Whitney Houston's family was told by L.A. County Coroner officials ... the singer did not die from drowning, but rather from what appears to be a combination of Xanax and other prescription drugs mixed with alcohol ... this according to family sources.
We're told Coroner's officials informed the family there was not enough water in Whitney's lungs to lead to the conclusion that she drowned.
Our sources say the family was told Whitney may well have died before her head became submerged.
And family sources tell us ... it was actually Whitney's aunt, Mary Jones, who discovered Whitney's body in the bathtub. Mary had laid out Whitney's dress for the evening on the bed and then left for about a half hour. When Whitney didn't come out of the bathroom, Mary entered, pulled Whitney out of the tub and began administering CPR.
And we're told ... Whitney's mom has arranged to have the singer's body flown back to Atlanta, as early as tomorrow. The family was told the Coroner has no problem releasing the body because there is no evidence of foul play -- and unless cops put a hold on the body, it can be flown back East.
Last week 2 high school students were shot and killed in Ciudad Juarez while at a car dealership. In March 2010 a couple associated with the U.S. consulate were also killed in Juarez. In October 2010 a couple was fired upon as they returned to the U.S. from a sightseeing trip along the U.S. border near Matamoros. David Hartley was killed, while his wife Tiffany, barely escaped with her life.
Now comes word that two U.S. ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) were ambushed yesterday (February 15) at what they thought was a security checkpoint 100 miles outside of Mexico City. Hey stay the hell away from Mexico.
Jack LaLanne, the fitness guru who inspired television viewers to trim down and pump iron for decades before exercise became a national obsession, died Sunday. He was 96. LaLanne died of respiratory failure due to pneumonia Sunday afternoon at his home in Morro Bay on California’s central coast, his longtime agent Rick Hersh said.
“I have not only lost my husband and a great American icon, but the best friend and most loving partner anyone could ever hope for,” Elaine LaLanne, Lalanne’s wife of 51 years and a frequent partner in his television appearances, said in a written statement.
I told you guys that Facebook is evil. Have you ever tried to delete your profile? You can't, but anyway a Florida woman admitted shaking her 3-month-old baby to death after the little boy's crying distracted her from playing a wildly popular Facebook game. Alexandra Tobias, 22, told cops she was playing FarmVille and her baby, Dylan Lee Edmondson, wouldn't stop crying. According to the Florida Times-Union, she confessed to shaking the baby, smoking a cigarette to calm down and then shaking the baby again. The baby may have hit his head during the January incident. Tobias pleaded guilty on Wednesday
The ruling by the judge, Justice Paul Wooten of State Supreme Court in Manhattan, did not find that the girl was liable, but merely permitted a lawsuit brought against her, another boy and their parents to move forward.
The suit that Justice Wooten allowed to proceed claims that in April 2009, Juliet Breitman and Jacob Kohn, who were both 4, were racing their bicycles, under the supervision of their mothers, Dana Breitman and Rachel Kohn, on the sidewalk of a building on East 52nd Street. At some point in the race, they struck an 87-year-old woman named Claire Menagh, who was walking in front of the building and, according to the complaint, was “seriously and severely injured,” suffering a hip fracture that required surgery. She died three months later. Her estate sued the children and their mothers, claiming they had acted negligently during the accident. In a response, Juliet’s lawyer, James P. Tyrie, argued that the girl was not “engaged in an adult activity” at the time of the accident — “She was riding her bicycle with training wheels under the supervision of her mother” — and was too young to be held liable for negligence. In legal papers, Mr. Tyrie added, “Courts have held that an infant under the age of 4 is conclusively presumed to be incapable of negligence.” (Rachel and Jacob Kohn did not seek to dismiss the case against them.) But Justice Wooten declined to stretch that rule to children over 4. On Oct. 1, he rejected a motion to dismiss the case because of Juliet’s age, noting that she was three months shy of turning 5 when Ms. Menagh was struck, and thus old enough to be sued. Mr. Tyrie “correctly notes that infants under the age of 4 are conclusively presumed incapable of negligence,” Justice Wooten wrote in his decision, referring to the 1928 case. “Juliet Breitman, however, was over the age of 4 at the time of the subject incident. For infants above the age of 4, there is no bright-line rule.” The New York Law Journal reported the decision on Thursday What is this world coming to when a judge allows a four year old to get sued. Now we gonna have to insure toddlers.
Michael Jackson is still bad from the grave. Michael Jackson never graced Forbes’ annual Celebrity 100 list during his life. In death, the King of Pop earned more in the past year than any star on that list, apart from Oprah Winfrey.
Jackson not only took the No.1 spot on our 10th annual ranking of the Top-Earning Dead Celebrities, with gross earnings of $275 million, he out-earned the other 12 deceased stars on the list combined. Still more impressive: His estate's 12-month haul was greater than the pooled earnings of this year’s two biggest living acts, U2 and AC/DC. Jackson’s posthumous earnings come from his stake in the lucrative Sony/ATV catalog, the hit Sony ( SNE - news - people ) film This Is It and renewed fan interest in music, videos and all things Michael Jackson. Man and I can't even get a million.
