor throughout.
For all who are interested, The Bone Cutters can be purchased through Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/Bone-Cutters-Renee-S-Decamillis/dp/1621052931), Barnes & Noble, Indie Bound ( https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781621052937 ) , Longfellow Books –in Portland, Main and online, and it will soon be available at Bull Moose ( https://www.bullmoose.com/ ) and Quiet City Books ( https://www.facebook.com/CourtneyQuietCity/ )–both in Maine and online.
To see what literary horror reviewers have had to say, visit the “Reviews & What-Not” page of this site.
Today is release day for my debut book–The Bone Cutters. It’s a bizarro horror novella published through Eraserhead Press. It’s available on Amazon, Indie Bound, Barnes & Noble, & Longfellow Books. Get your copy today.
What reviewers have to say:
“It’s actually refreshing to be able to enjoy a book so much that you were miffed when it was over. As [her] debut novella, it’s a fantastic beginning to what could prove to be a career to watch. I’m giving this a solid 4 out of 5 [stars]…Considering that I’ve never read anything which rated a 5, I think The Bone Cutters is doing just fine.”~~~Joe X. Young of Ginger Nuts of Horror
“I immediately fell in love with Dory, the writing style, the story…This is a terribly heart-wrenching story with a bit of a haunted house/ghost vibe where you’re also being chased by a bunch of crazy people who want to devour your bones. I didn’t want to put this book down.”~~~Miranda Crites of Kendall Reviews
Synopsis:
Dory wakes up in the padded room of a psychiatric hospital with no recollection of how she wound up there. She soon finds out she’s been Blue-Papered—involuntarily committed. She gets sent to the wrong counseling group and discovers a whole new world of psychiatric patients she’d never known existed. At first she just thinks they’re cutters, all marked by similar scars, but then she finds out that those scars are from carving into their own bodies where they chisel and scrape their bones. What they’re after—bone dust. It’s highly coveted and sought after. When they find out Dory’s never been “dusted”, she becomes their target. After all, dust from a “freshie” is much more valuable than theirs. Frightened for her life, she desperately tries to prove to the psych. hospital staff that she’s not delusional about these particular patients wanting to cut her open and scrape her bones. The staff doesn’t believe her. They all think she’s crazy. She ends up on the run and fighting for her life, trying to avoid getting “dusted” by The Bone Cutters.
Like Girl, Interrupted and “The Yellow Wallpaper”, The Bone Cutters is one woman’s dark and surreal experience with a madness that is not necessarily her own.
https://www.amazon.com/Bone-Cutters-Renee-S-Decamillis/dp/1621052931
April 19, 2018:
Unavoidable cancellation of my participation in the Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference–for the third time in a row
The past three years in a row I was accepted to present my essay –“The Power of Sympathetic Villains of Literature and Screen Pulse Through Music”–at the Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference that takes place at StokerCon. The first year my work was accepted, I simply couldn’t afford the trip to Long Beach, California where the events were taking place. It’s the second and third year cancellations of my participation in the conference that have left my jaw dropped in amazement of my horrendously shitty luck, for lack of a better way to put it.
Last year the conference was taking place in Providence, RI. I was all set to go to StokerCon for the one day that my presentation was scheduled for. I had busted my ass on my presentation. I practiced it every morning, recording it to find where I stumbled, or maybe said “um” a little too much. I even taught myself how to do a PowerPoint presentation, since I had somehow never learned this earlier in my many years in college. I was psyched! I had my car packed, I had copies of my essay with me for potential publication opportunities, and I had my business cards ready for all the networking I had planned to do. Then on the day of my presentation I hit the road, in spite of the massive Nor’easter that was ravaging New England. I ignored all the weather reports, telling people to stay off the roads and not travel. Of course, I thought, on the exact day and time of my trip and presentation, the biggest Nor’easter on record hit my exact route of travel, and the exact city I was set to go to was getting hit with a cyclone. I joked with one of my writers group friends who was at StokerCon already–I sent her a message that said:
“Cthulu is rising and he’s coming for StokerCon. The Biltmore was finished construction in 1918; it’s now 2018. Lovecraft died in March. March 2018 and the world horror convention is in his city and it’s getting hit with a cyclone. Cthulhu is rising. Get out!
Sleep tight. 
“
I was having fun with the whole storm issue, not thinking much of it in the way of my potential travel troubles. I was that pumped to present my work that I’d put so many hours into polishing for others to see and hear.
Then it came time for me to hit the road. Snow was falling so hard and so fast that I could barely see the road in front of me. I’d left extra early to make sure I’d arrive in time for my presentation time-block. I thought, What the hell–I’m a fucking Mainer, born and raised. I can handle driving in a snow storm. No problem. And I have all-wheel drive and one of the safest vehicles on the road today. Fuck it. Let’s go!
Then I hit the backed-up traffic on the highway. Cars were off the road all over the place. Accidents here and there. And weather report warnings, telling people to stay home, don’t drive.
I thought of my young son at home, my husband. Both worrying, and waiting to hear from me.
I pulled off an exit and headed back home, slowly.
I don’t know what made the visibility worse–my tears or the historic Nor’easter blanketing my windshield.
So, I submitted my work again, for a third year in a row, to the Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference for 2019. I was miraculously accepted again. I didn’t think they’d take a chance on me again, since I’d already been accepted twice and had to cancel. But I was accepted, and I was ever so grateful, and super psyched all over again. So psyched that I edited my entire slideshow, spicing it up, adding bits of humor–since my work is very dark and heavy. And again, I practiced every morning, recording my presentation so that I could make it the best I could. I bought all my tickets, arranged my travel to Grand Rapids, MI from Maine. I was all set. This time I was going to make it happen. Third times a charm. Right?
Wrong.
On March 18, I got some distressing news about my health. At first I thought, No problem. I can handle this. I’ll just take extra care while traveling. Take it slow & easy. I’ve got this. I’m strong and resilient. I can handle anything. Then on March 29th I found out that the treatment I need has to happen soon–right during StokerCon (or the week before)–and it will leave me unable to travel for some time after.
Seriously?! Is that how the universe works for me?! What the fuck kind of luck is this?! These thoughts keep rattling around in my brain, since I had to cancel my participation in the conference yet again. And next year StokerCon and the Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference are taking place in the UK. There in no possible way I can afford a trip overseas. Hell, I couldn’t even afford a trip to the other side of the U.S. (Yes, I am the stereotypical “poor & struggling artist”, though I hate to admit it.) If people ever wonder why I write dark fiction and horror, all they need to do is hear about the shit I deal with in my real life.
Whenever I hear people say, “What are the odds of that ever happening?” or “No, that’s not even possible.” I tell them, “Oh, yes, yes, it is possible. Just look at my life; I will show you just how possible and realistic that is.” I always seem to be the exception to the rule. Murphy’s Law is my life. What you think could never go wrong, goes wrong for me. The horrible things you think will never happen to you, happen to me. When something really good and positive happens for me, I always look over my shoulder, watching & waiting for that dark cloud that always comes to dump an equal amount of shit into my life. You may think I sound pessimistic, but I only speak from experience.
Pessimistic–no. As disappointed as I am in having to cancel my entire StokerCon trip and my participation in the Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference, I am already planning my next opportunity. ReaderCon is in July. I suspect I will be feeling much better by then, and I hope to be back to my sunshiny-self. When one opportunity is lost, find the next one and make it BIG.
I’ve got plans. I’ve got BIG plans. Nothing can keep me down. And with the publication of my first book in September (The Bone Cutters), my plans don’t end with ReaderCon. That’s only the beginning. I’ve got a whole book launch event planned and booked–(More news on that is soon to come.), and I’m in the planning stages of a fall/winter book tour. I never quit. When I fall, I jump back up and go at it even harder. I’m a determined mountain goat Capricorn. I will make it to the top of ANY mountain that’s in my way. Nothing can stop me–I keep on keepin’ on, No Matter What.
Life may dump a ton of shit in my path, but I’m equipped with a shovel and a take-no-shit attitude. I got this. I can handle anything.
Peace~To all you crazy fuckers out there.
By Renee S. DeCamillis
June 21, 2018
~~~Chris Cornell~~~
1964-2017
A rock icon, the voice of a generation, and a blazing force that will forever shine on,
a voice that will sing ‘til the end of time
***I will start off by emphasizing: my writing is NOT FOR THE EASILY OFFENDED. But I also want to state that this piece of research was conducted with the utmost respect and is free from any bias. All I seek is the truth, the Higher Truth.
It has been a year since Chris Cornell, my biggest musical inspiration, was pronounced dead on May 18, 2017 at the MGM Grand in Detroit—Rock City—after performing a concert with Soundgarden, and here I am writing a follow-up blog to the one I wrote only days after his death (Here is the link: ://reneeyoungdecamillis.wordpress.com/…/chris-cornells…/ ) to tell you that there are even more questions left unanswered in his death investigation—an investigation that seems to have ended prematurely with the all too easy cliché-ruling of suicide. The numerous questions I had asked back then are still yet to be answered, and all the statements and actions by his widow, Vicky Karayiannis Cornell, since his death have only put more questions in people’s minds. Yes, I said “people” because over the course of this past year I have found hundreds of people asking many of the same questions I have been asking. And together we have joined forces and gathered much evidence to support the conclusion I was leaning toward in my first blog: too many details point to foul-play as the potential cause of Chris Cornell’s death and a big cover-up has allegedly taken place. What is being covered up is the big question we all have.
Before I go any further, I want to first say thank you to a few people—whom I will not name due to their fear of the repercussions from Vicky Karayiannis Cornell and her mother Toni Karayiannis (Toni Vasil on Instagram) and whoever else is allegedly behind Chris’s death—who have helped me gather all the evidence that I am about to unleash and who have given me much needed support along the way. Together we have conducted a sort of grass roots investigation to get to the bottom of Chris Cornell’s untimely death and to find out the truth behind what really lead to his final fall.
