Jim Morrison Overdose Rehashed: Marianne Faithfull Blames De Breteuil

I recently read some news about the death of Jim Morrison. I don't know if any particular revelation matters at all since the indictment refers to something that happened well over 40 year ago. Heroin overdoses, possible conspiracies, recent finger pointing -- what does it all matter? Drug abuse has destroyed so many talented celebrities, and accidental overdoses represent a risk taken by all who engage in drug use. To me, the bottom line for blame is the realistic, ever-present horror in dependency and addiction.

Of course, rumors about the death of Morrison have circulated since his expiration. Long after his untimely demise, the charismatic front man of the Doors continues to draw fans and headlines. You certainly can't call this information timely; however, you might wonder why it surfaced now.

 Marianne Faithfull (In the Day)

67-year-old British singer Marianne Faithfull (former girlfriend of Mick Jagger) said in a recent interview that her boyfriend at the time, a heroin dealer named Jean de Breteuil, was responsible for Doors frontman Jim Morrison's death on July 3, 1971, at the age of 27.

Faithfull, who also struggled with drug issues, said she traveled to Paris in the summer of 1971 with de Breiteuil. 

Faithfull claims she recalls a sense of foreboding when Breteuil told her he intended to visit Morrison in Paris, so she decided to stay at their hotel and take barbiturates. “I could intuitively feel trouble,” she recalls. “I thought, I’ll take a few Tuinal and I won’t be there."

Faithfull told Mojo, "He went to see Jim Morrison and killed him. I mean, I'm sure it was an accident. Poor bastard. The smack was too strong? Yeah. And he died. And I didn't know anything about this. Anyway, everybody connected to the death of this poor guy is dead now. Except me."

(Kory Grow. "Marianne Faithfull: My Ex-Boyfriend Killed Jim Morrison."  
Rolling Stone. August 5, 2014)

Jean de Breteuil

The coroner did not suspect foul play. Although no autopsy was ever performed, Morrison is believed to have died from a heroin overdose.

Official reports said he had a heart attack in the bath. Faithfull's account of Morrison's death is vaguely similar to the one given by Morrison's longtime girlfriend, Pamela Courson, who herself died of a heroin overdose in 1974. Courson said she got drugs from de Breteuil, and that Morrison died after a night of taking heroin and drinking. Courson said Morrison woke coughing in the night before heading into the bathroom to soak in the tub.

Another report thickens the plot. In 2007, French-born former New York Times journalist Sam Bernett claimed Morrison died of a massive heroin overdose in the toilet of a nightclub he was managing, the Rock 'n' Roll Circus on the French capital's Left Bank.

Bernett claimed the death was then covered up by two drug dealers who transferred Morrison's body from the club to the singer's apartment and dumped it in the bath.

 (Pam Wright. "Marianne Faithfull Claims Drug-Dealing Ex-Boyfriend ‘Killed’ 

Jim Morrison." WebProNews. August 7, 2014)

Faithfull and Morrison

De Breiteuil also died of an overdose in 1971 in Morocco, not long after Morrison’s death.

Faithfull famously fell into drug use and a serious heroin addiction for most of the ’70s. In her memoir, Faithfull, she describes it as a lost period and seems to have little memory of the time during which she ended up homeless and addicted. She still lives in Paris, and has a new album, Give My Love To London, out in September.

(Richard Spillett and Peter Allen. "Did This Man Kill Jim Morrison?"  

Daily Mail Online. August 7, 2014)