Who Killed Jimi Hendrix?

(Information from the 16th edition of Uncle Johns Bathroom Reader)

Few people were shocked when Jimi died in 1970. Most assumed he just burned out like a shooting star. But did he? Or was there more to his death then that?

Just hours before Jimi died he was working on a new song called "The Story of Life." The last lines were:

The story of life is quicker than the wink of an eye

the story of love is hello and goodbye

Until we meet again

Although only five albums were released during his life time, he is still considered as one of rocks greatest guitarists ever. Here is a little bit about his death, and the suspicions that followed.

How? When? Where?

Jimi Hendrix died in the flat of his German girlfriend in London on September 18 1970, after a long night of drinking and partying. After taking lots of different drugs and alcohol he and hid girlfriend returned home to her apartment where they both took some barbiturate pills to help them sleep.

A normal dose of the pills would have been half a tablet. The girlfriend claimed she took one. An autopsy on Jimi revealed that he had taken nine, 18 times the recommened dosage. The autopsy also revealed that he had "massive" quantities of red wine not only in his stomach, but also in his lungs. The quantity and combination of these substances migh have been fatal if he hadn't first suffocated on the wine and his own vomit.

There is little mystery as to WHAT killed Jimi. The question that remains if HOW did it happen? Was it suicide? An accident? Or maybe it was murder? Was there more to this rock stars death then it appears? For example, some facts don't quite add up.

Jimi's friends ruled out suicide. According to them Jimi beleived the soul of a person who commited suicide would never rest. Despite many personal and professional problems, he would hev never taken his own life.

But maybe it was an accident? This theroy also has some flaws. Jimi was an experienced drug user. He was known for being able to handle more drugs then anyone in his circle. He could have mistaken the barbiturate for regular sleeping pills and grabbed his usual handful. However, Jimi was an experienced drug user, and it is very unlikly that he would have mistaken the two. Besides, it was common knowledge that drinking alcohol and taking downers could cause serious problems. So that pretty much rules out an accident.

If it wasn't suicide, or an accident then it must have been murder. But who would want Jimi Hendrix dead? More then 30 years after his death, it is nearly impossible to find out, but here are some possibilitys:

The Girlfriend, Monika Dannemann- According to her, she woke up on the morning of September 18 and saw Jimi sleeping normally. She then went out to buy some cigarettes. When she came back she saw the Jimi had been sick and was having trouble breathing. She tried to wake him up, but when she couldn't she called muscian Eric Burdon. After hanging up on her once, Eric called back and told her to call an ambulance. Monika later told the press that Hendrix was alive when the ambulance arrived, at about 11:30 a.m., and that she rode to the hospital with him. According to her, Jimi was propped upright ojn the trip and suffocated on the way.

However, the ambulance attendantd tell a different story. According to them, the two attendants arrived at the apartment to find it empty, except Jimi lying in a mess on the bed, already dead. They went through the standard procedures to revive Jimi, but it didn't work. They wrapped up the body and headed to the hospital where he was pronunced dead on arrival.

The autopsy cautiously concludes that the exact cause and time of death are unknown, but eveidence points to a time of death way earlier, possibly several hours before the ambulance arrived.

Was Monika Dannemann trying to cover up somthing? If so, what was she trying to hide? And why? We'll never know, she commited suicide in 1996.

The Government - Jimi was not only an icon of rock'n'roll rebellion, but of Black Power and anitwar movements of the 1960's. Did the U.S intelligance aginces consider Jimi as not only suversive, but dangerous? It is not surprising that influential muscians like Jimi would draw the eye of the government, but could there be more to it then that?

There are some conspiracy therorists that beleive that jimi and other muscians such as Jim Morrison, of The Doors, Ex-beatle John Lennon and more recent, rappers Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G.- all who died under suspicious circumstances- may have been eliminated by the government. It would have been very easy to make the deaths look like accidents or murders commited by crazy fans - these muscians lived life on the edge anyways. Paranoid fantasy? Or could there have been some truth to these fears?

The Mob - The government may not have been the only ones keeping an eye on Jimi. Organized crime figures have been with the music industry long before Jimi was. To the mob, the industry wasn't about music, it was about drugs and money. There was plenty of both around Jimi Hendrix.

According to Constantine, Jimi was muscled by the mob after refusing to play at a night club controlled by the Gambino crime family. Jimi had been a regular at the clup until the proprietor was murdered after an attempt to break free of mob control. Naturaly, Jimi felt uncomfortabe playing there. Shortly after he refused he was confronted by a stranger who pulled out a .38 pistol and casually hit a target 25 feet away. Jimi got the message and decided to play for the club after all.

Another time jimi was kidnapped by some thugs claiming to be part of the mafia. They took him to a Manhatten apartment and told him to call his manager, Michael Jeffery, and relay a demand to transfer his contract to the mob....or else. jimi was rescued by men that Michael Jeffery had sent. Jimi later told people he thought his manager had set up the whole thing.

The Manager - Those seeking to tie together the loose ends between the Goverenment, The Mob and enourman amounts of money need look no further then Michael Jeffery. As Jimi's manager, Michael Jeffery had control over millions of dollars earned by Jimi, much of which was transfered to off-shore bank accounts.

Jimi became aware that he was being cheated by Jeffery, and just days before his death he made plans to cancel his management contract. Obviously the manager could have been upset at the prospect of loosing Jimi; Jimi earned him his millions. But why would he have jimi killed?

The anwser could be in the rumor that Jeffery had taken out a million dollar life insurance policy on the star. Additionaly, Jeffery could have earned millions more on the albums relaesed after Jimi's death. There were many hours of unreased music by Jimi.

Whatever involvement the manager had with Jimi's death must have been indirect, he was vactioning in Spain when it happened. To some, jeffery was further implicated when he himself died in unusual circumstances less than three years later, in a plane crash.

Fly On

A number of times in the week before his death the 27 year old reportadly asked friends, "Do you think I'll live to be 28?" Did he have a premonition of what was coming? Friends was he was becoming increasingly paranoid. Perhaps with good reason.

We may never know the truth about the death of Jimi Hendrix, but we do know that his life, as he wrote in his final song, is "Quicker then the wink of an eye"