The former INXS frontman’s (pictured) naked dead body was found in a hotel room in the exclusive Ritz-Carlton in Double Bay
A detective has described the chaotic scene he uncovered inside rock star Michael Hutchence’s swanky hotel suite after he died.
The former INXS frontman’s naked body was found in a hotel room in the exclusive Ritz-Carlton in Double Bay, a harbourside suburb of Sydney, in November 1997.
And now Detective Inspector Mark Smith has recounted the harrowing moment he opened the door to room 524 to find the Australian singer slumped dead on the floor.
The then 37-year-old, who is believed to have committed suicide, was surrounded by the remnants of what appeared to have been a booze-fuelled few hours.
‘It was a bit of a mess with vodka and champagne bottles and things like that lying around,’ Detective Inspector Smith told True Crime Australia’s Police Tape podcast.
‘The bath was full, we don’t know whether he had a bath or not or what his intentions were. As I said there was a bit of a mess, like if you would have had a couple of friends around during the course of the night for a bit of a party, but there [was] not much,’ he added.
No drugs were found at the scene, only some foil which is presumed to have been used as a drug paraphernalia.
Detective Inspector Mark Smith has recounted the harrowing moment he opened the door to room 524 (pictured)
A piece of paper with some writing on was found in the hotel room, believed to be lyrics the music legend had been working on
An autopsy would later reveal that cocaine, Prozac, prescription drugs and alcohol were found in the music legend’s system.
Detective Inspector Smith said there was little else in the room, apart from a piece of paper with some writing on it.
It’s understood the words were the final lyrics, never published, that Hutchence had been working on.
Detective Inspector Smith also noted that while there was no suicide note, the scene pointed towards a suicide.
He added there were few other contents in the room worth investigating.
An autopsy would later reveal that cocaine, Prozac, and prescription drugs as well as alcohol were found in the music legend’s (pictured) system
Family: Paula Yates, Michael Hutchence and their daughter, Tiger Lily (left). He remained close to Miss Yates and her other daughters, Pixie and Peaches (right), over the years ahead of the international custody fight
‘Well nothing really on site apart from the crime scene people coming and giving their opinion as to how the death had occurred and that they believed it was suicide the way the door had to be opened … a number of different issues there,’ he said.
An inquest into Hutchence’s death found he had committed suicide.
It’s believed he killed himself at the height of a bitter custody row over Paula Yates’ children with her husband Bob Geldof.
The legal fight meant that Hutchence’s own daughter with her, 16-month-old Tiger Lily, was not going to be able to visit him in Australia that Christmas.
Miss Yates never accepted the ruling that Hutchence (pictured) had committed suicide and claimed he had died during an auto-erotic sex game
Miss Yates never accepted the ruling that Hutchence had committed suicide, claiming in a TV interview that he had died of auto-erotic asphyxiation.
Such was her determination to make her point about this to police that when she arrived in Australia following his death she shouted at the detectives in a restaurant while giving graphic details of the sex games she and Hutchence played.
‘He would strangle me during sex,’ she told them.
Mr Smith said nothing would convince Miss Yates that Hutchence had taken his own life.
Detective Inspector Smith said she was adamant she wanted her child to believe it was an accidental death rather than a suicide.
Band: The INXS frontman, here with the band, is believed to have committed suicide in 1997