1 00:00:02,190 --> 00:00:04,750 Jim Morrison, the lead singer for The Doors, the rock music 2 00:00:04,750 --> 00:00:06,750 group, is dead. He was 27. 3 00:00:08,310 --> 00:00:13,990 Jim Morrison, lead singer of the 1960s band The Doors, was one 4 00:00:13,990 --> 00:00:18,430 of rock history's most influential and enigmatic cult icons. 5 00:00:19,950 --> 00:00:22,470 We have taken out two warrants for Jim Morrison. 6 00:00:24,670 --> 00:00:26,870 His outrageous drink-and-drug-fuelled 7 00:00:26,870 --> 00:00:30,750 behaviour on and off stage established his reputation 8 00:00:30,750 --> 00:00:32,790 as a trouble maker and rebel. 9 00:00:32,790 --> 00:00:35,990 He was like an angel in grace and a dog in heat. 10 00:00:35,990 --> 00:00:38,830 His personal manager said he died in Paris, probably 11 00:00:38,830 --> 00:00:40,630 of heart failure, last Saturday. 12 00:00:42,710 --> 00:00:47,510 But the official cause of his death in Paris on 3 July 1971 13 00:00:47,510 --> 00:00:49,190 remains controversial. 14 00:00:49,630 --> 00:00:54,150 I don't believe the fairytale version of Jim Morrison's death. 15 00:00:54,150 --> 00:00:56,390 For me, it's completely implausible. 16 00:00:57,830 --> 00:01:01,470 45 years later, the controversy surrounding 17 00:01:01,470 --> 00:01:05,110 his death still inspires rumour and conspiracy theory. 18 00:01:06,190 --> 00:01:08,910 Jim Morrison's death is shrouded in mystery 19 00:01:08,910 --> 00:01:12,590 but with the evidence I've gathered, along with my own experience in 20 00:01:12,590 --> 00:01:17,190 unravelling cause of death, I think I can finally explain how he died. 21 00:01:25,830 --> 00:01:28,630 Dr Michael Hunter is a world-renowned 22 00:01:28,630 --> 00:01:30,030 forensic pathologist. 23 00:01:31,030 --> 00:01:34,830 He's performed over 4000 autopsies to investigate 24 00:01:34,830 --> 00:01:36,470 and reveal the cause of death. 25 00:01:38,190 --> 00:01:40,350 Today he's the chief medical examiner 26 00:01:40,350 --> 00:01:42,430 in one of America's biggest cities. 27 00:01:44,470 --> 00:01:48,270 This is the medical report that was put together by Dr Max Vassille. 28 00:01:48,630 --> 00:01:50,990 He was the physician who attended to 29 00:01:50,990 --> 00:01:54,270 the death scene and he determined that the cause of death of Jim 30 00:01:54,270 --> 00:01:57,670 Morrison was from a heart attack, natural causes. 31 00:01:58,270 --> 00:02:01,950 The report that I have is based solely on his evaluation of Jim 32 00:02:01,950 --> 00:02:03,310 Morrison at the scene. 33 00:02:03,310 --> 00:02:07,630 There was no autopsy conducted, there was no toxicology conducted 34 00:02:07,630 --> 00:02:10,310 and there was no evaluation of his medical background. 35 00:02:10,470 --> 00:02:13,030 This is extraordinarily incomplete. 36 00:02:14,190 --> 00:02:18,270 With eye-witness accounts, police records and medical evidence, 37 00:02:18,270 --> 00:02:22,030 I'm going to determine what happened in the final hours of Jim's 38 00:02:22,030 --> 00:02:25,990 life and determine a proper cause of death for this iconic figure. 39 00:02:30,710 --> 00:02:34,830 8pm, 1 July 1971. 40 00:02:35,350 --> 00:02:38,630 Paris, two days before Jim Morrison's death. 41 00:02:39,470 --> 00:02:42,310 Jim Morrison has been in Paris for over three months. 42 00:02:42,910 --> 00:02:45,870 He's followed his long-term American girlfriend, Pamela 43 00:02:45,870 --> 00:02:50,190 Courson, to the French capital to re-invent himself as a poet 44 00:02:50,190 --> 00:02:51,510 and film director. 45 00:02:53,950 --> 00:02:57,870 The thing that made Jim Morrison so great in his prime 46 00:02:58,990 --> 00:03:01,510 was his charisma. You know, this guy wasn't 47 00:03:01,510 --> 00:03:05,670 a musician, he wasn't out to dazzle you with his musical prowess. 48 00:03:06,310 --> 00:03:10,350 He was there as himself, in the moment, as a kind of a rock 49 00:03:10,350 --> 00:03:13,950 poet, something that had actually never existed before. 50 00:03:18,310 --> 00:03:19,470 But in Paris, 51 00:03:19,470 --> 00:03:24,110 Jim was spending more time eating and drinking than writing poetry. 52 00:03:25,630 --> 00:03:28,790 Looking at photographs of Jim Morrison taken four weeks prior to 53 00:03:28,790 --> 00:03:33,550 his death, it points out that he has aged, he's put on a significant 54 00:03:33,550 --> 00:03:37,870 amount of weight and that can lead to stress on the heart. 55 00:03:42,110 --> 00:03:46,390 Paris was a chance for Jim to escape the adulation and attention 56 00:03:46,390 --> 00:03:47,710 of the American rock scene. 57 00:03:49,150 --> 00:03:51,030 But in the bistro with Pamela, 58 00:03:51,310 --> 00:03:54,470 he's annoyed by two fans and wants to move tables. 59 00:03:56,830 --> 00:04:02,430 Pamela refuses and when their argument escalates, Jim storms off. 60 00:04:04,950 --> 00:04:09,230 Jim's volatile behaviour was evident at a very early age. 61 00:04:17,750 --> 00:04:21,390 Born on 8 December 1948 in Florida, 62 00:04:21,670 --> 00:04:23,910 Jim was the son of a naval officer. 63 00:04:23,910 --> 00:04:26,110 Discipline was strictly enforced. 64 00:04:27,350 --> 00:04:30,310 His father was an admiral in the navy who was never there, 65 00:04:30,310 --> 00:04:32,510 and when he was there, he would come home and start 66 00:04:32,510 --> 00:04:34,190 doing naval discipline, you know. 67 00:04:34,190 --> 00:04:35,990 And here is this poor guy, 68 00:04:35,990 --> 00:04:39,790 the oldest of three children, possibly a neglectful mother. 69 00:04:39,790 --> 00:04:42,790 It's like when they ask Marlon Brando in 'The Wild One', "What are 70 00:04:42,790 --> 00:04:45,070 you rebelling against?", and Marlon goes, "What have you got?" 71 00:04:47,110 --> 00:04:49,910 At the age of 19, Jim started acting, 72 00:04:51,070 --> 00:04:52,870 and against his father's wishes, 73 00:04:52,870 --> 00:04:56,670 began a film course at UCLA in 1964. 74 00:05:01,830 --> 00:05:06,390 He embraced the hippy culture of the West Coast and in 1965, 75 00:05:06,390 --> 00:05:10,950 formed his band The Doors with fellow student Ray Manzarek. 76 00:05:11,630 --> 00:05:14,150 Well, he was an artist first and foremost. He was a poet. 77 00:05:14,910 --> 00:05:17,510 But as a human being, he was wonderful. 