Back to the case:
Now, first and foremost I must state that with Chris Cornell’s death—A HOMICIDE INVESTIGATION HAS NEVER TAKEN PLACE. I must repeat that a little louder: A HOMICIDE INVESTIGATION HAS NEVER TAKEN PLACE!!! When police find a dead body where suicide is suspected, they first need to rule out homicide as the cause of the death before a ruling of suicide can be declared. Yes, in the case of the death of Chris Cornell, the Detroit PD claim that homicide was ruled out, but it was ruled out in a less than two hours. Suicide was declared within those two hours after the reported time of Chris’s death. How can anyone conduct a proper and thorough homicide investigation in that little time? I’ll answer that question for you: THEY CAN’T. The detective on the case, Investigator Charles Weaver of the Detroit PD, only took two statements—one from Vicky Cornell, Chris’s widow, and one from Martin Kirsten, Chris’s bodyguard—and Inv. Weaver never looked into those statements to verify that they were truthful. He also never recovered Chris Cornell’s cell phone or his computer, both of which were on the scene and both of those items should have been taken in as evidence in the homicide investigation that should have taken place. Also, the toxicology report came back in less than a month, which is very fast in the grand scheme of toxicology reporting, and the results tell us that Chris Cornell was not over-intoxicated, nor did he have any illegal substances in his system, nor did he have any alcohol in his system. So the assumption that many people had—and still have to this day—about Chris getting so out of his mind on drugs that it lead him to take his own life is COMPLETELY ERRONEOUS. And the other assumption—the one where people think Chris lost his battle with addiction and took his own life—is also false. So why then has his death been declared a suicide? The Detroit PD is unwilling to tell the public why they stand by their suicide ruling.
With any homicide investigation the primary suspects are:
1) the spouse (Vicky)
2) the first person to “discover” the victim’s body (Martin Kirsten, the bodyguard)
3) the last person to see the victim alive (allegedly Martin)
4) the person that has the most to gain from the victim’s death (Vicky, David Geffen)
5) who has the most to lose in the event that the person stayed alive (allegedly Vicky, allegedly David Geffen—if rumors of Chris wanting to change musical directions is true, and/or if the allegations of David Geffen’s illegal actions are true—along with the possibility that Chris became aware of Geffen’s alleged illegal actions)
6) whomever the victim had a grievance with, or fought with, at or close to the time of their death (allegedly Vicky—They were fighting at the time of his death, there are allegations they were separated and going through a divorce at the time of his death, and there are allegations that Chris found out about Vicky’s alleged fraud (It is on public record that Vicky misused large sums of money donated to The Chris and Vicky Cornell Foundation, a foundation formed to help protect children from abuse.) and her other various shady business practices within days before he died; allegedly Geffen, for the reasons I mentioned above; potentially Martin—if Martin’s barging into Chris’s room had actually found Chris alive and pissed off because he couldn’t get any peace and quiet, which could have spawned an unexpected altercation that ended in Chris’s accidental death that was staged as a suicide—one among many theories.)
7) any person that would have wanted to harm the victim for whatever reason: monetary gain, avoidance of monetary losses, self-preservation, to shut up a whistle blower, etc. (allegedly Vicky, allegedly Geffen)
Considering the potential for foul play and looking at the primary suspects list in the homicide investigation of Chris Cornell’s death, Vicky is automatically in 2 out of 8 categories of suspects. If we add in the allegations involved in this case (i.e. Vicky fighting with Chris before he died, allegations of separation and divorce in the works at the time of Chris’s death, allegations of her questionable business practices that Chris allegedly found out about and was fighting with her about before he died), that would put Vicky in 4 out of 8 suspect categories. In the media’s narrative of the case Martin Kirsten, Chris’s bodyguard, appears in 2 out of 8 of the suspect categories. But if we factor in the allegations involved in the case and the potential possibilities involved, Martin appears in 4 out of the 8 suspect categories, the same as Vicky. David Geffen falls into 1 suspect category without question—who stands to gain the most in the event of the victim’s death. If we add in the allegations that Chris wanted to change musical direction and management, David Geffen would then fall into 2 out of 8 suspect categories. If we then factor in the allegations that Geffen was/is involved in some sort of illegal actions that Chris allegedly found out about before his death and that he allegedly was going to reveal that information, then Geffen would fall into 4 out of 8 suspect categories, equal to both Vicky and Martin. All three primary suspects must be fully investigated before a homicide can be ruled out.
I must note: This last point about the allegations of David Geffen taking part in any form of illegal actions is a much bigger picture than this write-up goes into in depth, but I cannot ignore the fact that these allegations are all over the internet and social media, which is why I included that potential suspect at all. Geffen is still a person of interest whom the authorities must look into with this homicide investigation, an investigation that needs to be reopened and conducted by the book. At first glance, Geffen is the one raking in the most cash after the death of not only Chris Cornell, but also the death of Chester Bennington, the former singer of Linkin Park; Chester’s widow, Talinda Bennington, is now hooked up with and promoting a psychiatric facility that is owned by Geffen, which rakes in even more money for Geffen. These are facts that cannot be ignored in this homicide investigation, but these are facts that would make this write up far longer than most people would have the patience to read; therefore, I will stick to the facts I can fit into a more easily digestible piece of writing.
Now, back to the facts that I know, I will start with the police report. Two (out of three) of the biggest points I need to make about the official police report are the facts that Chris’s phone and computer were never recovered by the police and only two statements were taken; therefore, Martin’s and Vicky’s statements were never verified as being truthful. The investigator, Charles Weaver, from the Detroit PD, never confirmed either statement, which means right out of the door the case cannot be closed. A homicide investigator cannot take only two statements, and then take them as the absolute truth without verifying those statements with some sort of investigation into what those witnesses said. That is fumble number one in this case, and a big on at that. Why did Weaver not talk to anyone else close to Chris? His band mates? His brother? His best friend? Why didn’t Weaver question any hotel staff contacted that night by Vicky and Martin, or any hotel staff that were on the scene at some point that night? The third biggest point I need to make about the official police report is all the blood that was at the scene of what is being declared as a “suicide by hanging”, including a puddle of blood that was witnessed under Chris’s head. I will get to that damning fact in a moment.
Now, I will go through police report with a fine-tooth comb and point out the multiple discrepancies I have found. (NOTE: See the note at the end of this post for a copy of the police report.) On the police report Martin states that he and Chris had a police escort from the Soundgarden concert that took place that night at the Fox Theater back to the MGM hotel where they were staying, and that Chris took time outside the hotel to sign autographs for fans. Right from the start, the first thing Martin claims happened, and there is no evidence to back it up. There have been no photos by fans or by paparazzi of Chris signing autographs after the concert that night, and not one fan has come forward claiming to have one of the last autographs of Chris Cornell’s. This is highly suspicious. (NOTE: There was a person on Ebay who claimed to have received Chris’s autograph on a concert ticket stub that night, but the autograph looks like a forgery.)
Next, Martin says that they then went up to Chris’s hotel room, Martin “gave him 2 of his sleeping pills”, and then Martin went to his own room. The pills that Martin gave to Chris are stated in the report to have been “(Adalan)”—that is how Investigator Weaver wrote it up—but in Martin’s quoted statement he never stated the actual name of the pills. Martin’s exact words were “his 2 sleeping pills”. Also, Weaver wrote in the report that Martin gave Chris those pills when Martin was in Chris’s room fixing his computer for him with the hotel IT person, but Martin stated that he gave those pills to Chris right when they first arrived at Chris’s hotel room, and that after he [Martin] went back to his own room, “Chris called [Martin] and said that Apple TV was not working. [Martin] arranged for hotel IT to bring the remote that provides access to the hotel’s network. That was around 11:34 P.M.” Weaver wrote in the report that Martin said that Chris took those pills for anxiety. At this point, I must now bring in the results of Chris’s toxicology report. (Please see the screenshots below to see the official report that I am about to speak of.)
First thing I want to point out is that Weaver changed Martin’s statement about when the pills were given to Chris. What Martin is quoted to have said, about giving the pills to Chris immediately when they had arrived at Chris’s hotel room, makes the most sense because Martin had no way of knowing that Chris was going to call him for anything after Martin left Chris’s room the first time. But what exactly were those two pills that Martin had given to Chris? The narrative of this case that has been publicized is that those two “sleeping pills” were actually Ativan; this is what Vicky states that Martin gave to Chris and it is what she claims Chris told her he had taken before speaking to her on the phone that night—though that last detail is not in the police report; it is what Vicky has publicly stated on television appearances and in published articles and on social media posts she has made. It is unknown if Martin told Weaver those pills were “Adalan” or if it was Vicky who told Weaver Chris had taken two Ativan. Vicky says that Chris was prescribed Ativan, though she claims the medication was prescribed to Chris for shoulder pain that was making it difficult for Chris to sleep. (More about that claim in a moment. Please forgive me for the puzzle-form of this write-up, but the case itself is a huge puzzle that is still not put together.)Weaver wrote in the report that Vicky called Martin at 12:15/12:30 AM and told him that she had spoken to Chris at 11:35 and that he [Chris] had said to her that he was groggy and that he kept repeating, “I am just tired” and hung up the phone. Weaver goes on to state that Vicky then called Martin around 12:15/12:30 and asked him to go check on Chris to see if he was all right because he did not sound like he was okay.
Now, before I go any further with the police report, I need to talk about the Ativan. Vicky has been claiming for the past year that those two “Ativan” are what made Chris unknowingly take his own life. All anyone has to do to see that her claim is a far reach speculation is to read the toxicology report. The level of Lorazepam (the generic form of Ativan) in Chris’s system at the time of his death was 41 ng/ml, and since the “maximum therapeutic effect of lorazapam is reported to be within the range of 30-50 ng/ml” that means that Chris’s level was at about the midpoint of the therapeutic range. Therefore, the narrative that Vicky Cornell is pushing to the public—the one where she claims that an over-intoxication of Ativan made Chris so out of his mind that he unknowingly took his own life—is not backed up by science. Yes, there is a 1% chance that an Ativan user can get suicidal ideation—most commonly this happens in teens taking the medication—, but Chris’s system was accustomed to the medication since he had been taking the drug as prescribed for about a year by the time of his death. Some people may argue that because he was taking the drug for so long that it built up in his system and led to his suicidal ideation, but that is also not backed up by science. Yes, he may have been addicted to the medication, which is what his widow claims, but his levels at the time of his death do not show any signs that he was abusing the medication. He did NOT take more than his prescribed Ativan; if he truly had taken more meds than prescribed, his Ativan level would have been higher in the tox report.
But Chris also had butalbital in his system, which is found in the prescription drug Fioricet. This is a medication taken for tension headaches, and it contains caffeine, butalbital, and acetaminophen—all are substances that were in Chris’s system at the time of his death. Butalbital is a sedative that makes the user relax and it causes sleepiness. The effects of this medication can be felt within two hours after ingestion, and it lasts for 4 – 6 hours. It has a long half-life (35 hours), which makes this drug an intermediate-acting barbiturate; that means it was introduced to Chris’s system within 35 hours before Chris died. The butalbital in Chris’s system at the time of his death was 5.1 mcg/ml. A 1.0 mg dose of Fioricet peaks blood levels of butalibal to 2.1 mcg/ml, which means that Chris had at least two doses of the drug in his system at the time of his death. Chris was not prescribed that medication; Vicky Cornell, his widow, has gone on record (in a Detroit News article published on May 15, 2018) to say that it was not prescribed to him. Also, that medication is not pictured in the crime scene photos as one of the prescriptions in Chris’s possession at the time of his death. The crime scene photos actually show two prescriptions—Prednisone and Omeprazole that were not found in his system but should have been. But I will get to that point more in a minute.
