
In the late nineties, there was a singer who became a huge influence for most modern indie rock bands. A troubled soul from a young age who managed to release material that struck a chord with fans all over the world. Although this singer had suffered from depression throughout his life his death may not be what you expect. This week The Beat Goes On to 21st October 2003 when Elliott Smith died.
After a couple of moderate-selling albums Elliott Smith’s third album ‘Either/Or’, shoved him into the limelight when it featured some tracks from the film Good Will Hunting. Smith wrote a new song for the film called ‘Miss Misery’ which led to an Oscar nomination. Like most troubled musicians the thrust into stardom was becoming a hindrance to the singer and he looked to experiment with drink and drugs.
Smith’s friends in Portland, where he was living at the time, were worried about his deterioration into drinks and drugs, which now started to include Heroin and Crack Cocaine. His response? To relocate to New York and write a new album.
Elliott had suffered from depression most of his life. Although born in Nebraska, he moved to Texas with his mother, who split from his father at a young age. She remarried and according to reports (but not confirmed), Smith’s new stepfather was abusive which most believed is from where the depression stemmed.
In 2001 now living in Los Angeles, Smith met Jennifer Chiba. There are contradictions on how they met from different sources, some say they met after Smith saw Chiba’s band Happy Ending, at a venue called Spaceland. Others say Chiba was a drug dealer and helped Smith with his devices. Another account is Chiba was forcefully trying to get Smith’s attention at a club although he wasn’t interested. These uncertainties will be a common theme throughout the story.
The relationship between the two was toxic as accounted by people who they worked with at the time. So toxic that they were nicknamed Sid and Nancy after the Sex Pistols bassist and his girlfriend in 1978. Drug abuse and vulnerability were common between the two couples.
When Happy Endings was signed to a record label, they went into the studio to record an album. The band asked Elliott Smith to produce the album who was now dating Chiba. The recording process was fractious as the band didn’t agree with where Smith wanted to lead them. Sources claimed it was Smith and Chiba versus the rest of the band.
The toxicity increased when Chiba and Smith moved in together. Newly sober and clean for the first time in his adult life he felt like he had a grip on life again, Chiba however, still enjoyed the lifestyle at this time and carried on living the rock n roll lifestyle.
Then things came to a head in October 2003 when after another heated argument between the couple, Chiba locked herself in the bathroom. Smith had threatened to kill himself, but she ignored the threat as he said this every time they argued. While in the Bathroom Chiba heard a scream from inside the house and came running out to see what happened. Coming out of the bathroom she saw Smith standing there with a knife in his chest.
Chiba called for an ambulance and removed the knife from the wound while performing CPR being guided by the phone operator until the paramedics arrived. It was to no avail as Smith died later in hospital.
The story didn’t end there as the medical examiner’s report asked more questions about the supposed suicide judged by the police. Suicide was an easy assumption given the singer’s music and previous actions and Chiba started acting strange around the circumstances of his death.
The ME’s report couldn’t confirm that it was a suicide. It wasn’t a common way to commit suicide and on the rare occasion where it is, there would be hesitation marks on the chest. The report said there wasn’t any. There were defensive wounds on Smith’s right hand which again raises questions as he is right-handed. If it was self-inflected, then there would not be any defensive wounds. The toxicology report said that the singer was clean other than taking the medication that had been prescribed and even friends around him said he was the best they’ve seen him for a while.
As mentioned earlier Jennifer Chiba was acting strange around this time too. During a police interrogation, Chiba gave them a suicide note written on a post-it note supposedly written by Smith before his demise, but according to reports, the handwriting is different to the singer’s. The note said, ‘I am so sorry love Elliot, Please God forgive me’ and raised suspicion as Elliott was spelt differently than how Smith spelt it. She explained to the police about his previous problems but when she talked to the police a second time it was a completely different statement.
After reports started circulating that she refused to talk to the police, she put out a statement regarding her cooperation after a leak of the coroner’s report which looked to implicate her.
There were constant rumours about Chiba’s involvement in the death of Elliott Smith. The rumours were so bad that Happy Ending disbanded. The band’s website had to be taken down because of the abuse Chiba was receiving on the message boards. Some of these rumours include that she rang someone else before 911, that she barricaded herself in the bathroom when the police arrived to take her statement, that she had basic CPR training from her college days, and she almost fled America until she realised, she wasn’t a suspect.
About a year after Smith’s death Chiba sued the singer’s estate which happened to be his family, for a share in the royalties. It ended in a battle for a long time, but the judge found in favour of the estate in 2007.
We will never know what happened on that night in October. There are only two people in the world that know for sure and one of them is deceased. Like any suspicious deaths that are all too common in the music industry, the details are cloudy and blurry. Much like their comparison couple Sid and Nancy, it ended in tragedy with both artists leaving more on the table.
The Beat Marches On is a music blog written by Jimmy Whitehead. Jimmy has been blogging for six years specialising in Sports (especially American Football). If you want to follow Jimmy on Twitter: @Jimmy_W1987
The Beat Marches On has a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/The-Beat-Goes-On-Blog-107727714415791 and a Twitter page: @TheBeatGoesOnB1
Websites used for research are:
Jennifer Chiba & the Mystery of Elliott Smith’s Death | Rocks Off Mag
The mysterious death of Mr Misery | Music | The Guardian
If you want to request a story for The Beat Marches On blog, then you can contact jwhiteheadjournalism@gmail.com. We cannot guarantee that the story will be published but will be considered