78 00:05:17,510 --> 00:05:21,990 He was very charming, great personality, very funny and was 79 00:05:23,630 --> 00:05:25,750 a good man to be with, great deal of fun. 80 00:05:26,270 --> 00:05:28,070 I went to every Doors show that I 81 00:05:28,070 --> 00:05:30,710 could, and I was a young journalist at the time. 82 00:05:30,710 --> 00:05:34,110 I was 20 years old and I was invited by his record company, 83 00:05:34,110 --> 00:05:37,710 Electra Records, to a press party after a show in New York. 84 00:05:37,950 --> 00:05:39,750 And he was there with his 85 00:05:39,830 --> 00:05:45,670 amazing girlfriend, Pamela Courson, and they arrived and he was sober. 86 00:05:45,670 --> 00:05:50,590 And there, in one corner, was Andy Warhol and his troupe and in 87 00:05:50,590 --> 00:05:52,590 another corner were a bunch of beatniks 88 00:05:52,590 --> 00:05:55,830 and Leonard Bernstein from the New York Philharmonic was over there. 89 00:05:56,350 --> 00:05:59,870 And sort of the cream of New York avant-garde 90 00:05:59,870 --> 00:06:03,670 and even classical music had come out to see Jim Morrison. 91 00:06:06,510 --> 00:06:10,830 In the final weeks of his life, Jim wasn't just eating excessively. 92 00:06:11,510 --> 00:06:13,390 He was also smoking heavily. 93 00:06:14,270 --> 00:06:18,750 The combined effects of eating fatty foods and smoking predisposes 94 00:06:18,750 --> 00:06:22,470 one to having a lethal heart condition called atherosclerosis. 95 00:06:24,870 --> 00:06:27,870 Fatty foods and smoking causes the formation of 96 00:06:27,870 --> 00:06:29,390 plaque in the arteries. 97 00:06:29,390 --> 00:06:31,390 This jumble of cholesterol, 98 00:06:31,390 --> 00:06:35,110 cells and debris creates a bump in the artery wall. 99 00:06:35,430 --> 00:06:38,910 When the arteries become blocked, the outcome can be stroke 100 00:06:38,910 --> 00:06:40,110 or heart attack. 101 00:06:41,830 --> 00:06:46,590 At 27, even with risk factors, atherosclerosis is highly unlikely 102 00:06:46,590 --> 00:06:49,710 to be the underlying cause of death but there are other 103 00:06:49,710 --> 00:06:51,430 worrisome lifestyle factors. 104 00:06:51,430 --> 00:06:53,230 And looking at this medical report, 105 00:06:53,510 --> 00:06:57,020 it does identify the abuse of alcohol. 106 00:07:00,420 --> 00:07:03,860 1 March 1969, Miami. 107 00:07:04,260 --> 00:07:08,620 The year before Jim leaves for Paris, he's drunk on stage. 108 00:07:08,940 --> 00:07:13,100 He started drinking as a teenager but it's now out of control. 109 00:07:14,100 --> 00:07:19,660 Jim Morrison had a sort of an angelic quality about him when he 110 00:07:19,660 --> 00:07:24,700 was sober, which was about maybe 4% of the time, but he believed that 111 00:07:24,700 --> 00:07:28,900 intoxication was the way for him to connect with his audience. 112 00:07:30,740 --> 00:07:34,660 Jim starts stripping off his clothes and the audience starts 113 00:07:34,660 --> 00:07:35,660 to do the same. 114 00:07:36,980 --> 00:07:40,740 He's only prevented from taking off his pants by a band mate. 115 00:07:43,660 --> 00:07:48,180 Jim aborts the gig, smashing the microphone into the stage. 116 00:07:50,980 --> 00:07:53,700 We have taken out two warrants for Jim Morrison. 117 00:07:54,420 --> 00:07:56,940 One of them is for indecent exposure. 118 00:07:57,220 --> 00:07:59,980 We have to do something about this. This is real disgusting. 119 00:07:59,980 --> 00:08:02,540 Nudity is always, you know, a necessary part 120 00:08:03,420 --> 00:08:09,420 of, you know, a play or film but the artist should feel free to 121 00:08:09,420 --> 00:08:11,380 use it if he feels like it. 122 00:08:11,940 --> 00:08:16,580 Jim is arrested and in September 1970 he's prosecuted for profanity 123 00:08:16,580 --> 00:08:17,940 and indecent exposure. 124 00:08:18,140 --> 00:08:21,260 He's sentenced to six months' hard labour and ordered to pay 125 00:08:21,260 --> 00:08:22,620 a $500 fine. 126 00:08:23,820 --> 00:08:30,260 November 1970, Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles. On bail, pending an 127 00:08:30,260 --> 00:08:34,300 appeal against the verdict, Jim's drinking habits don't improve. 128 00:08:35,580 --> 00:08:36,860 He's drunk during a 129 00:08:36,860 --> 00:08:39,820 Doors recording session and the mood is deadly. 130 00:08:42,580 --> 00:08:44,100 I think oftentimes there's a very 131 00:08:44,100 --> 00:08:48,060 self-destructive element to alcoholism, whereby one 132 00:08:48,060 --> 00:08:49,980 knows that what they're doing is bad 133 00:08:49,980 --> 00:08:54,060 but they don't care and it becomes just about the moment. 134 00:08:54,060 --> 00:08:56,380 The ability to project into the future, to think, 'What are 135 00:08:56,380 --> 00:08:59,260 the consequences of this, how will this affect me in the morning?' 136 00:08:59,260 --> 00:09:00,940 It's very much about the here and now. 137 00:09:02,420 --> 00:09:06,940 The backlash since the prosecution has been disastrous for the band. 138 00:09:07,300 --> 00:09:09,100 There's a complete radio ban, 139 00:09:09,100 --> 00:09:13,700 records are removed from stores, concerts and bookings cancelled. 140 00:09:15,700 --> 00:09:17,500 The Doors were already making an 141 00:09:17,500 --> 00:09:21,420 album without him and, in fact, his future was incredibly bleak. 142 00:09:23,140 --> 00:09:24,580 Five months later, 143 00:09:24,580 --> 00:09:28,700 Jim moves to Paris to join the Vietnam vets and draft-dodgers 144 00:09:28,700 --> 00:09:32,940 who took refuge in the French capital in the 1960s and '70s. 145 00:09:33,620 --> 00:09:37,020 The first time I meet Jim, he was totally drunk, you know. 146 00:09:37,620 --> 00:09:39,740 You can't be drunk more. 147 00:09:40,540 --> 00:09:42,860 He was absolutely, totally drunk. 148 00:09:43,540 --> 00:09:45,580 You know, he was an alcoholic. 149 00:09:46,220 --> 00:09:51,380 Excessive long-term alcohol use, on top of fatty foods and smoking, can 150 00:09:51,380 --> 00:09:53,540 put excessive stress on the heart. 151 00:09:53,540 --> 00:09:57,020 There's another alarming clue in the medical report. 152 00:09:57,020 --> 00:09:59,020 Jim was struggling to breathe. 153 00:10:02,060 --> 00:10:04,580 Jim's lifestyle was extremely unhealthy. 154 00:10:04,580 --> 00:10:08,940 His smoking, his drinking and his eating of fatty foods 155 00:10:08,940 --> 00:10:12,620 can put an enormous amount of strain on the heart, putting it at risk. 156 00:10:14,540 --> 00:10:16,500 But this medical report states that 157 00:10:16,980 --> 00:10:20,140 Jim's health was only aggravated by the abuse of alcohol. 158 00:10:20,540 --> 00:10:23,420 It was a contributing factor the night of his death but it 159 00:10:23,420 --> 00:10:25,060 wasn't the sole cause of his death. 160 00:10:27,420 --> 00:10:30,660 I think with Jim it wasn't so much it was food, it was everything. 