Where did the Fioricet/butalbital come from? Did Chris take Fioricet knowingly? The level of anger and distress that have been witnessed from him during that last concert of his life makes it understandable why he may have felt the need to take that medication, but, again, where did it come from? If Chris did indeed take it knowingly, then Martin, his bodyguard, would have known he had taken it—since it is the bodyguard’s job to be with their employer at all times in order to provide them with protection. Was Fioricet the “2 sleeping pills” Martin had given to Chris after that last concert, rather than the Ativan? The different medications do look a lot alike, and in the police report Martin never named, not in his quoted statement, what those sleeping pills were. The detective does name them as “Adalan”, which could have been Ativan. But that is not what Martin stated in thereport. Did Martin give Chris the Fioricet on purpose? Or did Martin give it to him by accident and Chris just did not notice the difference? Again, the two medications do look alike.
Ativan: Fioricet:
Or did someone slip the drug into Chris’s drink without him knowing? The tox report does mention that a brown liquid was found in Chris’s stomach. Was that drink laced with Fioricet/butalbital by someone with ill-intentions? If his drink was laced, how did that happen without Martin’s knowledge? Again, the bodyguard is someone who is paid to protect their boss/client at all times, which means that nothing like a laced drink should get passed the bodyguard’s knowledge. We do not have the answers as to where that drug came from and how it ended up in Chris’s system, but it is not out of left field to say that Chris was potentially drugged. The combination of Fioricet/butalbital and Ativan would have made Chris extremely drowsy and uncoordinated and appear intoxicated, which would have made him less able to defend himself in an altercation or in a possible attack from someone who may have meant to harm him. Those effects also fall in line with what Investigator Weaver wrote in the police report about what Vicky had told him—that Chris had said he was just groggy and he kept repeating, “I am just tired”, and then he hung up on her and would not answer her calls after that. (Vicky now claims that those words were not the last thing that Chris had said to her and that he never hung up on her. Who are we suppose to believe?) Of course Chris was groggy and tired; he had two different medications in his system to relax him and help him sleep.
More about those medications for people who are not aware of their effects: The therapeutic effect of butalbital: reduces anxiety. The side effects of butalbital are: drowsiness, lightheadedness, dizziness, sedation, shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and an intoxicated feeling. There was not a high dosage of the medication in his system, but if you combine the butalbital with the Ativan that was also in his system, the effects would be intensified. Ativan is a benzodiazepine and it is most frequently used to treat generalized anxiety disorder and panic disorder. (Though Vicky claims that the Ativan was prescribed to Chris for shoulder pain that was making it difficult for him to sleep. But benzodiazepines are not prescribed for pain management; they are used to treat anxiety and/or depression. And Vicky’s lawyer and Martin have stated on the record that Chris was taking Ativan for his anxiety. Who is it we are supposed to believe?) The therapeutic effects of Ativan are: produces a calming effect. The most common side effects of Ativan are: drowsiness, dizziness, tiredness, blurred vision, sleep problems [insomnia], muscle weakness, lack of balance or coordination, amnesia or forgetfulness, disorientation, trouble concentrating, nausea, vomiting, constipation, appetite changes, skin rash, and it can have a significant effect on driving ability. It takes about 20-30 minutes for the onset of Ativan to take place. With the combined effects of both Ativan and butalbital, it would have been extremely easy to overpower Chris in such a compromised state. Also, with both of those medications in his system, it would have been extremely difficult for Chris to rig up the red elastic exercise band the way it was in order for him to allegedly hang himself. If both of these medications make the users’ coordination so unstable that they should not operate a car while under the influence of these medications, and the fact that both medications were found in Chris’s system, how did Chris have the strength and coordination to do what the reports state that he did? Yes, there is a chance that he could have done what the reports state he did, but the rest of the holes in the case make this question even bigger within the big picture.
Moving on from the drug talk, Martin states in the police report that after he had gone to his own room, Chris called him and “said that the Apple TV was not working. I [Martin] arranged for hotel IT to bring the remote that provides access to the hotel’s network. That was around 11:34 PM.” Weaver adds in the report that Martin told him that Chris was on the phone with Vicky at this time when IT and Martin were in Chris’s room. So this adds another witness to that night’s tragic event—a witness that was never asked for a statement by Investigator Weaver. Why wasn’t the IT person ever questioned? That person could have confirmed or denied what Martin had said, and potentially what Vicky had said after Chris was “found” dead. That person could have confirmed or denied seeing any over-intoxicated signs involving Chris. That person could have confirmed or denied whether anyone else had been present in Chris’s room that night while they [the IT person] were there. That person could have commented a lot about the state of affairs in room 1136 of the MGM that night, but that person was never questioned. Again, I ask why not? This means that Investigator Weaver never looked into Martin’s statement or Vicky’s statement; those statements were taken as the absolute truth right from the start. Are we to believe that Inv. Weaver is that bad at his job that he overlooked getting that statement? Also, the time that Martin states that he and this IT person were in Chris’s room—11:34 PM—is oddly specific.
Next in the police report, when asked what happened next, Martin states that he was in his room watching TV when he received a call from Vicky; “She sounded angry because he [Chris] wasn’t responding to his phone. She asked me [Martin] to go to the room to check on him.” Vicky was angry, is exactly what Martin stated. He does not mention anything about her sounding worried for Chris’s wellbeing, or about her being worried about how Chris was acting when he was on the phone with her, or about her being worried that Chris was on drugs. No. Martin said that Vicky was “angry” that Chris was not answering her phone calls. This shows that Chris had indeed hung up on her that night, though she now denies that ever happened. It also strongly implies that Chris and Vicky were fighting during that final phone call, though Vicky now denies they were fighting at all. Her story depicts a fairytale marriage with no problems whatsoever. Later in the report, Weaver adds in that Martin received Vicky’s call at 12:15 AM, though later in the report that time is listed as 12:30 AM. Weaver goes on to state that Martin had said that when Vicky called him to check on Chris “to see if he [was] alright because he did not sound like he was okay.” Weaver wrote this part, but Martin never said that in his statement. Why not? Martin said “she sounded angry” with Chris, not that she had voiced any kind of worry for Chris. Did Weaver weave in what Vicky had reported to him with what Martin had reported? Or was Weaver paid to write that in the report? Paid by someone with a lot of money and a lot of power, enough power to take jobs and take lives?
Weaver goes on to state that Martin went to Chris’s room at 12:15 AM to check on him, which means Martin went to Chris’s room immediately after Vicky had called Martin. Were they still on the phone when Martin went to Chris’s room? The time reported implies that they were still on the phone together; if she called him at 12:15 AM and he went to Chris’s room at that same exact time, then that means they were still on the phone together.
Martin’s quoted statement goes on to say that when he went to check on Chris, he was “unable to get [in] because of the interior latch. I [Martin] went back to my room and called for hotel security to come and open the door. They refused saying that it wasn’t my room, although I told them that he was my employer, and that I had a key.” When asked what he did next, Martin wrote, “I told Vicky that they wouldn’t open the door and she told me to kick it open. I did.”
Now, here is another big problem with this statement. Martin claims that he kicked in the hotel room door that was latched by the interior lock. These locks are designed so that kicking in the door is not possible. When the police need to get into a hotel room door that is latched from the inside they need to use a police breaching ram AND it takes quite a few hits with that ram to bust through the door. (Link Here: http://themetalden.com/?attachment_id=58492) But Martin Kirsten claims that he was able to kick through that lock all on his own, with his own physical strength. (That is one extremely strong bodyguard.)
Here are the crime scene photos of the broken lock on Chris’s hotel room door and the undamaged hinge and brace of that lock and the undamaged door frame of that same door.
As you can see, there is minimal damage, and it appears as though the latch of the interior lock was broken off from the inside while the lock was not engaged. If the lock had been engaged when it was broken, the hinge and the hinge brace and the door frame would have also been damaged. When police have used a breaching ram to bust thorough one of those locks, “they did extensive damage to the door jamb/frame and the door itself.” (http://themetalden.com/?attachment_id=58492)
Martin goes on to state in the police report that, “Upon entry [into Chris’s hotel room], I found the bedroom door locked. I called the hotel operator and told her that I needed security to open the bedroom door. They refused again, and I told them that I’m going to damage the hotel room and that [they] need to send security, call 911 and call an ambulance.” Why, before Martin “found” Chris’s body, did he think that 911 and an ambulance needed to be called? Neither Martin nor Vicky had any way of knowing what state Chris was in without seeing him. They had no way of knowing that 911 or an ambulance were needed—unless Martin and Vicky somehow already knew what had happened to him. I stress this point—Martin’s statement shows that he and Vicky somehow already knew that Chris needed medical assistance before Martin “found” Chris’s body. How did they know?
Martin reported that he then, “kicked the door 6-7 times before it somehow popped open. I went inside and the bathroom door was partially opened and I could see his feet.” Investigator Weaver asked Martin what happened next, and Martin stated, “I saw the red band around his neck, he was on the floor. I forced the band from wherever it was hanging and attempted [to] loosen the band from around his neck, and began chest compressions with I believe my left hand.” There are many problems with this statement of Martin’s, one of which is the fact that later in the police report the Event Report states that at 12:59:30, “Male tried to hang himself . . . They are getting him down to do CPR.” If Martin had already “forced the band from wherever it was hanging,” why would anyone need to get Chris down to do CPR? Martin said that he had already taken the red band down and that Chris was found on the bathroom floor.
The next problem—the biggest problem—comes in with all the blood that was found at the scene. Investigator Weaver wrote that, “Pro [Martin] kicked in bedroom door and found victim laying on the bathroom floor with blood running from his mouth and a red exercise band around victim’s neck.” Why was blood running from Chris’s mouth? In a typical suicidal hanging it is saliva that is normally found running from the victim’s mouth, not blood. It was also reported in the “Observations of the scene” section of the report that Chris’s face “[was] covered in blood spatter”, and “on the floor of the bathroom is a large drag mark of blood with a red rubber resistance band with black handles laying across the gathered blood. . . . There is blood spatter on the side of the bathtub.” That blood spatter is not a sign of a suicidal hanging; it is the sign of blunt force trauma. “Suicides very rarely yield any blood on the victim or around the corpse. The blood spatters indicate some foul play went down, . . . It looks to be blunt force trauma, along with homicidal ligature strangulation.”