A Queens man was slapped with a parking ticket as he lay dead in the driver's seat of his car, cops and family said Wednesday. Nicholas Rappold, 21, of Flushing, was slumped across the front seat of his Jeep Cherokee on 165th St. near 35thAve. Tuesday morning when a traffic agent wrote him up for being illegally parked during street sweeping, cops and family said. "It's really messed up," the young man's cousin Patrick Hill told the Daily News. "While he was dead in his car, a New York City traffic agent gave him a ticket." An hour after the ticket was issued, a friend whose house Rappold had left in the middle of the night spotted his buddy's vehicle still parked outside, sources said. The curious pal went to see why the SUV was still there and found Rappold's cold body, sources said. Wow only in New York.
The drama in the Philippines starts when a disgruntled ex-policeman hijacks a busload of Hong Kong tourists and ends when the suspect dies in a gunfight with police after firing on the hostages. In a desperate act to regain his job, a disgruntled ex-police officer Monday hijacked a busload of Hong Kong tourists in Manila, prompting a 12-hour drama that ended with eight captives and the suspect being killed, authorities said.
the suspect, former police Capt. Rolando Mendoza, 55, was killed by a sniper shot near the front door of the bus, where he staked out a last-stand battle with 30 police commandos, who moved in with tear gas and flash bombs. He injured one sniper before he was killed, police said. Not a good way to get your job back asshole.
Lorenzen Wright was remembered Thursday as a fun-loving personality who helped mentor the young Atlanta Hawks during his most recent stint with the team, 2006-08. Wright's body was found Wednesday in a wooded area of southeast Memphis. He had been missing for about 10 days. The 34-year-old Wright was last seen in the early morning of July 19, right before he was to head back to his Atlanta townhouse with a friend and his six children. His family filed a missing person report July 22.
The Memphis Commercial Appeal reports that a 911 call made on July 19 from Wright's cellphone recorded loud gunshot blasts from what appeared to be several weapons before the call ended. Wright recently flew from Atlanta to Memphis to visit friends and his children, friends said. He was last seen at about 2 a.m. July 19, leaving his ex-wife’s Whisperwood Drive home, the newspaper said. His former wife told police she doesn’t know who he left with or what type of car they were in, according to the missing person’s report. A friend estimated Wright was carrying $2,000 to $3,000 in big bills. Wright was also going through some financialdifficulties of late. His custom-built 17-room home in Eads, Tenn., was repossessed in May for $1.3 million, and that his Atlanta house was repossessed in January for $1.1 million.
New Hampshire authorities say about 100 people have been stung by a large dead jellyfish that broke into pieces at a state park beach, and nine children were treated at a hospital. Rye Fire Department Lieutenant says the jellyfish fell apart when the state park staff tried to remove it on Wednesday, and its stingers were still active even though it was dead. So don't mess with jellyfish, dead or alive.
Police discovered six dead bodies in a cavern near the tourist resort of Cancun on Sunday, three of them cut open and their hearts removed.
Authorities are investigating the identities of the four men and two women found dead in the natural cave, said Francisco Alor, the Quintana Roo state attorney general. "They were apparently tortured and their chests were opened to remove the hearts," Alor's office said later in a statement. Three of the bodies had the letter "Z" carved on their abdomens – a possible reference to the Zeta drug gang, though officials did not make an explicit connection to cartel violence that has plagued many parts of Mexico. More than 22,700 people have died nationwide in drug violence since late 2006, when President Felipe Calderon sent soldiers and federal police to battle the cartels. Remind me not to go to Mexico anytime soon.
-AL
03 June 2010
Rue McClanahan -- who played Blanche Devereaux on "Golden Girls" -- has died.
Rue's manager, Barbara Lawrence, says the actress passed away at 1 AM this morning at a hospital in New York after she suffered a massive stroke on Monday. Barbara says Rue's son, sister and nephew were with her at the time. Rue was 76. Betty white is the only one left now.
Michael Jackson set a music-industry record, thanks to a deal between his estate and Sony Corp. valued at as much as $250 million, according to people familiar with the terms.
The deal—touted by both Sony and Mr. Jackson's estate as the most lucrative recording contract ever— guarantees the estate at least $200 million. With 10 albums over seven years, the deal will involve a mix of previously unreleased songs and new packages of familiar ones.
The dollar amount is especially striking against the backdrop of the music industry as a whole, in which U.S. album sales have plunged 52% in a decade. Superstar deals worth tens of millions of dollars per album were rare even at the peak of the CD-sales boom in the late 1990s. Yet it also underscores that the biggest acts are becoming even more essential to record labels, as individual fans purchase fewer albums each year. Since Mr. Jackson's death on June 25, Sony has sold an estimated 31 million of his albums globally. By the first anniversary of his death, his estate expects to have earned $250 million from sales of music, merchandise and tickets to the posthumous concert film "This Is It." I guess Mike is just like a painting, no one pays attention until the artist dies.
popular 80's actor found dead. Corey Haim collapsed in the bedroom of his mother's apartment and four prescription bottles were found nearby ... law enforcement sources tell TMZ.
We've learned Corey had been sick the last couple of days with flu-like symptoms. The medications recovered, however, were not related to his illness, sources tell TMZ. We're told no illicit drugs were found in the apartment. Sources say Haim got out of bed just before 1 AM and collapsed in front of his mother. She called 911 at 12:53 AM and Corey was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead at 2:15 AM.
Also how could I forget to mention Christopher Wallace aka Notorious BIG aka Biggie Smalls aka Frank White on the 13th anniversary of his death. He would be running the game if he was still alive.