161 00:10:31,460 --> 00:10:36,460 The typical addictive dilemma, you know, this huge emptiness inside 162 00:10:36,460 --> 00:10:40,780 that he tried to fill with food, that he tried to fill with booze, 163 00:10:41,380 --> 00:10:44,860 that he endlessly tried to fill with whatever came his way. 164 00:10:45,700 --> 00:10:48,980 This is a time when music is becoming very visual, right? 165 00:10:48,980 --> 00:10:52,340 So, you've got your TV coming into it, so, music shows. You've 166 00:10:52,340 --> 00:10:55,060 got Elvis appearing in movies, you've got The Beatles everywhere. 167 00:10:55,060 --> 00:10:58,660 So someone as good-looking as Jim could've really banked on this. 168 00:10:58,660 --> 00:11:00,700 But what does he do? Decides to reject it. 169 00:11:00,700 --> 00:11:03,980 He starts gaining weight, is not invested in his appearance, and he 170 00:11:03,980 --> 00:11:07,540 seems to do this very consciously, for precisely that reason - 171 00:11:07,540 --> 00:11:10,700 I don't want to be confined by who you think I ought to be. 172 00:11:13,820 --> 00:11:17,060 There's another clue in the medical report that suggests Jim's health 173 00:11:17,060 --> 00:11:20,140 problems in the weeks leading to his death were profound. 174 00:11:20,500 --> 00:11:23,740 He was also experiencing what's called precordial chest pain 175 00:11:23,740 --> 00:11:27,620 and that's pain on the front of the chest. The question is - why? 176 00:11:27,620 --> 00:11:30,300 And I think we have to look at the witness statements to get a 177 00:11:30,300 --> 00:11:32,020 better understanding of what was going on with 178 00:11:32,020 --> 00:11:33,860 him around the time that he dies. 179 00:11:36,580 --> 00:11:40,860 July 2, 1971, 2pm. 180 00:11:41,700 --> 00:11:46,580 The day before Jim's death, he meets Alain Ronay, an old friend 181 00:11:46,580 --> 00:11:48,580 from his college days at UCLA. 182 00:11:49,700 --> 00:11:53,020 As usual, he's eating and drinking and smoking heavily. 183 00:11:53,860 --> 00:11:57,620 In the course of the meal, he suffers a severe and protracted 184 00:11:57,620 --> 00:11:58,740 coughing fit. 185 00:12:01,020 --> 00:12:04,660 The strain on Jim's heart can be caused by respiratory difficulties 186 00:12:04,660 --> 00:12:06,380 that originate in the lungs. 187 00:12:08,500 --> 00:12:11,940 This report says that Jim was also suffering from dyspnoea. 188 00:12:11,940 --> 00:12:13,220 Now dyspnoea is 189 00:12:13,220 --> 00:12:17,100 the shortness of breath and that was occurring weeks prior to his death. 190 00:12:18,420 --> 00:12:20,420 The witness reports state that 191 00:12:20,420 --> 00:12:24,860 Jim sustained two serious falls within six months of his death. 192 00:12:25,500 --> 00:12:28,700 That might suggest severe chest trauma. 193 00:12:33,379 --> 00:12:37,859 January 1971, Chateau Marmont, Los Angeles. 194 00:12:38,539 --> 00:12:42,739 Five months before his death, after a night of partying, Jim 195 00:12:42,739 --> 00:12:47,939 swings from a drainpipe and falls four storeys, landing on his back. 196 00:12:49,459 --> 00:12:53,499 It was all about the ego, the human experience, that authenticity of 197 00:12:53,499 --> 00:12:56,979 experience and not being afraid of the ugly side of what happens 198 00:12:56,979 --> 00:13:00,499 when you fall, what happens when you eat too much. So, there's this 199 00:13:00,499 --> 00:13:04,499 paradox whereby emotionally he's trying very much to kind of 200 00:13:04,499 --> 00:13:07,939 get to kind of a higher plane, but it's hurting him physically. 201 00:13:08,179 --> 00:13:10,699 He just believed that the road of excess leads 202 00:13:10,699 --> 00:13:14,259 to the palace of wisdom, as the French poet Rimbaud said. 203 00:13:14,259 --> 00:13:19,339 And he was operating, most of the time, in full senses 204 00:13:19,339 --> 00:13:23,259 deregulated mode, which meant that when you saw him or when 205 00:13:23,259 --> 00:13:27,579 you were with him, whether on stage or in private or at a nightclub or 206 00:13:27,579 --> 00:13:29,939 anything, anything could happen with Jim Morrison. 207 00:13:30,299 --> 00:13:35,819 He might slap you, he might read poetry to you, he might start 208 00:13:35,819 --> 00:13:39,379 screaming and run out on Sunset Strip and start jumping on cars. 209 00:13:39,499 --> 00:13:43,859 He was this out-of-control sort of demonic personality. 210 00:13:45,419 --> 00:13:48,899 He delighted in the fact that people would be horrified 211 00:13:48,899 --> 00:13:52,099 that he might fall and kill himself or injure himself, 212 00:13:52,859 --> 00:13:56,579 and I think that Jim Morrison had that incredibly young and foolish 213 00:13:56,579 --> 00:13:58,539 idea that he would live forever. 214 00:13:59,299 --> 00:14:04,139 Three months later, during another drunken stunt in a hip Paris hotel, 215 00:14:04,499 --> 00:14:06,179 Jim takes another fall. 216 00:14:06,819 --> 00:14:09,459 He couldn't sleep and so one night he went out on the balcony 217 00:14:09,939 --> 00:14:12,819 and he tried to jump off the balcony and landed on 218 00:14:12,819 --> 00:14:14,499 the roof of a car on his back. 219 00:14:15,299 --> 00:14:17,979 And so they took him to the American Hospital in Neuilly 220 00:14:17,979 --> 00:14:19,859 in Paris, and they did some x-rays. 221 00:14:24,859 --> 00:14:25,979 I would be looking for a 222 00:14:25,979 --> 00:14:28,259 traumatic injury that can explain his symptoms of 223 00:14:28,259 --> 00:14:32,339 shortness of breath and chest pain, a contusion or a bruise of the lung 224 00:14:32,339 --> 00:14:34,259 directly beneath an impact site. 225 00:14:35,179 --> 00:14:39,539 Pamela Courson later reported that the x-ray showed that Jim was OK. 226 00:14:42,099 --> 00:14:45,259 If he was suffering from a contusion, it may have shown up as a 227 00:14:45,259 --> 00:14:47,659 shadow on the x-ray, but not always. 228 00:14:47,659 --> 00:14:49,659 By July, a contusion could 229 00:14:49,659 --> 00:14:53,099 explain the symptoms that Jim has, but I don't think you can look at 230 00:14:53,099 --> 00:14:57,299 a contusion as the overall single reason why he died. 231 00:14:58,139 --> 00:15:02,219 I think that these falls and these antics and these acrobatics 232 00:15:02,219 --> 00:15:07,219 and these reckless, dangerous stunts were part of this wild 233 00:15:07,219 --> 00:15:12,459 persona of stretching to just break on through conventional behaviour 234 00:15:12,819 --> 00:15:15,179 and do crazy things for inspiration. 