(Link: http://themetalden.com/?p=64745 )
Here is a crime scene photo of the blood spatter on the side of the bathtub.
Even more blood was reported in the Event Report; MEO Investigator Angela Anderson-Cobb states in her observations of the scene and the surroundings, “The deceased, an adult white male is lying supine on the suite’s bedroom area having been moved there to facilitate resuscitation efforts prior to my arrival on the scene. . . . Stains of suspected blood are present on his [Chris’s] face and on the floor next to and beneath his head.” This is where Chris’s head trauma comes in. The head trauma was never included in any of the official reports, not even the autopsy, yet the head trauma was blatantly visible during the concert Chris had performed in earlier that night. (Link to final concert footage here: https://youtu.be/rejYKbCFcc4 — This video was shot in high definition in AVCHD mode using a Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS30 using “P” mode in ISO 3200 exposure and 1/60 min shutter speed.) This head trauma, which some fans claim was a bald spot, was not present at the concert Chris and Soundgarden had performed three nights prior to the final concert. (Link to Soundgarden’s 5/14/2017 concert: https://youtu.be/u_5mehyPSqQ )And Vicky Cornell also knows about the head trauma Chris had before his death, as do many of Chris’s fans, and allegedly Chris’s bandmates knew he had the injury. Why was that injury not reported? Why was Chris’s head trauma not in the autopsy report? Why did Martin not mention all the blood and the head injury? Why did Investigator Weaver never mention anything about Chris’s head injury? Angela Anderson-Cobb is the only person who was in Chris’s room that reported all the blood found under Chris’s head, but not one other person on the scene reported it. Why not? Why did they ignore that injury? That head injury, along with the blood running from Chris’s mouth, the blood spatter on the bathtub, and the nine broken/fractured ribs he had—Yes, Chris had nine broken ribs.—are clear evidence of foul play, and this evidence makes it clear that a thorough homicide investigation should have been conducted. Again, are we to believe that Investigator Charles Weaver, along with every other official involved in this case (except for Angela Anderson-Cobb) are that bad at their jobs to have missed all these signs of a homicide? Well, the ambulance service—DMCare Express—that transported Chris’s body from the hotel DID report the head injury in their written report. See the screenshot below.
NEW EVIDENCE FOUND ABOUT HEAD INJURY:
It states, “Trauma noted to back of skull. Minor bleeding noted upon crew arrival.” Why does the EMT crew of the ambulance company report the head laceration/head trauma but not one other official report mentions the head trauma? Why does the autopsy report ignore the head trauma? Why did Investigator Weaver ignore the obvious sign that a homicide took place that night, not a suicide? I will tell you why—because allegedly their silence was bought. Someone with enough money and enough power to not only ruin lives but also enough power to take lives allegedly took control of the situation. And this person, or people, is allegedly responsible for the murder and the murder cover-up of Chris Cornell.
Vicky Cornell and Martin Kirsten are not rich enough or powerful enough to buy such silence in order to facilitate such a murder cover-up; therefore, Vicky’s and Martin’s silence was allegedly bought. Whether they were bought before or after Chris’s death is yet to be determined. But their silence and their cooperation were bought, allegedly, at some point during this case. Both Martin and Vicky have shown that money is the most important thing to them. Allegedly, Martin was previously bought by his ex-girlfriend Heidi Klum back in 2014. (Link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2632802/Heidi-Klum-gave-ex-Martin-Kirsten-house-money-mouth-shut-following-split.html ) And all you have to do is see the actions of Vicky Cornell and it is obvious that money rules her world: selling Chris Cornell guitar straps for over $200/each; “borrowing” money from the Chris and Vicky Cornell Foundation for travel expenses; taking over $95k from the Foundation for “administrative costs”; selling, on iTunes, a recording of Toni Cornell singing a Prince song over Chris’s recording of that song he had done as a tribute to Prince after he had passed; etc. Vicky Cornell also has numerous lawsuits against various companies, and this has gone on since before she was ever in a relationship with Chris. She also has a bad habit of not paying people for work they have done for her, some of which have resulted in lawsuits against her: Brentwood law firm is suing her for legal fees she never paid after the firm won her and Chris $300k, and they claim that Vicky uses litigations to supplement her family’s income; this is just one example of many unpaid services by Vicky Cornell that have resulted in law suits against her.
Moving on from the allegations, to the facts:
I cannot stress the blood issue enough, which backs my above claim of a murder cover-up. Again, it clearly states in the police report that “his [Chris’s] face [was] covered in blood spatter” and “on the floor of the bathroom is a large drag mark of blood” and “there [was] blood spatter on the side of the bath tub”. All that blood was present at the scene of a suicide by hanging? What is up with that? Again, the description of the scene sounds and looks more like foul play and suggests that a homicidal hanging took place that night, not a suicide. “Homicide should be suspected (1) where there are signs of violence . . ., (2) where the clothing of the deceased is torn or disarranged, (3) where there are injuries, either offensive or defensive. Any definitive scratches, . . . point to manual strangulation.” (link: http://www.forensicpathologyonline.com/e-book/asphyxia/hanging) Manual strangulation, also called throttling, is “asphyxia produced by compression of the neck by human hands.” (Link: http://www.forensicpathologyonline.com/e-book/asphyxia/throttling ) “Though a homicidal hanging is difficult to accomplish by one person, it becomes much easier to carry out if “the victim becomes unconscious by injury or by a drug.” (link: http://www.forensicpathologyonline.com/e-book/asphyxia/hanging)
I included the bit about the scratches because, to add more suspicion of foul play to this case, the autopsy report states that, “ . . . the posterior of the neck had four, less than 0.1 centimeter to 0.5 centimeter, dry, tan, abrasions associated with the ligature mark.” (See a copy of the autopsy report at the end.) These abrasions, or scratches, suggest that Chris had tried to stop the asphyxiation, which again points to a case of foul play, homicidal hanging with a potential throttling, rather than suicide. The red exercise band that was around Chris’s neck would not have caused scratches, abrasions; it is made of smooth and stretchy rubber. I own the same red exercise band and I have personally wrapped it around my body and tried to make it cause abrasions and it is NOT possible. Those 4 abrasions found on Chris’s neck were the sign of a struggle. Chris DID NOT want to die. He fought for his life. He fought to stay in this world. If nothing else, these bodily injuries and evidence of a struggle show that a thorough homicide investigation is how this case should have been handled, but, as I already stated above, suicide was declared in less than two hours. I ask again—Are we to believe that Investigator Weaver and the Detroit PD and the ME are that bad at their jobs, or that they are that overloaded with work that they missed all of this? No. Angela Anderson-Cobb did not miss it in her report on the scene. The DMCare Express EMT workers did not miss it in their report of Chris’s condition. How did Investigator Weaver miss it? How did Theodore Brown, the ME who performed Chris’s autopsy, miss it? There are more than enough oversights that I have already gone through to show that this case points to homicide more than suicide, but I will continue with my findings.
Again, are we to believe that Vicky Cornell and/or Martin Kirsten were able to get the PD and Weaver to cover up Chris’s murder for them? No. Neither Vicky nor Martin has enough money or enough power to get the PD to cover up such a crime. Now, all of this brings David Geffen back into question because it is Geffen’s music label that Soundgarden were signed with. (F.Y.I. Linkin Park, Chester Bennington’s band, was also signed with Geffen’s label. Chester and Chris were best friends, and Chester was the Godfather to Chris’s son.) Geffen—a person with enough money and enough power to facilitate such a cover up, and the third person in the list of suspects that I mentioned in the beginning of this report. And it is not the first time that Geffen has been accused of trying to have someone killed; he has also been linked to working with and financially backing known and convicted pedophiles of Hollywood. These are all allegations.
Here are three articles linking David Geffen to (1) accusations of trying to have someone killed, (2) working with and financially backing businesses run by pedophiles in Hollywood, (3) attending Hollywood parties where sexual abuse of minors had taken place, and (4) an actor feared for his safety to mention in a court of law his relationship with David Geffen: https://www.buzzfeed.com/ellievhall/found-the-elusive-man-at-the-heart-of-the-hollywood-sex-abus?utm_term=.sr71E6Jbp#.tl3m0Rx6M & http://www.indiewire.com/2017/10/hollywoods-underage-sexual-abuse-problem-5-shocking-injustices-from-an-open-secret-1201891024/ & http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/david-geffen-porn-star-pal-feared-billionaire-article-1.2286791 . I have not yet found accusations against Geffen for pedophilia, but he does work with known and convicted pedophiles. Did Chris Cornell find out about Geffen’s links to the sex scandal in Hollywood? Chris Cornell is known for founding the Chris and Vicky Cornell Foundation, a foundation to help raise money for disadvantaged and abused children. Chris was a truth seeker, a no bullshit person. Did Chris find out about any potential connections or illegal actions of David Geffen’s and threaten to expose him? Did Geffen have Chris Cornell killed to protect himself, and potentially to protect other people Geffen is affiliated with? –(Along with Chester Bennington, who was “found” dead two months after Chris’s death, and on Chris’s birthday, and it is labeled “suicide by hanging” just like Chris.)—Geffen is the one raking in the most money in the death of rock legend Chris Cornell (as well as with the death of Chester Bennington), which makes him one of the primary suspects in the homicide investigation that still needs to take place in the death of Chris Cornell. David Geffen also has the money and the power to facilitate a murder and a murder-cover up as big as Chris Cornell’s. I am not accusing David Geffen of anything here; all I am saying is that he is a person of interest in the Chris Cornell homicide investigation that STILL NEEDS to take place. These are my objective observations of a still unsolved case.
As mentioned earlier, Chris ended up with 9 broken/fractured ribs, his t-shirt was torn (though it was not torn while he was in concert that night), and Chris had the large bloody head wound during that final concert—the head wound that was never mentioned in the police report, nor the autopsy report, nor the official narrative released to the public. And again, that head wound is blatantly obvious in video footage of that final concert (Link to final concert footage here: https://youtu.be/rejYKbCFcc4 — This video was shot in high definition in AVCHD mode using a Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS30 using “P” mode in ISO 3200 exposure and 1/60 min shutter speed.), and it was reported by the EMT of the ambulance that transported Chris’s body. That head wound that Chris had was also mentioned in the audio file of the police dispatch reporting what was found at the scene by the first responder. But this audio footage has mysteriously disappeared, or, more accurately stated–it has conveniently disappeared.
