The Puzzling Death of Elliott Smith
It’s widely believed that the indie artist committed suicide, but further investigation may prove otherwise.
If you’ve ever listened to Elliott Smith’s music, the first thing you may have noticed is how melancholic his lyrics are. The singer often told sad tales of alcoholism and heartbreak over the tune of an acoustic guitar. This may be the reason why when he was found dead- seemingly by suicide-nobody was really surprised. His history of addiction and depression led many to believe that this was a tragedy waiting to happen. When the layers are peeled back, however, all is not as it seems.
The Story
Elliott Smith’s death occurred on October 21st, 2003. The story goes as follows: Smith and his girlfriend, Jennifer Chiba got into an argument in their home in Los Angeles. Chiba locked herself in the bathroom during the argument and suddenly heard a scream. She then opened the door and went to the living room, where Smith was standing there with a knife in his chest. Chiba then pulled the knife out of his chest and called 911. Despite emergency surgery, Elliott was pronounced dead 20 minutes after arriving at the hospital. Left behind there was a post-it note that reads “ I’m so sorry-love, Elliott. God forgive me.”This version of his death was the one given to us by Smith’s then-girlfriend Jennifer Chiba, but there’s more to the story than meets the eye.
The Autopsy
The autopsy reveals many oddities about Elliott’s death, which appeared to be a suicide at first glance. Firstly, there was an absence of hesitation wounds on Elliott’s chest, something that would likely be present for someone about to stab themselves. There were also small wounds on his hands and bruises on his right arm 9that were likened on the report to defensive wounds. Another interesting thing to note is that both of Smith’s stab wounds were very similar in direction and angle. Suicide by stabbing is very rare in itself- only about 2% of suicides occur this way, and 69% of those are at night, not during the day like Elliott’s was. In terms of the wounds themselves, the first wound administered was fatal, so the likeliness that he could have given himself another very similar wound directly after is quite low. This and Chiba’s suspicious behavior subsequent to Elliott’s death led to his passing to be concluded undetermined.
Jennifer Chiba
Less then a year after Smith’s death, Jennifer Chiba filed a lawsuit against Elliott’s family for 15% of his earnings (interesting way to mourn, in my opinion) as she claimed that he promised to provide for Chiba’s “financial needs and support for the rest of her life”. Another oddity is that Chiba, being a licensed therapist, was trained in First Aid. Anyone trained in First Aid knows that pulling a knife or any sharp object out of someone may cause them to bleed out- however, Chiba did so anyway. Chiba’s odd behavior after Elliott’s death called into question the possibility of homicide.
“Playing things too safe is the most popular way to fail,”
— Elliott Smith
Despite all this, there was never a conclusive investigation after Elliott’s death, and it remains undetermined. Smith struggled with mental illness and addiction, but this doesn’t automatically mean he committed suicide. We like to assume things about others and put them in a box when in reality people are complicated. Elliott sang whispery sad songs about depression, but that didn’t define him. He was a person beyond that, a person who deserved a fair chance at an investigation and justice. The evidence points to suicide, but it also leaves open the possibility of homicide. No matter the result, an investigation is well past due for this case-and the truth remains unknown.