235 00:15:17,259 --> 00:15:20,379 The chest pain and the shortness of breath that Jim was experiencing 236 00:15:20,379 --> 00:15:23,219 could also be explained in something that's commonly seen with 237 00:15:23,219 --> 00:15:24,899 alcoholics, and that's a pneumonia. 238 00:15:28,179 --> 00:15:29,499 During sleep brought on 239 00:15:29,499 --> 00:15:34,419 by intoxication, fluid can be drawn into the lungs, causing infections 240 00:15:34,419 --> 00:15:35,779 to the lining of the lungs. 241 00:15:36,179 --> 00:15:38,579 This impairs breathing and reduces 242 00:15:38,579 --> 00:15:42,019 oxygen levels in the blood, putting strain on the heart. 243 00:15:46,899 --> 00:15:50,539 July 2, 1971, 4pm. 244 00:15:50,819 --> 00:15:52,859 The day before Jim's death. 245 00:15:54,859 --> 00:15:58,659 At the end of his lunch with Alain Ronay, Jim suffers an 246 00:15:58,659 --> 00:16:02,219 extreme attack of hiccups, which leaves him breathless. 247 00:16:03,219 --> 00:16:07,739 As Alain leaves the bistro, he looks at Jim for the last time. 248 00:16:08,619 --> 00:16:12,779 He was later quoted in a Paris magazine, saying that Jim's face 249 00:16:13,379 --> 00:16:14,899 looked like a death mask. 250 00:16:19,379 --> 00:16:23,259 A serious pneumonia oftentimes requires hospitalisation 251 00:16:23,259 --> 00:16:26,819 and IV antibiotics but that's not what we're seeing here. 252 00:16:26,819 --> 00:16:29,819 What is clear is that Jim's excessive lifestyle, 253 00:16:29,819 --> 00:16:34,379 his reckless behaviour, has had a very negative effect on his health, 254 00:16:34,379 --> 00:16:37,459 leading him to be more susceptible to a heart attack. 255 00:16:44,699 --> 00:16:49,899 Paris, 1971, the Rock 'n' Roll Circus nightclub. 256 00:16:51,779 --> 00:16:55,579 During his time in Paris, Jim often spent his nights drinking 257 00:16:55,579 --> 00:17:00,179 and smoking in a hip Left Bank club known for its celebrity clientele 258 00:17:00,539 --> 00:17:02,139 and its drug culture. 259 00:17:05,219 --> 00:17:08,779 The Rock 'n' Roll Circus was the rock place in Paris 260 00:17:09,139 --> 00:17:13,339 and it was the magic of the '60s. 261 00:17:14,299 --> 00:17:17,019 So, there's this whole social milieu of 262 00:17:17,459 --> 00:17:21,259 pop stars, artists, film makers, 263 00:17:21,259 --> 00:17:25,899 aristocracy, gangsters, drug dealers, prostitutes. 264 00:17:26,139 --> 00:17:31,099 It really was the kind of scene that probably only did exist in 265 00:17:31,379 --> 00:17:35,819 London or New York or Paris in 1971. 266 00:17:37,779 --> 00:17:42,019 After Jim's death, his girlfriend Pamela Courson tells police 267 00:17:42,499 --> 00:17:45,939 that Jim had been prescribed drugs to kerb his coughing 268 00:17:45,939 --> 00:17:49,619 but he didn't take them and his symptoms got worse. 269 00:17:50,219 --> 00:17:51,819 He started to cough up blood. 270 00:17:55,579 --> 00:17:57,699 Jim's symptoms do include some chest 271 00:17:57,699 --> 00:18:01,459 pain, some shortness of breath and he's been coughing up blood 272 00:18:01,459 --> 00:18:05,099 but these don't suggest a severe form of pneumonia. 273 00:18:05,099 --> 00:18:08,459 This might be a mild form, also known as a walking pneumonia. 274 00:18:10,059 --> 00:18:15,299 Jim eats, drinks and smokes, all in excess. And he's a rock star. 275 00:18:15,619 --> 00:18:19,139 It brings up this other possibility of what could contribute to a heart 276 00:18:19,139 --> 00:18:20,619 attack, and that's drugs. 277 00:18:28,499 --> 00:18:32,259 Drugs fuelled the California hippie counter-culture that Jim 278 00:18:32,259 --> 00:18:34,659 was immersed in from the age of 21. 279 00:18:36,099 --> 00:18:41,299 Speed, smack, Quaaludes, downers, whatever. 280 00:18:41,619 --> 00:18:43,859 Scoop it all up, see what happens. 281 00:18:45,139 --> 00:18:49,579 LSD-inspired music set the tone for the late '60s rock scene, 282 00:18:51,299 --> 00:18:53,899 but there was a new drug in the music world, 283 00:18:53,899 --> 00:18:58,379 derived from the coca plant of South America - cocaine. 284 00:19:00,659 --> 00:19:07,419 Around 1969 and 1970, Jim's life was fuelled by high-grade cocaine. 285 00:19:07,419 --> 00:19:11,179 So, this was before cocaine became an important part of the rock 286 00:19:11,179 --> 00:19:14,939 star's pharmacopeia, so he was one of the pioneers of 287 00:19:14,939 --> 00:19:20,419 using the energy of the coca leaf to get to where he wanted to go. 288 00:19:21,659 --> 00:19:22,899 This is a guy that 289 00:19:23,779 --> 00:19:27,339 knows drugs. This is a guy that knows the destructive nature of 290 00:19:27,339 --> 00:19:31,179 this drug. So one has to wonder if this is just another step in 291 00:19:31,179 --> 00:19:34,059 that very self-destructive behaviour that he's engaging in. 292 00:19:36,059 --> 00:19:38,499 Cocaine is extraordinarily dangerous and it's known as 293 00:19:38,499 --> 00:19:40,059 the perfect heart attack drug. 294 00:19:40,059 --> 00:19:43,579 Even at recreational levels, it can increase your heart rate 295 00:19:43,579 --> 00:19:44,939 and your blood pressure. 296 00:19:45,979 --> 00:19:47,779 It causes heart muscle thickening 297 00:19:47,779 --> 00:19:51,219 and vasospasms, which are sudden constrictions of blood vessels, 298 00:19:51,219 --> 00:19:53,979 reducing their diameter and flow rate. 299 00:19:54,499 --> 00:19:56,579 This can lead to a heart attack. 300 00:19:58,099 --> 00:20:02,899 Did Jim Morrison die from a perfect heart attack caused by cocaine? 301 00:20:03,579 --> 00:20:07,099 Jim's heart and his respiratory system are under a lot of strain. 302 00:20:07,099 --> 00:20:09,859 He has chest pain, shortness of breath 303 00:20:09,859 --> 00:20:11,219 and he's been coughing up blood. 304 00:20:11,499 --> 00:20:14,139 These are likely from a mild form of pneumonia. 305 00:20:14,139 --> 00:20:18,179 He's also using a considerable amount of cocaine and that can 306 00:20:18,179 --> 00:20:20,459 add additional stress on the heart. 307 00:20:21,499 --> 00:20:25,379 No toxicology tests were done on Jim Morrison so we will never know 308 00:20:25,379 --> 00:20:26,859 if cocaine was in his system. 309 00:20:27,259 --> 00:20:29,139 But I can examine witness accounts 310 00:20:29,139 --> 00:20:32,459 of his behaviour to find out what role cocaine might have played. 311 00:20:37,830 --> 00:20:41,470 July 3, 1971, 1am. 312 00:20:41,790 --> 00:20:43,310 The day of his death. 313 00:20:44,710 --> 00:20:45,910 According to Pamela 314 00:20:45,910 --> 00:20:49,030 Courson's police statement, Jim is happy and healthy. 315 00:20:49,990 --> 00:20:53,710 In their Paris apartment, they listen to records and drink whisky. 