This head trauma and the missing first responder call bring so much more to this discussion. In a Detroit News article published on May 15, 2018 ((Link: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/entertainment/people/2018/05/15/chris-cornell-widow-rips-probe-detroit-death/34918321/ ), Vicky Cornell claims that she was unaware of Chris’s head trauma, but she is lying—no, this is not an allegation; it is the obvious truth. Vicky admitted directly to me on Twitter on March 3, 2018 that she knew about Chris’s head trauma, and she said that, “Yes, it most certainly exacerbated all the symptoms”. (See the screenshot of our conversation below.)
What she had said to me, as you can see in the screenshot, was her response when I mentioned that it was the head trauma that may have caused Chris’s strange behavior that Vicky has reported from that night, not just the medication. (This was my attempt to debunk her Ativan over-intoxication claim.) Her response shows that she already knew Chris had “the large bloody head wound [that] is blatantly visible in that last concert footage,” which means that everything she says in that Detroit News article about not being aware of his “bald spot”, “laceration”, or whatever the hell else she wants to call it, is all bullshit. It is important to note that Vicky never answered me when I asked how Chris wound up with that head injury, or how he wound up with nine broken ribs; instead she immediately blocked me—not only from her site but also from the official Chris Cornell site—but not before I took the above screenshot of our conversation to show proof that she knew about Chris’ head trauma he had during that final concert before his death two hours later, and that she had done nothing about it nor had she ever mentioned it publicly before that. Why ignore or deny the elephant in the room?
Also, in that Twitter conversation prior to my comment, Vicky twists the words of the medical examiner in Chris’s case to make them fit her “drug over-intoxication” narrative. She claims that when the ME wrote “drugs did not contribute to the cause of death” that what he really meant was that the “drugs were not the mechanical cause” of death. If the ME meant that the drugs were not the “mechanical cause of death” then that is how he would have written it in the report. She is twisting the ME’s words to fit her new “save all the prescription drug addicts” charade—what I call “The Vicky Campaign,” which she invented to make herself look like a do-gooder, (Vicky has started the Addiction Policy Forum “For Chris”—going on record to say that Chris was a prescription-pill addict, which is what she claims made him take his own life.) when in fact she is the complete opposite—the total of her actions show this; it is not me accusing her of anything that is not out in full view for all the public to see. Vicky Cornell’s actions show a desperate attempt to stay relevant, as well as to make money now that her cash cow is dead.
In the Detroit News article Vicky also makes it a point to state that, “We didn’t fight; I was just upset that he took more [Ativan], and I could hear the effect it had. I was not going to enable him. (I said) ‘what do you mean you took two?’ At that point, I kept asking him what else he took, but he just repeated the same thing over and over again: ‘My ears won’t stop ringing. They blew my voice out.’ I called for help, as I was sure he had taken something else by now. I worried he could have heart attack or stroke. I was asking (what drugs he’d taken) so that I could advise for proper medical attention.” Well, if what Martin states in the police report is correct, we know that Vicky and Chris were fighting that night, and that she asked Martin to check on Chris because she was “angry” he wouldn’t answer her phone calls. Nothing about a concern about drug intoxication was ever mentioned by anyone in any of the official reports taken. And in the police report, Martin never mentioned anything about Vicky being worried about Chris’s wellbeing, nothing about her being worried about drugs, or about Chris slurring his words and acting strange. Also, if Chris was over-intoxicated and acting strangely, Martin, of all people, would have been the first to notice because he was the one paid to be with him at all times and he was there with Chris in his hotel room while Vicky was only talking on the phone with Chris. Martin would have known, but Martin said nothing about drugs or over-intoxication or odd or uncharacteristic behavior from Chris. And Vicky’s statement in that Detroit News article about not wanting to enable Chris is also a crock of shit. She was an enabler no matter how much she tries to deny it. See the picture below from Chris’s 50th birthday party that Vicky threw for him, and a private flight they took together. Note that Chris was recently out of rehab when he and Vicky met, rehab for alcoholism and pills (opiates).
This is how she helped Chris stay sober:
*Note all the alcohol in the background.
Further evidence that Vicky is lying about not fighting with Chris on the last night of his life is what Chris’s sister-in-law, Amy Decker, has gone on social media and declared publicly—that she has copies of damning text messages that Vicky had sent to Chris on the night of his death, text messages that Amy claims that Vicky would not want the public to know about. See the screenshot below.
*NOTE: le_accidental_vegetarian is Amy Decker’s Instagram name, and @templeofthepit is one of many of Toni’s (Vicky’s mother) Instagram accounts.
This all follows in line with what Martin reported about Vicky being angry that Chris would not answer her calls, and what Inv. Weaver said about Chris hanging up on her. This is more information that Vicky would not want known by Chris’s fans. If the fans were to know about Chris and Vicky fighting that night, it is easy to come to the conclusion that many of them would blame her for what happened, and it would debunk her claims that they had a fairy-tale marriage.
That Detroit News article, along with the information Amy claims to have, places a dark shadow over all of Vicky Cornell’s actions and words. She may have done that interview with the hope that it would take the magnifying glass off from her and stop people from accusing her of anything negative, but all it does it put more doubt in people’s minds about everything she says and does. I must let you know that Vicky is a publicist. She seeks attention and she knows how to get it, and she knows how to spin and twist a tale to drum up even more publicity. This article is not her only public appearance. (Here is a link to articles by Ciel Gris, a colleague of mine, documenting Vicky’s lies and PR work: https://www.nuageuxavecpluieoccasionnelle.com/ ) She’s all over the place—day time talk shows, news articles, and her and her mother Toni are all over social media bullying people but accusing other people of doing the bullying. Yes, in that Detroit News article Vicky says that people are bullying her, but the opposite is what is really happening. (Her mother has even bullied and harassed me more than once on social media; I had to report her to Instagram for harassment.) There is so much in that Detroit News article to analyze.
That Detroit News article states, ‘My husband had no intention of leaving this world,’ [Vicky] said. ‘He did not have control of his faculties due to toxicology, perhaps even exacerbated by other factors, including a head injury, which was referenced in two EMS reports that were left out of the autopsy report.’” She mentions audio of the EMT first responder that many fans have mentioned hearing but that Detroit PD says has mysteriously vanished—along with any and all audio from during the time period of Chris’s death and the EMT’s response to his death. All of this, as I mentioned above, is highly suspicious. Not only does Vicky claim she heard that audio, but the article also states that she claims that “a written report by the crew from DMCare Express, the ambulance company owned by the Detroit Medical Center, stated: “Laceration to back of skull. Minor bleeding noted upon crew arrival.” I was not aware of this written report until this Detroit News article came out, but, as you see in the earlier screenshot, I have since found a copy of that report. This is very damning information for Detroit PD, Investigator Charles Weaver, and for the assistant medical examiner Theodore Brown, M.D.
So, why the hell is Detroit PD unable to find that audio—what so many of Chris’s fans, and his widow, have found and seen and heard? And why does Detroit PD not mention the written report from the ambulance company? Why didn’t they look into that? And why, if it is in a written report by the ambulance company, is the head wound not mentioned in the autopsy report? It sounds like that PD and the Detroit ME need to do some checks and balances and A LOT of retraining. But then again, I refer you back to what I mentioned above about David Geffen and an alleged murder cover-up.
To dissect that Detroit News article a bit more, Vicky says that the head injury—or “gash” or “laceration” or “bald spot”—“‘. . . was confirmed by the band and crew — they said they saw it at the show and not at sound check,’ Vicky Cornell said. ‘You can’t tell people there was no laceration when it’s documented, and we can all see it.’” My problem with her statement is that Chris’s band mates in Soundgarden have not said anything publicly about the nature of Chris’s death or about what happened on the last night of his life; they have remained silent. The only things that have come out from them to the public have all come through Vicky—someone who is known for lying and fabricating this whole story to fit her own PR agenda. What it seems as though she is doing here is trying to convince people that the head injury that Chris’s fans know he had during his final concert did not happen when he was home visiting with the kids before that show. (Vicky has gone on record to state that Chris had gone home between his May 14th show on Mother’s Day and his final show on May 17th “to spend time with the kids”.) It appears as though she is trying to take herself out of the equation when it comes to how Chris wound up with that injury. It is possible that the head injury Chris had before his death happened while he was visiting with his family. (There is a lot of documented evidence online about Vicky’s tendency toward angry and emotional outbursts, and throwing things when angry.) It has been stated by many people that Chris and Vicky were fighting on the last night of his life and in the days leading up to it, he hung up the phone on her that last night, he would not answer her phone calls after he hung up on her, and Chris was obviously pissed off during his final concert. When you watch that video of that final concert, between the last two songs (“My Wave” and “Slaves and Bulldozers”) Chris states, “No one tells me what to do. No one tells us what to do.” Who was he pissed at? Well, he had been fighting with Vicky and he had just come from visiting with her, and he arrived to his final concert with a head injury. And in the Detroit News article Vicky makes it a point to state that, “We didn’t fight; I was just upset that he took more [Ativan].” Again, Martin never said in the police report that Vicky was upset that Chris took more Ativan; Martin said Vicky was angry that Chris wouldn’t answer his phone. In this article she is, again, trying to take herself out of the suspect category, and she is trying to win the favor of Chris’s fans. If his fans knew for certain that Vicky and Chris had been fighting that night, there is a good chance that they would blame her for Chris’s death, they would not side with her in this whole addiction narrative she is pushing to the public, and chances are they would not follow her on social media, as many of them do now.
It is clear that Chris and Vicky were fighting on the last night if his life, but who else was his on stage rant for? The entirety of that rant goes on like this: “Anyone can do whatever they want; I don’t care what it is, including burning crosses on your lawn. I don’t give a shit. Burn your house down. Who cares? I don’t. Just as long as it doesn’t catch someone else’s house on fire.” It seems as though it was meant for more than just one person, and it seems as though there is a much bigger picture here than marital issues alone, but I will get to that more in just a moment.
So, who is lying—Vicky or Martin or both of them? If Vicky really was angry that Chris took two extra Ativan and that she was worried about how it was effecting him and that she believes it is those extra meds that made Chris kill himself and that Martin is the one who gave Chris more of his meds than were prescribed—why is Vicky not going after Martin for giving Chris those meds? If everything she claims is the truth, then she would be going after Martin for drugging Chris to the point that it caused him to kill himself. I call BS on everything Vicky says. When there is evidence of someone lying, it makes it very hard to believe anything that person says after that first lie(s) is revealed. This is the case with Vicky Cornell; she has told more than one lie, which now discredits everything she says and does.
