This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
The Los Angeles County coroner's office confirmed Friday that Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington died by suicide.
According to the Los Angeles Times, a coroner's office spokesman said that Bennington's body was found hanging from a belt off a bedroom door on Thursday. A half-empty bottle of alcohol was found in the same room at the house on the 2800 block of Via Victoria in Palos Verdes Estates. No suicide note was discovered.
Authorities responded to the scene after dispatch at the Los Angeles County Fire Department received a call of suspected cardiac arrest at the home at 8:59 a.m. on Thursday morning, Lt. Inspector Richard Licon of the LACFD told LAist. "It was an 814 criteria, which means rigor mortis had already set in, so no resuscitation was necessary. There was no paramedics needed," said Licon.
Bennington has openly discussed his experiences with suicidal thoughts before; he said he'd struggled with them after the end of his first marriage in 2005.
"I felt like my life's work had been given away. I drank myself to the point where I couldn't leave the house and I couldn't function," Bennington told Kerrang! in 2009, notes Digital Spy. "I wanted to kill myself. I could very easily not be the person who's sitting here right now. I could be dead. It was a horrible, horrible existence."
In May, Bennington took to Twitter to post a message regarding the suicide of fellow musician and friend Chris Cornell.
With all of my love @chriscornell. pic.twitter.com/NFz0dnxfp8
— Chester Bennington (@ChesterBe) May 18, 2017
An autopsy has not yet been performed on Bennington's body.
If someone you know exhibits warning signs of suicide: do not leave the person alone; remove any firearms, alcohol, drugs or sharp objects that could be used in a suicide attempt; and call the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) or take the person to an emergency room or seek help from a medical or mental health professional.
