Jim Morrison case may be resurrected

Thirty-six years after Doors front man Jim Morrison was reportedly found dead in a Paris hotel bathtub, police are considering reopening his case, British newspaper The Mail on Sunday has reported.

Sam Barnett, a former New York Times journalist, told the Mail that Morrison actually died in the toilet stall of a Paris nightclub he was managing at the time. He claimed it was a massive heroin overdose that killed Morrison and not “natural causes”, as it says on his death certificate.

Rumours of Morrison’s death coming as the result of an enthusiastic flirtation with heroin are nothing knew. Oliver Stone more-or-less addressed the issue in his 1991 docudrama The Doors, in a scene in which Morrison’s subtle requests for the drug go unanswered, and most biographies on the deceased Lizard King have addressed the mysterious circumstances surrounding Morrison’s death in some depth.

What makes Barnett’s claims notable is the fact that he was certainly at the club the night of the alleged overdose. Whether Morrison was too however, is far less certain. As reported countless times since Morrison’s death, girlfriend Pamela Courson has sworn he was with her that night, that the two were only at the movies, and that afterwards Morrison simply took the bath he was found in.

Speaking on what prompted him to come forward now, Barnett told the Mail, “I was 26 in 1971. Today, I'm past 60, and want to get rid of my heavy load.” The fact that he has a forthcoming book in the works entitled The End--Jim Morrison, probably doesn’t hurt his conscience either.

The claims are being taken seriously, however, as France’s Police National have said the new evidence will be considered and could lead to Morrison’s case being reopened, the Mail reported.