In that Detroit News article, Vicky is now not only blaming the alleged two extra Ativan pills for making Chris suicidal, she is also blaming the combination of the Ativan with the butalbital, and she goes on to blame Prednisone—a prescription she claims Chris was on at the time of his death and that was reported to have been found on the counter of Chris’s hotel bathroom, but a medication that she claims he was never tested for in the toxicology. No, Prednisone does not appear on Chris’s tox report, but does that mean he was not tested for it? I do not know. I assume that a toxicology report tests for every foreign substance in the victim’s system, and, if Prednisone was not on the tox report, I assume it means that it was not found in his system. In the article Vicky claims that Chris had been prescribed Prednisone to have “on hand for emergencies, in case he got laryngitis and was unable to sing.” I have a big problem with that statement because Prednisone is not a medication to take “as needed”; it is a drug that is to be taken every day as prescribed, and the patient who is prescribed this medication is told not to miss even one dose. This claim Vicky has made about the Prednisone is another blatant lie.
What I do know is that all of Vicky’s claims about the medications and their effects on Chris are purely speculation that cannot be proven. Neither Vicky nor anyone else can say with any certainty what state Chris’s mind was in at the time of his death. Vicky is claiming that all the 1% chances of suicidal ideation associated with the meds Chris was on, along with the combination of Ativan and butalbital in his system, are what pushed him to take his own life. That is quite a stretch she is making. Had Vicky not immediately cremated Chris’s body further bodily investigation could have lead to more information for a more clearly defined cause of death, and the head trauma could have been confirmed. But Vicky got rid of all that potential evidence before any further investigation could take place, which means that her claim that she has been unhappy with the investigation ever since the beginning is another blatant lie. If she had truly been unhappy with the investigation right from the beginning, she never would have had Chris cremated and she would have demanded that a more thorough investigation take place. Hell, she has enough money to hire her own investigator if she was so unhappy with how Detroit handled Chris’s case. She could have demanded a second opinion from a different group of qualified professionals. But I must stress: Vicky did absolutely nothing to get to the real truth after her husband died—nothing except hire an insurance lawyer and cremate Chris’s body; oh yeah, she also got a nose job. Yes, Vicky got a fucking nose job less than six months after her husband allegedly killed himself! (She had to get more camera ready for all the PR bs she was planning—That’s my one bias statement for this piece, and I firmly stand by what I say.)
Back to Chris’s numerous bodily injuries: those nine broken/fractured ribs Chris had at the time of his death are said to have happened from CPR. This is completely false. The American Heart Association says that even in an elderly person the most damage to the ribs, on average, is 4-5 broken/fractured ribs. Chris was a healthy and fit 52-year-old man, which makes it highly unlikely for him to have suffered such internal injuries from CPR alone. In Martin’s statement, he did not perform full CPR on Chris; Martin only performed one-handed CPR, which would not have caused any injuries. And one-handed CPR is a half-assed life-saving action. Martin says that he was on the phone with Vicky during this time, giving her updates. Why did Martin not tell Vicky that he had to tend to her husband, try to save his life, and that he would have to call her back with an update? This is highly questionable and suspicious behavior in the face of a life or death emergency. It does not sound like Martin was actually trying to save a life, which make me wonder if he already knew Chris was dead. Just like I mentioned above, Martin somehow already knew that 911 and an ambulance needed to be called before he ever entered Chris’s hotel bedroom and before he saw Chris in the bathroom. All of this implies Martin had advanced knowledge as to what condition Chris was in and advanced knowledge as to what had happened to Chris to put him in that state. Did Martin put Chris in that state? Did Martin know of someone else who had put Chris in that state? Did Martin allow anyone else into Chris’s room that night? If Martin did kick in Chris’s hotel room door, where is the hotel CCTV footage showing him doing that? It has been reported that from a police review of the surveillance of the hallway outside Chris’s room no one else had entered or left Chris’s hotel room that night. If they have surveillance footage to show that detail, then they should also have the footage of Martin kicking in Chris’s door. Also, Investigator Weaver wrote in the police report that Martin went to Chris’s room at 12:15 to check on him, and the report also lists that the time that the first responder (“the hotel EMT”) arrived to Chris’s room was 12:56 A.M. What was Martin doing during those forty-five minutes? Yes, he said that he had called hotel security a couple times, kicked in two doors, and performed one-handed CPR, but that’s a lot of time to be alone with Chris’s body. There was ample time for Martin to allegedly set the scene to appear like suicide and/or to allegedly get his story straight before anyone else arrived on the scene. Also, it only takes 2-5 minutes to throttle someone.
The official reports also state that no suicide note was found at the scene. How can they say with certainty that there was no note if they never took Chris’s phone or computer into evidence? Did they not look to see if Chris had written a note on one of his devices? Did they not look to see if Chris had confided in someone via email, text, or social media messaging? Did they not see if Chris had a grievance with someone before his death?
Back to Chris’s on-stage rant: Not only did Chris sound angry during his final concert (refer back to the rant I referenced above) on May 17, 2018, but in previous concerts he had also shown a lot of anger toward a small group of billionaires who run the world. One example of Chris’s anger is seen in Soundgarden’s Jacksonville, Florida concert from April 29, 2017. Before the last song of the night —“Beyond the Wheel”— Chris talks about the meaning of the song. Chris’s exact words were, “This is the young man’s take on our country, the government, our government sending young men off to war . . . We were young men at the time that we wrote this song [Beyond the Wheel], and at the time we didn’t want to have our lives interrupted so that we could go out and maybe die [going off to war] to make more people more money. Now, we didn’t know. We’ve done well in music, but honestly in our last 30 years I’m not really friends with anybody that’s a billionaire or that owns a business that is worth more than all of us put together and doesn’t give a shit what happens to us. So that’s what this song is about. It’s about people, small groups of people, with lots of money who don’t give a shit about me and they don’t give a shit about you. This is called ‘Beyond the Wheel’.” (Link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESoXnqErEXg ) Though the song was written when Chris and the band were just young men, the delivery Chris gives about the meaning is very passionate, and it must be noted that at the time he gave this explanation he had been working with some of these billionaires he speaks of with his efforts to protect children around the world through The Chris and Vicky Cornell Foundation and with his work on the movie The Promise. Some of those billionaires include: The Clinton Foundation and the IRC (International Rescue Committee); Dr. Eric Esralian, producer of The Promise, AND he was also a close friend of Chris and Vicky’s and Chris’s doctor at the time of his death, the one who prescribed Chris’s medications—the Ativan that Vicky is blaming his alleged suicide on, AND Eric Esralian manages multiple companies alongside various Board of Directors members of the MGM International Resorts; Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group, and he is also on the board of directors for the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC) . . . and the list goes on. (Link: https://blameitonbealer.wordpress.com/2017/11/05/esoteric-research-revolving-around-the-death-of-chris-cornell/ )
What I mean is that because of Chris’s recent work with such billionaires this speech he gave on April 29, 2017 holds a lot of weight. It must also be noted that Chris, a month before his death, had not only visited a refugee camp in Athens, Greece, and he also had a tour of the U.N., which obviously involves some of these billionaires he speaks of in that concert footage. The U.N. is also the organization that, back in 2015, started working with producers to create a series of short films that include The Promise, documenting the Syrian refugee crisis, etc. This was done to encourage more people to donate to their “humanitarian” causes (The IRC: International Rescue Committee—is one of many of these causes, and it is linked to many scandals.). It is important to note that with the release of the music video for Chris’s song “The Promise”, for the movie of the same name, (which coincidentally was released, per Chris’s request, on April 20, 2017—World Refugee Day—one month and two days after his death) was set by Chris to have all proceeds go to the IRC. You can bet your ass that release made the IRC and all connected to it a lot more money due to Chris’s death than it would have had Chris been alive at the time of its release. That is just how this all works. It is not me making things up. Also, during that U.N. trip, accompanied by Dr. Eric Esralian, Chris and his family had visited the Vatican for a screening of The Promise. Do not forget all counts of pedophilia associated with the Vatican and multiple priests who have been convicted. If Chris had been working with these billionaires at the time of his death, why would he speak of them the way he did during that April 29th concert? Did he find out something dark while working with them? Is it that discovery that made him change his mind about what type of people they really are? Did these visits contribute to him changing his mind about these people, these billionaires who have a lot of control over people and the media; these people who claim to do the things they do in order to help people, when in reality they are the ones allegedly committing the wrongs? It is all over the internet that these people are allegedly involved in human-trafficking and pedophilia, etc. (https://blameitonbealer.wordpress.com/2017/11/05/esoteric-research-revolving-around-the-death-of-chris-cornell/ ). Is there any truth to all of this? I do not know.
What I do know is that because of Chris’s work with The Promise, The Chris and Vicky Cornell Foundation (which is now just a fraud run by Vicky Cornell; she borrows money from the donations to use for travel expenses—$5k at a time—and one year $95k was allocated for “administrative costs”—Vicky is the administrator. It must also be noted that Vicky’s Karayiannis family is allegedly involved with escort services and human-trafficking, all linked to a property in Miami that they rent.), the U.N., the I.R.C., etc. the list of suspects in Chris’s murder grows exponentially. Many people have profited in big ways off from Chris’s death. Every one of those people who have benefitted from his death need to be put under a magnifying glass and all of their actions and associations need to be sifted through with a fine-tooth comb. I am not accusing anyone of anything; I am just showing that the list of suspects is much larger than at first appearance when looking at the case of the mysterious death of rock legend Chris Cornell. More than just Geffen, more than just Vicky Cornell and Martin Kirsten are on that suspect list. Huge names are on that list. More billionaires just like Geffen are on that suspect list, and, guess what—they all work together somewhere along their web of connections; and they all have the power to make or break careers, take lives, ruin people financially, ruin people’s reputations and credibility, etc. The web of these billionaires’ connections is so vast that it is easy to get lost and chalk it all up to a crock of conspiracy theories created by delusional people. But I wonder if that is what these billionaires are counting on—this web of connections was potentially created on purpose to make people get so lost that they find it unbelievable and then they just move on with their day with their heads buried back in the sand. And the people who do not bury their heads in the sand are discredited with the title “conspiracy theorist”.
If nothing else, what I set out to do with this blog is to convince more people that Chris Cornell did not die by his own hands. Chris Cornell was murdered. I had at one time thought that Chris had died an accidental death that had been staged as suicide, but that theory is hard to believe because it is hard to believe that the Detroit PD are so terrible at their jobs or so overwhelmed with their work load that they made all the oversights in this case that I have pointed out. That is what leads to the theory that an actual murder cover-up has taken place, and in order to cover up such a crime that crime MUST involve some very powerful person/people. It has been a long hard year since Chris’s passing, but I will continue to speak out for Chris Cornell. He was a light in this dark world. He was my biggest musical inspiration, and, for all he gave to me and for all he gave to the world, I will continue to stand up for him and be his voice. Someone silenced him, but they cannot silence all of us.