316 00:20:56,270 --> 00:20:58,150 If Jim had been using cocaine, 317 00:20:58,150 --> 00:21:01,830 I would have expected that he would have been hyperactive and agitated. 318 00:21:01,830 --> 00:21:04,830 He maybe even had psychoses or delirium. 319 00:21:04,830 --> 00:21:08,430 Now, when you look at the witness reports here, there's nothing that 320 00:21:08,430 --> 00:21:11,470 suggests any of that in the hours leading up to his death. 321 00:21:11,990 --> 00:21:14,630 I'm concluding that cocaine was not his killer. 322 00:21:16,630 --> 00:21:17,990 3:30am. 323 00:21:18,590 --> 00:21:21,110 Pamela Courson is awoken by noises. 324 00:21:21,550 --> 00:21:23,710 Jim is struggling to breathe. 325 00:21:23,710 --> 00:21:27,070 Thinking that he might be suffocating, she shakes him 326 00:21:27,390 --> 00:21:28,830 and he eventually wakes up. 327 00:21:32,630 --> 00:21:35,630 Soon after, Jim runs a warm bath. 328 00:21:39,710 --> 00:21:40,790 Pamela! 329 00:21:42,190 --> 00:21:43,430 4am. 330 00:21:44,110 --> 00:21:47,510 Pamela wakes when Jim calls, saying he's about to vomit. 331 00:21:50,110 --> 00:21:54,270 At first he vomits only food but then starts to bring up 332 00:21:54,270 --> 00:21:55,310 blood clots. 333 00:21:58,390 --> 00:22:02,510 Jim tells her that he's feeling bizarre but doesn't need a doctor. 334 00:22:02,990 --> 00:22:05,390 She goes back to bed believing the vomiting 335 00:22:05,390 --> 00:22:06,710 has relieved his problem. 336 00:22:09,750 --> 00:22:12,990 Vomiting blood is very serious and medical attention should have 337 00:22:12,990 --> 00:22:16,310 been sought. Now there are two reasons to see this. One 338 00:22:16,310 --> 00:22:19,590 is from liver disease, and there's no indication he has liver disease. 339 00:22:19,590 --> 00:22:23,590 The other is associated with retching. That can cause tearing 340 00:22:23,590 --> 00:22:26,510 of the oesophagus and bleeding into the stomach. 341 00:22:26,510 --> 00:22:30,950 This can occur slowly over a time and when he vomits, you're going to 342 00:22:30,950 --> 00:22:32,790 have this appearance of blood in that material. 343 00:22:33,630 --> 00:22:36,150 Why he was vomiting was never addressed at the time. 344 00:22:36,150 --> 00:22:39,510 That can be a symptom of someone who's under the influence of drugs, 345 00:22:39,510 --> 00:22:42,350 but it's also a symptom of someone who's experiencing 346 00:22:42,350 --> 00:22:43,630 an early heart attack. 347 00:22:46,030 --> 00:22:48,950 4:30am. When Pamela wakes to 348 00:22:48,950 --> 00:22:52,430 find Jim still not in bed, she goes into the bathroom. 349 00:22:52,750 --> 00:22:56,150 Jim's head rests on the back of the tub as if he's asleep. 350 00:22:56,430 --> 00:22:58,910 Jim! Pamela shakes him and tries 351 00:22:58,910 --> 00:23:00,190 to pull him out of the bath, 352 00:23:00,830 --> 00:23:04,110 but isn't able to lift his heavy, inert body out of the water. 353 00:23:13,070 --> 00:23:16,390 She calls Alain Ronay, who arrives at the apartment 354 00:23:16,750 --> 00:23:18,590 and calls for emergency help. 355 00:23:18,910 --> 00:23:21,590 Alain: Hello, yes, ambulance. 356 00:23:23,670 --> 00:23:24,990 5am. 357 00:23:25,670 --> 00:23:29,590 According to a fireman's statement, Jim's body is still warm. 358 00:23:30,030 --> 00:23:33,310 They lift him from the bath and carry him into the bedroom. 359 00:23:40,030 --> 00:23:44,590 Believing that Jim is still alive, the firemen try to resuscitate him 360 00:23:45,070 --> 00:23:46,390 but they are mistaken. 361 00:23:46,950 --> 00:23:50,790 He quickly turns cold and they realise that he's dead. 362 00:23:52,070 --> 00:23:55,590 His body's warmth had come from the bath water. 363 00:23:57,790 --> 00:23:58,950 6am. 364 00:23:59,710 --> 00:24:02,270 A doctor arrives to confirm that Jim is dead. 365 00:24:06,030 --> 00:24:09,390 But a policeman who searches the apartment is suspicious. 366 00:24:10,270 --> 00:24:13,590 He calls for a more senior medical examiner to attend. 367 00:24:19,710 --> 00:24:25,230 At 6pm, 12 hours later, Dr Max Vasille arrives. 368 00:24:25,950 --> 00:24:27,630 He performs a brief external 369 00:24:27,630 --> 00:24:33,070 examination and certifies a heart attack as the cause of Jim's death. 370 00:24:35,470 --> 00:24:37,470 Jim Morrison, the lead singer for 371 00:24:37,470 --> 00:24:38,950 The Doors, a rock music group, 372 00:24:38,950 --> 00:24:40,630 is dead. He was 27. 373 00:24:40,870 --> 00:24:44,350 His personal manager said he died in Paris, probably of heart failure, 374 00:24:44,350 --> 00:24:45,510 last Saturday. 375 00:24:45,910 --> 00:24:49,710 I was on holidays in south of France and one day I buy 376 00:24:49,710 --> 00:24:51,310 a newspaper and I read 377 00:24:51,710 --> 00:24:56,150 Jim Morrison died in Paris one week ago, and I can't believe it. 378 00:24:59,030 --> 00:25:00,390 Given the circumstances, 379 00:25:00,390 --> 00:25:03,790 a 27-year-old, relatively healthy-looking 380 00:25:03,790 --> 00:25:08,790 person dead in a bath tub - that requires an autopsy, absolutely. 381 00:25:09,670 --> 00:25:12,390 What I find strange is the haste that Dr 382 00:25:12,390 --> 00:25:15,710 Vasille put into this report. He's on scene for a short period of time. 383 00:25:15,710 --> 00:25:17,750 This would have taken me hours 384 00:25:17,750 --> 00:25:20,790 to days to come to a conclusion as far as what happened to Jim. 385 00:25:21,910 --> 00:25:24,510 As far as I'm concerned, the autopsy's a joke. 386 00:25:25,150 --> 00:25:27,630 Paris is on holiday that time of the year. 387 00:25:28,110 --> 00:25:31,470 All the regular people you would contact weren't around. 388 00:25:31,470 --> 00:25:37,030 These were tourists, they were Americans, beneath contempt 389 00:25:37,030 --> 00:25:39,430 in many ways, druggies. 390 00:25:39,790 --> 00:25:41,190 Nothing special. 391 00:25:41,190 --> 00:25:44,710 These weren't wonderful local French citizens 392 00:25:44,710 --> 00:25:47,230 or eminent Parisian figures. 393 00:25:49,070 --> 00:25:52,830 Dr Vasille's report is barely a paragraph in length. 394 00:25:52,830 --> 00:25:56,830 It does have notations as far as chest pain, shortness of breath, 395 00:25:56,830 --> 00:26:00,070 as well as his alcohol abuse, but all this was taken from a 396 00:26:00,070 --> 00:26:02,990 witness statement from one person - Pamela Courson. 397 00:26:03,430 --> 00:26:06,830 As a death investigator, you can't rely solely on the witness 398 00:26:06,830 --> 00:26:08,270 statements of one person. 