Sometimes you wake up in the middle of a story and you wonder how the hell you got there.
That’s the way I feel about the well documented but still open ended death of Elliott Smith.
I have no idea what the story is but I know: nothing I’ve heard has the ring of truth about it. Five years ago when the story stopped being news and the world went about its business, the conclusion was reached that only two people, Smith and his girlfriend, Jennifer Chiba know what really happened.
I’m not so sure about that.
There is some stuff here that makes no sense whether you believe Chiba was responsible or you believe Smith killed himself. Everything about this story defies logic and while Rock NYC sincerely doubts its ability to shed any light on the mystery, we do think the questions need to be re-arranged. As we get through the story we will introduce some other people but not today.
Does it really matter whether Smith was jumped or was pushed? The conspiracy theorists seem to see Chiba as a Sid Vicious type character although there is no proof really one way or the other.
There is just speculation.
I have read Spin magazine’s interview with Chiba and I realize Ellen Carpenter (as the editor of the article) has done a great deal of research. But I have friends who have done more and I am left with a great big question and nobody willing to provide answers.
For instance: when exactly did Chiba contact lawyers to sue Smith’s estate? By July 2004 the case was in full swing, so my bet would be within three months of Smith’s death, Chiba had managed to wipe away her tears long enough to file which is really a mess of a court case -thrown out, by the way.
This discrepency between the woman as presented in the press and as represented by her actions is no signal of malevolence. Greed is endemic. But what he seems to me to show is that a good defense lawyer needs to cross examine her.
There are many stories floating around about the day Smith died but I think the broadstrokes are as follows. This is what we know with no need of collaboration.
It was a hot day.
At 1221pm, Chiba removed a knife from Smith’s chest and phoned 911 (think about that for a moment… could you do it? This is no play kitten.)
She must have removed the knife before she called because she would have been told by 911 not to do so.
She performed CPR on him.
Smith died at County-USC Medical Center 78 minutes later.
We also know from the coroner’s report that he stabbed himself, through his tee-shirt, twice in the chest.
Also, that there were cut marks on his arms that corresponded with self-defense.
Here is the smokinggun.com summary (http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/esmithaut1.html:):
“–Los Angeles investigators probing the recent stabbing death of alt rocker Elliott Smith could not classify the incident as a suicide because several aspects of the knifing were not consistent with suicide and “raise the possibility of homicide.” According to the below autopsy report, police discovered what appeared to be a suicide note–written on a Post-it note–when they responded to his home on October 21. “I’m so sorry-love, Elliot God forgive me,” the note read, according to the report (a coroner’s official told TSG that Smith’s first name was misspelled in the report). And, the report concludes, Smith’s history of depression and the “location and direction” of two stab wounds “are consistent with self-infliction.” However, other aspects of Smith’s death have caused investigators to wonder whether the performer was killed. The autopsy report cited the absence of “hesitation wounds,” the presence of “possible defensive wounds,” and “stabbing through clothing” as atypical of suicide. In addition, the actions of Smith’s live-in girlfriend, musician Jennifer Chiba, were of concern to investigators. Chiba initially told cops that she had argued with Smith, 34, in their home and, at one point, locked herself in the bathroom. Chiba emerged when she heard Smith scream, and saw him standing with “a knife sticking out of his chest.” The medical examiner noted that Chiba’s “reported removal of the knife and subsequent refusal to speak with detectives are all of concern.”
The misspelling was a police mistake. Elliott’s name was spelled correctly.
Everything is a little, eh? here as I’m sure you’d agree.
There were no illegal drugs in his system -just anti-depressants and normal amounts of those.
If we just deal with irrefutable facts it looks like this:
For suicide:
1) The suicide note.
2) The location and direction of the stab wounds.
Against:
1) The defensive wounds upon his arms
2) The stabbing through clothes
3) Chiba’s “reported removal of the knife”
Here is a question about Smith’s death I don’t have any answer to. Are his fingerprints on the knife?
There will be a lot more unanswered question in the weeks to come.
Shouldn’t we leave the poor man in peace? We will. When the police close the case. Till then a musician many people (not me, incidentally, I liked him -didn’t love him) cared for deeply has gone to pass with a huge question that will haunt his fans and admirers and family and friends and peers.
Did he create the suicide machine or was it created for him?