Loud Love!
R.I.P. Chris Cornell
Thank you for all you gave to me and for all you gave to the world.
Your voice will forever sing inside my head.
Your light will forever shine.
You will forever remain my muse.
“Murder Of Blue Skies”
You flew in on the wind
Was a day that I won’t forget
Told me to let you in
And that I would not regret it
But you had a touch as cool as rain
And only once the weather changed
Murderer of blue skies
I can’t wait
To never be with you again
And I can’t wait
To lead a life that you’re not in
And I won’t break
Though I may bend
From time to time
I can’t wait to never be with you again
Now, the truth will set you free
But all you had was lying in you
So you built a cage for me
All the while pretending to be
A living saint with a thorny crown
And me condemned to be your clown
I applaud you as you take a bow
I can’t wait
To never be with you again
And I can’t wait
To lead a life that you’re not in
And I won’t break
Though I may bend
From time to time
I can’t wait to never be with you
Always thought that I pride myself on patience
But it’s wearing thin
Never thought that falling for you only meant
Falling down
I can’t wait
To never be with you again
And I can’t wait
To lead a life that you’re not in
And I won’t break
Though I may bend
I can’t wait
To never be with you again
And I can’t wait
To lead a life that you’re not in
And I won’t break
Though I may bend
From time to time
I can’t wait to never be with you again
I can’t wait to never be with you again
~~~ Chris Cornell 2015 Higher Truth album ~~~
***(Note: If you would like to see a copy of the official reports (police report, autopsy, etc.), I am more than willing to share those documents with anyone who requests a copy. The reports are too long to include in this post.)
Written by Renee Young DeCamillis
05/30/2017
The voice of a generation, an artist for all time.
The death of the rock legend Chris Cornell has hit me hard, harder than I thought the death of a rock star or celebrity could ever affect me. Ever since I first discovered Soundgarden and Chris’s amazing talent during their Badmotorfinger tour in the 90’s, Chris has been my musical inspiration. His voice has been the shining start that I’ve reached for with my own voice for so long. Now he’s gone, and my heart is bleeding. There is a whole left in the world and left in my heart that will forever be empty. Since I got the news around 5 AM the morning following the horrific event, I’ve been writing a piece about depression and anxiety and the dangerous mix of drugs and medication so often used to self-medicate—and clinically-medicate—those who suffer with these mental illnesses. I am one who has also suffered with these issues my whole life, so it is a subject that is very near and dear to my heart, and even more so now that Chris is gone and said to have been a sufferer like me. But after working on the fourth draft of that piece a couple days ago, the details surrounding Chris’s death leave me unsatisfied with the definitive ruling of suicide.
Yes, maybe my discomfort is because it is too devastating for me to accept that Chris felt so low in those last moments that he took it upon himself to take his own life. Many, such as his wife Vicky Cornell, say that he was taking the prescription drug Ativan for his anxiety, and that he may have taken too many which could in turn have skewed his thinking in those final moments, and that is what made him do the dreaded deed. Maybe that is the case. But the more I think about the entire story that is in the media, the more questions I have. There are too many holes in this story for me to accept any definitive ruling about his death. It all seems premature to me. Ruling Chris’s death a suicide seems too easy, too cut-and-dry. And then bringing drugs into the mix is too cliché. Chris is an original, and tagging a cliché ruling of suicide and over-intoxication onto his death just leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Maybe the cops are working on solving all the many questions that I have, but I’m still yet to read anywhere that they are indeed asking the right questions. So my small self in my small way am going to voice all of my big questions with the hope that someone out there, someone with the power and authority can get to the bottom of every last detail surrounding the death of my musical inspiration—Chris Cornell. I will not rest until all the dots are connected.
I’ve read many articles about Chris’s death, many of which I’ve shared on my social media sites ( https://twitter.com/Phantom_1333 https://www.facebook.com/renee.youngdecamillis ), but I’m sure I haven’t read everything that’s out there, and maybe not everything I’ve read up to this point is %100 accurate, but here is what I’ve learned:
Now, these are all the details that I’ve been able to find. Like I said above, I’m not sure if they are %100 accurate or not—though the same details can be found in a number of different articles—and I’m not sure if there are other details known that I haven’t heard about yet. (If anyone has more information, I’d love to hear about it and know your sources.) I have read some articles with more information and different information, but if I didn’t find that information repeated anywhere else I chalked it up to false news. Now, with the information that I do have, I’m left with many pressing questions that could entirely change the verdict of suicide, or at least give all who loved him a little more closure and acceptance for the ruling of suicide.
My questions and concerns:
Investigation 101: When someone is found dead it is the last person who saw that person alive, and the last person who talked to that person before they were found dead, and the person who found the body, and the spouse of the deceased person that are all primary suspects. I have not yet heard enough evidence to rule out either of the suspects—Vicky Cornell and Chris’s bodyguard Martin Kirsten. Since there is not enough evidence to definitively rule out the two number one suspects, there is also not enough evidence to definitely rule Chris Cornell’s death a suicide. This is all my objective thinking. I am not accusing anyone of foul play, but I do strongly suspect foul play occurred. I want to make sure that a thorough investigation takes place before anything is ruled out, and before there is any final verdict on Chris Cornell’s true cause of death.
There are people out there who are going to think I’m a horribly uncaring person to put Chris’s wife Vicky on the suspect list and under the magnifying glass, but it is nothing personal. I am being objective with all of my thoughts and inquiries. (Plus, I’m not trying to gain friends or followers with this write-up; I’m trying to get to the bottom of Chris Cornell’s real cause of death and what led up to his final fall. As I’ve stated many times, my writing is not for the easily offended.) The details surrounding how Chris and Vicky got together to begin with only adds to my questioning how devoted Vicky truly is to Chris. Chris was divorced from his first wife, Susan Silver, in March of 2004. By May of that same year Chris and Vicky were married, and by September of that same year they gave birth to their first child together, Toni Cornell –(http://fandaily.info/celebrity-couples/vicky-karayiannis-is-chris-cornells-wife ). If these details I’ve research are accurate, that means that Vicky was pregnant with Chris’s child before he was divorced from his first wife, which, for the slow thinking individuals out there, suggests that Vicky was the other woman at some point in their relationship. It has also been said that Susan had at some point had a private investigator looking into the matter of Chris and Vicky as a couple. This all immediately puts up red flags in my mind about the character of Vicky Karayiannis Cornell. I will admit that I don’t know if Chris and his first wife had been separated before the divorce was final, but even so, how was Vicky to know that Chris and Susan would not eventually reconcile? Yes, I know it was a messy divorce, but most divorces are; that’s not uncommon—just as it is not uncommon for a messy separation to lead back into a stronger marriage. And to Chris, I have to say—If I am wrong in my questioning of Vicky and how devoted she was/is to you and my questioning if she had something to do with your death, it is not because I don’t care; it is because I care so much. I can’t emphasize enough that I mean no disrespect toward your family. I have the utmost respect for all of your family—(unless what I suspect is true, of course).
Another aspect of this case that puts Vicky’s sincerity and devotion to Chris under question is, again, her goodbye letter to him. (See the link above to read it and see what I mean.) The letter is mostly about her. She repeatedly states what Chris had said to her about how much she meant to him. She emphasizes this point by saying, “. . . you had always said . . .” & “. . . when you said to me . . .” Who is she trying to convince that Chris was so in love with her and so devoted to her? If anyone follows Chris on Twitter, or has seen the two of them together, they can see for themselves that he was obviously in love with her. What the goodbye letter sounds like and looks like to me is a slam against Chris’s first wife Susan Silver, making it look like Chris could never have loved her as much as he loved Vicky. But it also looks like a publicity stunt to take the magnifying glass off from Vicky for any potential foul play. She wrote, “My heart gleamed to see you happy, living and motivated. Excited for life.” Why would she write that she “gleamed” to see him living? That is a highly suspect thing to say. What she is actually saying and doing with that line is shining a light on the idea that she wanted him alive, and by doing this she is trying to take the magnifying glass off from her for any suspicion of foul play—making it appear like she would never have had him killed. The last line of the letter is hyperbolic and melodramatic: “I love you more than anyone has ever loved anyone in the history of loving and more than anyone ever will.” This over exaggerated line is another red flag; it immediately shows: she’s trying very hard to convince the public that she was in love with Chris (Why should anyone doubt that?); it’s another slam against Susan Silver, saying that Susan never loved Chris as much as Vicky; she is also playing on people’s sympathies in order to take the magnifying glass off from her for any potential wrong-doing; AND by having her letter published in Billboard emphasizes all of this. Vicky Cornell’s goodbye letter points more to some sort of guilt rather than the devastation over the loss of her spouse.
As for Chris’s history and state of mind at the time of his death: I understand that Chris Cornell was a recovering addict. I understand that he was prescribed Ativan for anxiety. I also understand that he had a darkness inside of him, like we all do, and that he suffered with depression and anxiety. I also understand all too well how depression and anxiety can lead to suicide, and that self-medication and prescribed medication can easily make anxiety and depression worse an in-turn lead to suicide. (I not only have a degree in psychology, but I’ve also worked in the mental health field for many years, and I have also suffered with anxiety and depression my whole life—and tried drugs and medication to deal with that darkness.) But listen to Chris’s music. Listen to Chris’s words. He is an artist, and he used his art to express all of his inner demons, all of that darkness. That is healthy. That is therapeutic. I’m a musician, a singer and lyricist, as well as a dark fiction writer, and in my many years of work and study—the writer, the artist, is always said to use their art as a healthy and therapeutic outlet for what they are coping with inside themselves. Chris did that.
Some reporters and fans argue that the final song he performed with Soundgarden—“Slaves and Bulldozers”, with a segue into “In My Time of Dying”—in that Detroit show was an indicator that Chris planned his suicide, but I do not believe for one minute that that is the case. For one—the band has done that same thing before, segue and all, during previous performances. For two—Chris ended the show by telling Detroit, “We’ll see you soon.” (Watch the link above to see and hear this for yourselves.) Those are not the words of someone who is about to kill themselves. And, again, if you watch the performance—not just the last song—anyone who is familiar with Chris Cornell and his tremendous talent and normally tremendous stage presence—will see and hear that he was off and appeared intoxicated. (Again, WHY did Martin Kirsten, Chris’s bodyguard, give more meds to an obviously over-intoxicated Chris?)
