Chris Cornell dead: Detroit police release full account of singer's death
Detailing how the singer's bodyguard attempted resuscitation
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Your support makes all the difference.Chris Cornell’s death earlier this year shook the many people, the frontman having been performing with Soundgarden at Detroit’s Fox Theatre just hours before the incident.
After two months of relative speculation, a report has been released by Police, offering most informed information to date on what happened during the last hours of Cornell’s life.
Obtained by the Detroit Free Press, the report — made available after a Freedom of Information Act request — details how the singer’s wife, Vicky, called bodyguard Martin Kirsten, prompting him to go investigate Cornell’s suite "because he did not sound like he was OK.”
Due to a lock, Kirsten was forced to break down the main door, having to do the same with the interior bedroom door. The bodyguard told the police in a statement: “I went inside and the bathroom door was partially opened, and I could see his feet.”
Kirsten then removed a band from the singer's neck and attempted to resuscitate him by compressing his chest. Medical persons were soon on the scene, Cornell being pronounced dead at 1:30 am, an hour and 15 minutes after Vicky contacted Kirsten.
The police department determined the cause to be hanging by suicide, as Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office from the day of the incident.
Photos from the hotel room were also released by the police, featuring a brown sofa chair with an acoustic guitar upon it and images of the broken door lock.
Vicky Cornell recently told People magazine: “He didn’t want to die. If he was of sound mind, I know he wouldn’t have done this.” She also recently publicly released a letter addressed to Chris.
Cornell’s autopsy report details how that lorazepam — sold as the anxiety treatment drug Ativan — along with the decongestant pseudoephedrine, naloxone, butalbital and caffeine were found.
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The Samaritans can be contacted in the UK on 116 123. The number for the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255.
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