On this day 14 years ago, multiple Grammy Award-winning singer Whitney Houston tragically died of accidental drowning, contributed to by heart disease and cocaine use, at the age of 48
The Bodyguard star Whitney Houston was found dead in a bathtub by her assistant at the Beverly Hilton hotel 14 years ago on February 11, 2012, leaving her millions of fans worldwide heartbroken.
An autopsy later determined that the I Will Always Love You singer, known as “the Voice” due to her incredible musical talent, died of accidental drowning, contributed to by heart disease and cocaine use, when she was just 48-years-old.
The surgical procedure performed after Whitney’s death also uncovered harrowing details of how drink and drug abuse had devastated Whitney’s body.
Body covered in scars
The coroner who examined Whitney’s body, which was discovered face down in the bath tub, noted in the report that she was covered in abrasions.
An “old healed vertical scar” could be seen on the singer’s inner lower left forearm. The official document also added that abrasions were found on her forehead and nose, alongside others spotted on her shoulder, forearm and left hand.
The autopsy report also stated that there was a “possible old puncture wound to her inner left elbow” and scars from the singer’s breast implants.
Burned skin
Due to the boiling water in the bath, which was found to be 93.5 degrees (determined “extremely hot” by the autopsy report), Whitney’s skin had been burned off her back, leading to ‘skin slippage’ on her legs.
The report included further details of “minor skin slippage” to the front of both of Whitney’s knees, and to the front central portion of her legs, along with “skin slippage to the lower central portion of her back”.
Furry arteries
An ITV documentary, Autopsy: The Last Hours of Whitney Houston, featured commentary from world-renowned forensic pathologist Prof. Richard Shepherd, who discussed the coroner’s discovery that the star had been suffering from atherosclerosis, which he described as “the furring up of the artery”, leaving the right coronary artery of her heart “narrowed by 60 per cent”.
The disease is caused when the lining of the artery is damaged. The expert explained: “That damage is stuck to by platelets, tiny cells within the blood stream, which then attract globules of fat. As the wall gets thickened by this fat and platelet, it narrows down to just a tiny pinhole eventually.”
Prof. Shepherd said that atherosclerosis is “common in the elderly” and is “very strongly associated with the smoking of tobacco”, which Whitney struggled to quit throughout her life.
However, he then pointed out: “To find it this severe in someone aged 48 strongly suggests that other factors have played a part.”
Bloody purge coming from nose
In a particularly grim part of Whitney’s autopsy report, the coroner mentioned that there was a “bloody purge coming from her nose” and that both of the star’s eyes were ‘congested’.
Remnants of a “white powdery substance” were also seen on multiple surfaces in the bathroom of Whitney’s room in the Beverly Hilton hotel, along with “a small spoon with a white crystal like substance in it” and rolled up paper.
Outside the bathroom where Whitney’s body was found, an open bottle of champagne was seen on the mini-bar, while an open can of beer was on a table. There was also a bottle of beer seen on a bedside table and several loose tablets.
Whitney had been open about her drug abuse, previously telling Oprah Winfrey in a 2009 interview that it became “heavy” after filming her 1992 movie The Bodyguard. She explained to Oprah that she would smoke marijuana combined with rock cocaine.
Sewn-on wig
A brown wig was found to have been ‘tightly attached’ onto Whitney’s existing hair in the autopsy, despite her natural hair still being clearly full, black and wavy with ‘no balding’. Her eyebrows were noted as being ‘sparse’ with ‘irregular hair distribution’.
It was also confirmed that Whitney’s upper teeth had been replaced by a “maxillary dental prosthesis”.
This came after Tina Brown, the sister of Whitney’s ex-husband Bobby Brown, claimed the singer had previously “lost” her teeth in days-long drug binges.
“She loses them in the house and when she’s out on drug binges. They cost $6000 and the dentist has to keep FedEx’ing her a new set,” she said in 2006.
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