In a police report, Vicky Cornell details her troubling last phone conversation with her husband before the Audioslave frontman took his own life in his hotel room.
- May 20, 2017
AceShowbiz - Vicky Cornell, the wife of the late Chris Cornell, had a troubling telephone conversation with her husband before his death. In a police report obtained by The Detroit News, Vicky reveals that the rocker sounded groggy and was slurring his words. He kept repeating, "I am just tired."
Vicky spoke to her husband before and after Wednesday night's (May 17) concert in Detroit and noticed that something wasn't right after the later conversation. "He was different," she says in the report. "When he told me he may have taken an extra Ativan or two, I contacted security and asked that they check on him."
Chris' bodyguard Martin Kirsten was in Chris' room about 11:30 P.M. Wednesday to help him fix his computer. Martin gave Chris two Ativan pills, "which victim takes for anxiety," the report says. Vicky spoke to her husband at around 11:35 P.M.
It was after her troubling phone conversation with Chris that Vicky called Martin at 12:15 A.M. Thursday and asked him to check on her husband "to see if he is alright because he did not sound like he is okay."
When Martin called security from hotel phone to get access into Chris' suite because it was latched, "security stated they can not let him into the room because he is not registered to that room." So Martin kicked the door open and went to the bedroom, but the bedroom door was also latched. Martin called the security again before ultimately kicking the door open. Martin found Chris "laying on the bathroom floor" with blood running down his mouth and a red exercise band around his neck.
According to TMZ, Chris fastened the band to a carabiner that had been lodged into the doorframe, leaving indentation marks. MGM medic Dawn Jones arrived at the room at 12:56 A.M., untied the band from Chris' neck and began CPR on Chris, who was not breathing. EMS Unit 42 was at the scene by 1 A.M. and an emergency medical technician also performed unsuccessfully CPR on Chris.
A doctor who later came to the scene pronounced Chris dead at 1:30 A.M. Homicide detectives arrived at the room and began their investigation. "Victim's wife ... stated victim is a recovered drug addict," the report says.
In a statement issued by Chris' wife, Vicky, and attorney Kirk Pasich, they weigh in on whether the prescription drug Ativan might have contributed to Chris' death. "Without the results of toxicology tests, we do not know what was going on with Chris - or if any substances contributed to his demise," the lawyer says. "Chris, a recovering addict, had a prescription for Ativan and may have taken more Ativan than recommended dosages. The family believes that if Chris took his life, he did not know what he was doing, and that drugs or other substances may have affected his actions."
TMZ reports that a tribute to the Soundgarden frontman is set to take place at the Rock on the Range festival in Columbus OH, where the band was scheduled to play on Friday night. Chris was also a lead vocalist and songwriter for Audioslave.