So, what is it that really led to Chris Cornell’s death? If it really was a suicide, what pushed him to his breaking point? Was it over-intoxication that led to him not thinking clearly in those final moments? Was it marital problems that pushed him over the edge? Was it the pressure of the business (I highly doubt it.)? Was it the pressure of being a touring musician, a rock legend doing what he loves to do, and also the pressure of wanting to also be the best father and husband he could be? Was he overextending himself? OR were there other factors that led to his death? Was there any type of foul play involved? Why was the bodyguard so negligent? Why is the bodyguard Martin Kirsten not being held liable for giving a visibly over-intoxicated person more drugs? (Maybe this will happen after the toxicology report is finalized.) Why is Vicky not going after Martin Kirsten for giving Chris more Ativan when Chris was already visibly intoxicated? (Maybe she will after the results of the toxicology report. If she doesn’t, then that points even more to foul play.) Why are Chris’s wife Vicky and her mother Toni emphasizing how in love with Chris Vicky was? Why does Vicky say she “gleamed” to see him living? Were the bodyguard and the wife involved in something more sinister? (This may be the dark fiction writer inside of me getting the best of my mind, but it’s still a legitimate question that needs to be answered. Again, I mean no disrespect, but it can’t be ruled out; too many red flags point to this possibility.)
Chris’s wife Vicky has said that she will stand up for Chris, and I respect and adore her alleged devotion to her husband. But since she should still be a suspect—which could put doubt in people’s minds as to the sincerity of her actions (Again, I mean no disrespect. This is just objective thinking.)—It is the fans that need to be Chris’s voice right now. And though I am small in the grand scheme of the world, I will have my voice heard. I will speak up for Chris since he is no longer able to speak up for himself, and I hope that more of his fans will stand with me and demand more questions asked and more answers given. And we can’t just accept the first answers given—every last detail needs to be investigated to the fullest in order to dig to the absolute truth. We all need to come together and demand that Chris’s death is thoroughly investigated in order to come to a definitive ruling.
I have to say that I have the utmost sympathy for Chris’s three children—Christopher, Toni, and Lillian Cornell. Chris was a loving and devoted father who can never be replaced. My heart aches for the pain and loss and emptiness they are feeling. I hope they know in their hearts that he would never intentionally abandon them, and that he will forever live on within them and around them.
When all is said and done, no matter what the true reasons are behind the death of Chris Cornell—my hero, my muse, my inspiration whom I love dearly—he will forever be the shape of the hole inside my heart. Rest in peace, Chris Cornell. “Say Hello to Heaven”.
Rob Zombie’s 31
Release Date: September 16, 2016
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Studio: Spectacle Entertainment Group, Bow and Arrow Entertainment
Director: Rob Zombie
Writer: Rob Zombie
Cast: Jeff Daniel Phillips, Malcolm McDowell, Sheri Moon Zombie, Meg Foster, Lawrence
Hilton-Jacobs, Kevin Jackson, Richard Brake, Jane Carr, Judy Greeson
Rating: R
Say Bye-Bye to Your Dreams and Hello to Your Nightmares:
We Are Satan’s Puppets, Pawns in His Game
After I rang in 2017 with my first viewing of Rob Zombie’s new horror film, 31, I came away very disappointed, a feeling that did not sit well with me. Anyone who has read any of my previous reviews of his work knows that I am a huge Zombie fan, and that I can find the deeper meaning in his gore fests when many other people cannot see past the gore. So, of course, I watched 31 again—scene by scene, with a note book in my hand. With the second viewing I realized I had missed a lot of crucial dialogue and various nuances, and those details changed my perspective tremendously.
For those of you who have no idea what this film is about—31 follows a group of carnival workers who are kidnapped on Halloween and held hostage in “MurderWorld”—an isolated compound. They are thrown into a game called “31” where they are given twelve hours to try to survive against the attacks of a group of killers dressed as clowns. The back of the DVD case states, “ . . . the clowns aren’t the only ones they need to worry about—A grand scheme of Satanic rituals and a much more sadistic plot awakens.” This plot that awakens, well, it can be missed amidst all the crazy brutality and the tension instilled from the maddening chase scenes and shaky camera work. Now, it is time to look past the shock-fest—which Zombie creates like no other—and dig to the core of the story. Hold on tight and get ready to explore the horrors of the mind—and of the world.
True fans of Zombie’s work will all attest to the fact that 31 brings us back to Zombie’s roots, gore galore in the crazy carnival of life. This film takes all of Zombie’s previous works and stitches them—with dull and rusty needles—all together in a tapestry of insanity. But amidst all that gore, there is a story being told. “We are all pawns in their game.”—this is what Schizo-Head (David Ury) says to Panda (Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs) when he is trying to buy himself time. Though he is purely a psychopath trying to give the illusion of similarity between himself and the victims, what Schizo-Head says is true in the bigger picture—the main idea Zombie is writing about. The rich and all-powerful devils of the world are in cahoots with Satan—pulling the strings of the lower classes, fucking with and destroying lives just because they can and because it amuses them; and, in the end, they make money off keeping us all down and out and struggling for survival. As the old saying goes: “The rich get richer and the poor get . . .” dead, especially if they are in a Zombie film. In a speech given by Father Murder (Malcolm McDowell) to the victims, he states that “. . . the dirtier you work, the luckier you get.” This statement takes on a double meaning in the film. On the surface, Father Murder is referring to the victims and the nature of how to survive the “31” game, but it also speaks volumes to the overall message in this tale: the rich and powerful devils of the world play the dirtiest—following Satan’s lead—which is why they are at the top of the socioeconomic ladder, wielding all the power.
An Amazon review posted on the official 31 website states this about the film: “If you want deep thoughts to ponder, get off the internet and read a book.” I completely disagree with this statement. Rob Zombie does not spoon feed the deeper meaning of his work to the viewers; he uses a lot of symbolism and makes you work to find the meaning. There is no easy link to click to give you the answers; oh no, Rob Zombie’s work makes you think—at least for those of you who can see past the gore. Zombie actually quotes Franz Kafka—from his personal notebooks—before the first scene even opens, and he refers to cockroaches—similar to Kafka’s story “The Metamorphosis” where the main character wakes up as a beetle-like insect—living after their heads are cut off. Kafka is a writer that makes you think very deeply, deeper than many are capable of thinking—or want to think—and the story behind 31 is very “Kafkaesque.” (This actually makes me wonder—how much of an overlap of Kafka and Zombie fans are out there? I know of at least one—me.) After reading many reviews of 31, it is apparent that many horror fans have missed the references, missed the core story. (Or maybe they just don’t give a fuck about the deeper meaning. I don’t know.) A deeper meaning is there, you just have to want to find it; you have to sink your hands into the blood and guts and pull out the heart of the story.
As for symbolism: I personally love the symbolism of the marionette scene, and the last minute decision to bring it back in the ending is a powerful statement. And the decision to end the movie outside on a bright and sunny day also comes across as symbolic; it gives Charly (Sheri Moon Zombie) the illusion that she survived the game. Illusions play a big role in this film.
Then there is Doom-Head’s (Richard Brake) opening monologue, which is as rich with meaning as it is with pure horror and dread. Brake is phenomenal in this role. In his monologue he repeats the line “I ain’t no fucking clown.” His emphatic repetition of that statement emphasizes the fact that he resents having to dress like a clown, and that those who have hired him see him as a clown—He actually is “a grease-painted performer” eliciting “an amused response from an audience,” though he insists he is not. His audience consists of the rich and evil “mysterious folks who pay [him] a whole lotta scratch to do what [he does].” And the fact that he looks like he only weighs about a 120 pounds soaking wet adds to the idea of the weak ones having the most fight—another point Father Murder makes in the above mentioned speech. Doom-head is by no means weak; he is completely insane and brutal; though he insists that he is in control—a line that is all too often spoken by those who are truly psychotic. Not only does his mental instability keep control out of his hands, but so do the puppet strings. The killers and the victims are all in Satan’s great puppet show. Not only does Doom-Head’s opening monologue show how much he is also just another puppet of the rich, a puppet of Satan’s, but so does the magnificent scene when Doom-Head is pumping himself up to start the game. He repeats over and over—as he stares in the mirror at his clown-makeup—“I’m not crazy. I’m in control!” This is one of the best scenes in the whole film. It shows the true character of Doom-Head, and it shows yet another illusion.
Up to this point, it may seem like I am singing nothing but admiration for Zombie’s film, but that is not the case. While there is a lot about this film that I love, there is also a lot that I think is not working well. The biggest problem is that I do not feel an emotional connection to the victims. I am not allowed to know them enough in the beginning to care about what happens to them in the end. Zombie tries to show us how close they all are during the game they are thrown into, but it all comes in too late, which makes it feel forced. This is especially true when Levon (Kevin Jackson) dies in Panda’s arms, and again in the dinner scene when Panda is all torn up over his best friend’s murder. Maybe if the montage at the end of the film, which shows them as a tight-knit group of friends having fun times together on the road, was used in the beginning this would help show their familial-like relations, but even that may not be enough. Also, the use of the montage at the end is too much like the montage at the end of The Devil’s Rejects—though I do love how Zombie uses Charly’s bow at the end of her silly dance in the montage as her symbolic last bow from life. That is a nice touch.
One of my other issues with this film is Zombie’s use of the same talent he uses in his other films. I understand that Zombie is the type of writer that writes about a certain type of people, a certain class, as many writers do, but I hope he shakes it up a bit with his casting in the future. Writing about the same type of people, and then casting the same talent makes it feel like he is using the same characters, even though that is not the case. Don’t get me wrong—I do love Sheri Moon Zombie, Jeff Daniel Philips, and Meg Foster, but it is time for a change up. Even if Zombie insists on casting a lot of the same talent, I hope he at least does not continue to cast the same faces in the leading roles.
Zombie uses a lot of symbolism in 31, as he does in all of his work. To fully understand his Hell rides, one must look evil in the face, push aside the masked veil—the façade the Devil hides behind—and see what horrors the mind is capable of spinning. In 31, the Devil is within the rich and powerful, just as he is within—to varying degrees— every one of us puppets; we are all playing a role in Satan’s colossal marionette show, whether we want to or not. Doom-Head says it best: “The unicorn of life shit the magical rainbow and spun an illusion. Life is nothing more than the stinking filthy bone-yard of dead rotting dreams.” The American Dream is an illusion. The dream of freedom is an illusion. The dream of free will is an illusion. The dream of peace is an illusion. Hell, this whole fucked up world is nothing but a mind-fuck illusion.
Reviewed by Renee Young DeCamillis
1/04/2017
I give this film 3 out of 5 stars.
