There is no foul play suspected in the death of Andrew Getty, the 47-year-old oil dynasty heir who was found dead in his Hollywood Hills home on Tuesday, authorities say. Based on a preliminary investigation, Los Angeles County coroner's Assistant Chief Ed Winter said that Getty appeared to have died from natural causes or from an accident, according to the L.A. Times.
Authorities responded to a 9-1-1 call from a woman around 2:15 p.m. at Getty's three-story villa located on the 2900 block of Montcalm Ave. They found Getty, naked from the waist down. Winter said Getty was discovered on his side in between a bathroom and a hallway. A law enforcement source told the Times that there was some sort of blunt-force trauma to Getty's body. So far, TMZ is the only outlet to report that Getty was bleeding from his rectal area. Getty reportedly was suffering from painful stomach problems, and sources told TMZ that he may have collapsed as he was trying to get to the bathroom.
Investigators found prescription medication in Getty's home and discovered that Getty had been ill for some time. "The tentative information that we do have is that he was not feeling good for the last couple months," Winter said, "and he supposedly had an appointment tomorrow with a personal physician."
Winter said it could take up to 10 weeks to get the results from Getty's autopsy and toxicology tests.
Although the woman who made the phone call has not been identified by authorities, TMZ said that she was Getty's ex-girlfriend. Authorities said she is cooperating with investigators, and at this point, it doesn't look like she's involved in Getty's death.
Sources told TMZ that Getty and his ex-girlfriend previously had some run-ins with police. Authorities had reportedly gone to Getty's home over 30 times, mostly for domestic disturbance calls, and had seen the couple under the influence of drugs. Getty also filed a restraining order against his ex-girlfriend, TMZ reported. The Times confirmed Getty filed a restraining order just two weeks ago, though they didn't identify the woman.
Getty is the grandson of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty, and is part of the Getty trust. He's one of four sons of Ann and Gordon Getty, who's a San Francisco multibillionaire and philanthropist. They released this statement yesterday: "The family has requested that members of the media and the public respect its privacy during this extremely difficult time."