399 00:26:08,270 --> 00:26:11,910 You want to find other witnesses who knew Jim close to the time that 400 00:26:11,910 --> 00:26:15,390 he died and you want to do a proper evaluation of the scene 401 00:26:15,390 --> 00:26:17,710 to get a better understanding of what may have happened. 402 00:26:20,510 --> 00:26:24,430 A sensational account published in 2009 threatened to 403 00:26:24,430 --> 00:26:27,990 completely re-write the official version of Jim Morrison's death, 404 00:26:28,750 --> 00:26:33,150 claiming he didn't die in the bath or even in his own apartment. 405 00:26:36,990 --> 00:26:42,350 2am, July 3rd 1971, the Rock 'n' Roll Circus. 406 00:26:43,310 --> 00:26:46,070 According to Sam Burnett, the manager of the club, 407 00:26:46,590 --> 00:26:49,790 Jim is having a drink when he is joined by two men, 408 00:26:50,070 --> 00:26:52,150 both well-known drug dealers. 409 00:26:52,710 --> 00:26:55,710 Jim leaves the bar to go to the men's room. 410 00:26:58,430 --> 00:27:01,590 The next thing, there are complaints that 411 00:27:01,590 --> 00:27:04,670 one of the stalls in the women's toilets, there's someone in there. 412 00:27:04,670 --> 00:27:06,510 They won't come out, they're not responding. 413 00:27:07,150 --> 00:27:10,230 So Sam Burnett, the manager of the club, and a couple of 414 00:27:10,230 --> 00:27:12,070 the people that work for him, 415 00:27:12,430 --> 00:27:17,270 break down the door and find Jim on the toilet, dead. 416 00:27:18,950 --> 00:27:21,950 On the floor next to him is an open wrap of heroin. 417 00:27:22,950 --> 00:27:27,430 This version of Jim's death was widely known and believed by his 418 00:27:27,430 --> 00:27:28,950 circle of friends in Paris. 419 00:27:29,310 --> 00:27:32,710 Me, I have some friends who was there that night and when I come 420 00:27:32,710 --> 00:27:36,590 back from holidays, and they told me Jim Morrison die at the Rock 'n' 421 00:27:36,590 --> 00:27:38,790 Roll Circus. That's it. 422 00:27:38,790 --> 00:27:40,750 And it's only one or two persons. 423 00:27:40,750 --> 00:27:42,350 A lot of people tell me that. 424 00:27:44,870 --> 00:27:48,790 What everybody wants to do is cover up the fact that Jim Morrison 425 00:27:48,790 --> 00:27:54,670 has just died of a heroin overdose, heroin which he bought at the club, 426 00:27:54,670 --> 00:27:58,590 took in the club and died from at the club. 427 00:27:59,830 --> 00:28:03,030 According to this theory, the bouncers carry Jim's 428 00:28:03,030 --> 00:28:06,630 body out of the club and transport him to the apartment. 429 00:28:07,630 --> 00:28:09,390 There, the theory goes, 430 00:28:09,390 --> 00:28:13,590 they immerse him in a warm bath to disguise the time of his death. 431 00:28:15,470 --> 00:28:18,710 I can't discount the possibility that Jim died in the Rock 'n' Roll 432 00:28:18,710 --> 00:28:23,070 Circus but my investigation is about cause of death and because of that, 433 00:28:23,070 --> 00:28:26,030 I really need to look at heroin playing a possible role. 434 00:28:26,710 --> 00:28:30,710 No toxicology tests were done but I know from the doctor's brief medical 435 00:28:30,710 --> 00:28:34,510 report that there was blood around Jim's nostrils and this is evidence 436 00:28:34,510 --> 00:28:36,270 of possible heroin snorting. 437 00:28:38,270 --> 00:28:41,790 When the raw powder is inhaled, the crystalline structure damages 438 00:28:41,790 --> 00:28:43,670 the blood vessels lining the nostrils, 439 00:28:43,670 --> 00:28:46,150 causing them to rupture and bleed. 440 00:28:47,710 --> 00:28:52,030 Paris, a few days after he died, graffiti appeared on the wall 441 00:28:53,350 --> 00:28:56,630 in the Left Bank of Paris saying, "Jim was a junkie." 442 00:29:00,230 --> 00:29:03,070 Jim has a small amount of blood around his nostrils and it's 443 00:29:03,070 --> 00:29:05,310 certainly possible that heroin was the cause of this, 444 00:29:05,310 --> 00:29:09,150 but without a toxicology report, I'm going to look at witness accounts to 445 00:29:09,150 --> 00:29:11,670 find out whether Jim really did take heroin the night that he died. 446 00:29:18,070 --> 00:29:19,950 Jim was often seen propping up 447 00:29:19,950 --> 00:29:22,310 the bar at the Rock 'n' Roll Circus nightclub. 448 00:29:22,710 --> 00:29:25,390 Among its rich and famous clientele 449 00:29:25,390 --> 00:29:29,190 was the 20-year-old French aristocrat Jean de Breteuil. 450 00:29:30,310 --> 00:29:33,310 A playboy and heroin dealer to the rock 451 00:29:33,310 --> 00:29:36,230 stars, he was also Pamela Courson's 452 00:29:36,230 --> 00:29:40,310 lover, but that never broke the deep bond between her and Jim. 453 00:29:41,310 --> 00:29:44,030 There was a real genuine core of love between 454 00:29:44,030 --> 00:29:47,870 them, there's no doubt about that, but they were incredibly spiteful 455 00:29:47,870 --> 00:29:50,510 and hateful to each other on lots of other occasions. 456 00:29:50,510 --> 00:29:52,430 Their fights were legendary. 457 00:29:53,470 --> 00:29:56,750 But I guess, you know, it's that kind 458 00:29:56,750 --> 00:29:58,670 of yin yang thing, love and hate. 459 00:29:58,670 --> 00:30:03,590 You know, it's so tightly bound and they were in a very peculiar 460 00:30:03,590 --> 00:30:06,550 situation at a very odd time. 461 00:30:08,110 --> 00:30:12,430 Before Jim came to Paris, she'd been living with de Breteuil 462 00:30:13,030 --> 00:30:14,790 and regularly using heroin, 463 00:30:15,270 --> 00:30:18,270 a habit that continued during her time with Jim. 464 00:30:18,750 --> 00:30:23,230 Pamela was very shy and when we meet her, we can't believe 465 00:30:23,230 --> 00:30:24,990 she was a junkie, you know. 466 00:30:25,270 --> 00:30:29,510 But she was very shy and that absolutely a nice person. 467 00:30:30,270 --> 00:30:33,630 And they were very, very good together, 468 00:30:34,230 --> 00:30:36,590 not like the story we read after. 469 00:30:37,830 --> 00:30:43,230 But they seemed very, very close, each one. 470 00:30:43,870 --> 00:30:47,270 Pamela focused very much on the heroin and once she became 471 00:30:47,270 --> 00:30:53,110 fully addicted, you know, Jim inevitably became part of that 472 00:30:53,110 --> 00:30:58,110 spiral of addiction and, being Jim, who never said no to anything, 473 00:30:59,230 --> 00:31:02,190 started taking heroin. There's a saying - "sober 474 00:31:02,470 --> 00:31:06,310 places, sober people" - when people are trying to get clean. 475 00:31:06,310 --> 00:31:10,550 And it's reported that the person that Jim Morrison was closest to 476 00:31:10,550 --> 00:31:13,190 was someone that actually was struggling herself, to a large 477 00:31:13,190 --> 00:31:15,510 degree, with drug addiction. 