From therockradio.com
A former roadie of Jimi Hendrix's claims in his
soon-to-be published memoir that Hendrix's final manager confessed to
killing the legendary guitarist. London's Daily Mail reported that
former Hendrix aide James "Tappy" Wright says in his upcoming book Rock
Roadie, that a year after Hendrix's death in September 1970, manager
Michael Jeffery confessed to him that he plied a semi-conscious Hendrix
with enough pills and alcohol to kill him so that he could collect
insurance money and not risk Hendrix breaking their management
agreement.
Wright, who also roadied for Elvis Presley and Tina
Turner, among others, said that Jeffery said in his confession: "I had
to do it, Tappy. You understand, don't you? I had to do it. You know
damn well what I'm talking about. . . I was in London the night of
Jimi's death and together with some old friends . . . we went round to
(Hendrix's girlfriend) Monika's (Dannemann's) hotel room, got a handful
of pills and stuffed them into his mouth . . . then poured a few
bottles of red wine deep into his windpipe. I had to do it. Jimi was
worth much more to me dead than alive. That son of a B!tch was going to
leave me. If I lost him, I'd lose everything."
Jeffery, who died
in 1971, had told Wright that he had taken out a $2 million policy out
on Hendrix, which named him as the chief beneficiary.
The official cause of Hendrix's death was 'barbiturate intoxication and inhalation of vomit."
The
events surrounding Hendrix's death have always been shady, especially
when it comes to how Hendrix was found and who exactly called for an
emergency crew -- neither things which are ever out of the ordinary in
an O.D. case.
James "Tappy" Wright's memoir Rock Roadie will be released next month.
- Hmmmmm....interesting