478 00:31:15,510 --> 00:31:19,950 So the idea that he's going to have a support system there, it's going 479 00:31:19,950 --> 00:31:23,870 to make it easier for him to kind of do less drugs or live 480 00:31:24,790 --> 00:31:27,670 less excessively, is unrealistic. 481 00:31:27,670 --> 00:31:29,310 They would have fed off of each other's energy. 482 00:31:31,310 --> 00:31:34,910 In her statement to the police, Pamela didn't mention any drug 483 00:31:34,910 --> 00:31:39,150 taking on the night of his death, but another story soon unfolded. 484 00:31:45,670 --> 00:31:49,030 7pm, July 3, 1971, 485 00:31:49,750 --> 00:31:52,270 14 hours after Jim's death. 486 00:31:54,110 --> 00:31:58,310 The police and doctor gone, their short investigation over, 487 00:31:58,710 --> 00:32:02,350 a bereft Pamela sits with Jim's friend, Alain Ronay. 488 00:32:03,430 --> 00:32:05,950 In a published article, Ronay later 489 00:32:05,950 --> 00:32:09,590 recounted what she told him about the events that led to Jim's death. 490 00:32:11,110 --> 00:32:13,390 At 1:00 in the morning, she says 491 00:32:13,390 --> 00:32:17,270 they return to the apartment, where they play records and drink whisky. 492 00:32:17,750 --> 00:32:20,110 She also admits that they snort heroin. 493 00:32:22,510 --> 00:32:25,630 This is a guy that knows drugs. 494 00:32:25,630 --> 00:32:28,470 This is a guy that knows the destructive nature of 495 00:32:28,470 --> 00:32:31,950 this drug. So one has to wonder if this is just another step in 496 00:32:31,950 --> 00:32:34,750 that very self-destructive behaviour that he's engaging in. 497 00:32:38,310 --> 00:32:42,830 According to Ronay, she went on to reveal that Jim continued to 498 00:32:42,830 --> 00:32:45,190 take the heroin after she stopped. 499 00:32:46,950 --> 00:32:48,870 Heroin can kill you and especially 500 00:32:48,870 --> 00:32:51,670 with Jim's lung condition that puts him at an increased risk. 501 00:32:52,190 --> 00:32:55,590 The evidence that I've read is that Jim is a seasoned drug user. 502 00:32:55,590 --> 00:32:58,670 He's lived with a heroin addict for seven years and he likely 503 00:32:58,670 --> 00:33:02,190 knows his limits. That brings up the question - was this intentional? 504 00:33:03,710 --> 00:33:10,070 June 1971, Paris. A month before he died, Jim spends the afternoon with 505 00:33:10,070 --> 00:33:11,270 his friend and pop star 506 00:33:11,270 --> 00:33:14,670 Philippe Dalecky and together, they work in Dalecky's studio. 507 00:33:15,550 --> 00:33:20,870 So, we went to my place and we had a few beers and did the job. 508 00:33:20,870 --> 00:33:25,150 He was happy with the cassette and this was in the afternoon. 509 00:33:25,150 --> 00:33:26,750 He looked quite happy. 510 00:33:28,430 --> 00:33:33,230 In Paris, Jim has been writing all his musings and poetry on a series 511 00:33:33,230 --> 00:33:36,630 of notebooks that he carries around with him in a white bag. 512 00:33:37,910 --> 00:33:42,310 As Jim leaves, Dalecky notices that he's left his bag behind. 513 00:33:43,230 --> 00:33:45,910 I get back to the corridor, to the stairs. 514 00:33:45,910 --> 00:33:47,790 I say, "Hey Jim, you forget the bag." 515 00:33:47,790 --> 00:33:50,510 He says, "Oh, no, keep it for now." 516 00:33:50,510 --> 00:33:53,030 And that's the last time I saw Jim. 517 00:33:53,990 --> 00:33:57,790 Along with his bag, he left his cherished notebooks. 518 00:33:58,710 --> 00:34:01,070 A poem in one of them bore a single line - 519 00:34:01,950 --> 00:34:06,630 "Last words, last words, out." 520 00:34:07,190 --> 00:34:09,110 Further on was another line. 521 00:34:09,950 --> 00:34:11,470 "I'm finally dead," 522 00:34:12,070 --> 00:34:14,790 he says, at the end of the notebook. 523 00:34:14,790 --> 00:34:19,030 Like a premonition, like if he knew he was about to die. 524 00:34:20,550 --> 00:34:22,830 Was this a covert suicide note? 525 00:34:23,910 --> 00:34:27,670 What reasons did Jim Morrison have to take his own life? 526 00:34:29,230 --> 00:34:31,310 The last year had been a struggle for Jim. 527 00:34:31,870 --> 00:34:34,190 He's facing a jail sentence in the US. 528 00:34:34,670 --> 00:34:36,510 The Doors are working without him 529 00:34:36,670 --> 00:34:38,750 and his girlfriend was having an affair. 530 00:34:39,550 --> 00:34:42,950 Paris was meant to be where he could re-invent himself 531 00:34:42,950 --> 00:34:44,910 as a poet and film maker. 532 00:34:45,710 --> 00:34:48,430 In some ways, I think Jim saw himself as a kind of 533 00:34:48,430 --> 00:34:50,310 modern Renaissance man, you know. 534 00:34:51,310 --> 00:34:53,350 He didn't play an instrument. 535 00:34:53,350 --> 00:34:55,150 Jim would pick up a pen. 536 00:34:55,670 --> 00:34:58,070 Jim would pick up a movie camera. 537 00:34:58,510 --> 00:35:02,430 Jim very much saw himself as being some kind of auteur, 538 00:35:02,870 --> 00:35:08,150 whether it be as a poet, an author, script writer or movie director. 539 00:35:10,350 --> 00:35:14,670 But he was no closer to achieving his dreams than he was in America. 540 00:35:16,230 --> 00:35:20,950 Were the jottings in his notebook suicidal, or just another example 541 00:35:20,950 --> 00:35:22,510 of his dark imagination? 542 00:35:27,590 --> 00:35:31,910 Themes around pain or death have been prevalent 543 00:35:31,910 --> 00:35:34,790 in art for years, so, whereas for most of us these are things 544 00:35:34,790 --> 00:35:37,150 we don't want to think about, they're things we want to avoid. 545 00:35:37,150 --> 00:35:41,230 I think for artistic souls, they're drawn to them, they're 546 00:35:41,230 --> 00:35:44,070 drawn to the human experience. They're drawn to the depths. 547 00:35:44,070 --> 00:35:48,110 And the human experience is never at its most steep, 548 00:35:48,110 --> 00:35:51,750 at its most intense, than when pain and fear are there. 549 00:35:54,390 --> 00:35:57,390 He's mourning the death of his youth, the death of his 550 00:35:57,390 --> 00:35:59,430 innocence, the death of The Doors. 551 00:36:00,030 --> 00:36:02,910 but I don't think what we're talking about is a guy writing 552 00:36:02,910 --> 00:36:05,030 about his imminent suicide. 553 00:36:05,030 --> 00:36:08,230 I think if Jim was to have written a suicide note, 554 00:36:08,790 --> 00:36:11,710 it would have been much more eloquent and to-the-point. 555 00:36:12,870 --> 00:36:15,790 The anecdotal evidence is that this was not an intentional heroin 556 00:36:15,790 --> 00:36:17,870 overdose, so the mystery remains. 557 00:36:18,470 --> 00:36:22,830 Did heroin play a role in his death and, if so, how did he come about 558 00:36:22,830 --> 00:36:24,350 taking that lethal dose? 559 00:36:31,000 --> 00:36:32,480 When Jim was in Paris, 560 00:36:32,480 --> 00:36:35,040 French drug traffickers began dealing 561 00:36:35,040 --> 00:36:37,040 a new synthetic form of heroin. 562 00:36:37,840 --> 00:36:41,080 In its pure form, it is extremely potent 563 00:36:41,080 --> 00:36:42,440 and potentially lethal. 564 00:36:43,080 --> 00:36:46,680 In the laboratory, it's called A-Methylthentanyl, 565 00:36:47,160 --> 00:36:50,160 on the street, it's known as "China white." 566 00:36:54,600 --> 00:36:58,000 Pamela Courson's lover, Count Jean de Breteuil, 567 00:36:58,240 --> 00:37:01,600 dealt this lethal drug to his elite Parisian users. 568 00:37:02,520 --> 00:37:04,360 He was a purveyor of this 569 00:37:04,560 --> 00:37:07,360 stuff called China White and it was a step up from 570 00:37:07,600 --> 00:37:12,400 the adulterated Mexican heroin that had been prevalent up till then. 571 00:37:12,680 --> 00:37:14,400 It was very deadly and still is. 572 00:37:16,840 --> 00:37:18,680 Anecdotal evidence from Jim's 573 00:37:18,680 --> 00:37:23,640 contemporaries in Paris and Pamela's affair with a known China White drug 574 00:37:23,640 --> 00:37:26,640 dealer, it's likely that this was the heroin that Jim used. 575 00:37:27,080 --> 00:37:31,520 In knowing this, I see Jim's last few hours in a very new light. 576 00:37:33,240 --> 00:37:35,960 3am, the morning of Jim's death. 577 00:37:37,200 --> 00:37:39,880 Jim's been drinking all day and into the evening. 578 00:37:41,720 --> 00:37:44,480 Alcohol intoxication impairs his reasoning 579 00:37:44,920 --> 00:37:46,800 and makes him more risk-averse. 580 00:37:48,520 --> 00:37:50,680 He and Pamela snort the heroin. 581 00:37:53,400 --> 00:37:57,080 Jim's unused to the drug's potency, doesn't know when to stop, 582 00:37:57,480 --> 00:37:58,640 and takes more. 583 00:38:03,280 --> 00:38:07,480 The gurgling noise that awakens Pamela is the first sign of a 584 00:38:07,480 --> 00:38:08,520 heroin overdose. 585 00:38:13,200 --> 00:38:17,080 Heroin depresses the respiratory system, causing pulmonary oedema, 586 00:38:17,080 --> 00:38:18,840 fluid in the lungs. 587 00:38:20,320 --> 00:38:23,240 Blood backs up in the veins, increasing blood pressure 588 00:38:23,960 --> 00:38:28,720 and the fluid continues to build, reducing normal oxygen movement 589 00:38:28,720 --> 00:38:30,840 through the lungs and impairing breathing. 590 00:38:33,560 --> 00:38:37,920 Soon after 3:30am, Jim runs a warm bath. 591 00:38:39,120 --> 00:38:42,720 The change of temperature from cold to hot shocks his heart. 592 00:38:43,840 --> 00:38:46,640 His capillaries expand, increasing blood pressure 593 00:38:46,640 --> 00:38:48,280 and putting strain on the heart. 594 00:38:50,840 --> 00:38:53,520 As Jim's respiratory system begins to shut down, 595 00:38:53,520 --> 00:38:55,080 he may experience chest pain. 596 00:38:55,440 --> 00:38:56,480 Pam! 597 00:38:59,880 --> 00:39:02,960 Heroin also slows down gastro-intestinal activity, 598 00:39:03,200 --> 00:39:04,400 causing nausea. 599 00:39:06,280 --> 00:39:09,400 With repeated retching, his oesophagus tears and he 600 00:39:09,400 --> 00:39:12,760 vomits blood, putting even more strain on his heart. 601 00:39:16,120 --> 00:39:20,240 Alcohol and heroin would continue to act on the area of the brain that 602 00:39:20,240 --> 00:39:21,480 controls breathing. 603 00:39:22,360 --> 00:39:25,040 As it slows down, Jim's heart struggles to pump 604 00:39:25,040 --> 00:39:27,080 oxygen-rich blood around his body. 605 00:39:29,080 --> 00:39:33,400 Jim's brain is eventually starved of oxygen and he lapses into 606 00:39:33,400 --> 00:39:37,960 a coma. Once you're in a coma, your respiratory drive shuts down. 607 00:39:37,960 --> 00:39:40,000 You literally forget to breathe. 608 00:39:40,000 --> 00:39:44,760 That causes decreased oxygenation to Jim's heart muscle and to his brain. 609 00:39:45,240 --> 00:39:48,640 With the decreased oxygenation, you get anoxic injury to the brain, 610 00:39:48,640 --> 00:39:52,120 where the brain starts to die and you also get injury to the heart 611 00:39:52,120 --> 00:39:54,360 muscle, where the heart muscle starts to die. 612 00:39:54,360 --> 00:39:57,600 This can lead to a catastrophic effect and eventually to death. 613 00:39:59,880 --> 00:40:03,960 4am. Jim's heart eventually stops. 614 00:40:04,960 --> 00:40:06,840 When Pamela finds him in the bath, 615 00:40:06,840 --> 00:40:10,640 he looks like he's sleeping but he's already dead. 616 00:40:18,360 --> 00:40:21,520 Jim Morrison did ultimately die of cardiac arrest, 617 00:40:21,760 --> 00:40:25,440 but not from natural causes as suggested by the French examiner. 618 00:40:25,920 --> 00:40:27,720 I believe it was China White, 619 00:40:27,720 --> 00:40:31,680 a pure and potent form of heroin, that triggered his cardiac arrest, 620 00:40:31,680 --> 00:40:34,720 killing him at just 27 years of age. 621 00:40:39,080 --> 00:40:45,160 Jim's life was really intense and he was like 622 00:40:46,560 --> 00:40:47,720 a shooting star. 623 00:40:50,160 --> 00:40:53,520 He never knew how far you could take things before the limit would 624 00:40:53,520 --> 00:40:57,040 be reached and unfortunately, physically, he reached the limit. 625 00:40:58,680 --> 00:41:00,480 When you consider what Jim Morrison 626 00:41:00,480 --> 00:41:04,520 achieved in those four years that The Doors were active, 627 00:41:05,240 --> 00:41:08,440 it's almost unimaginable in today's terms. 628 00:41:10,480 --> 00:41:13,400 This was music that has now become timeless. 629 00:41:13,800 --> 00:41:17,240 This really is the music of the immortals. 630 00:41:19,360 --> 00:41:23,560 Jim Morrison was buried at Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris 631 00:41:23,560 --> 00:41:26,480 on 7 July 1971. 632 00:41:27,440 --> 00:41:30,680 Thousands of people make the pilgrimage to his graveside 633 00:41:30,680 --> 00:41:31,960 every year. 634 00:41:32,480 --> 00:41:33,800 Well, you know, Shakespeare would 635 00:41:33,800 --> 00:41:37,320 have called it the tragical history of Jim Morrison because it was such 636 00:41:37,320 --> 00:41:42,640 a sad story, that this brilliant and talented and beautiful guy 637 00:41:43,440 --> 00:41:45,960 didn't live to see his 28th birthday. 638 00:41:49,840 --> 00:41:53,640 Captioned by Ai-Media ai-media.tv