‘I KNOW WHO KILLED ELVIS!’
The King’s former wife shocks his fans with some disturbing revelations
It’s been more than 40 years since the untimely death of the King of Rock and Roll – and in the new documentary Elvis Presley: The Searcher, his ex-wife Priscilla Presley has made a shocking revelation about how the legend really died at his Graceland estate.
Several months after Elvis’ road manager and friend Joe Esposito said he found a suicide note next to the singer’s lifeless body back in 1977, Priscilla
admits his heart attack may not have been an accident after all. Instead, she believes Elvis killed himself at the age of 42 because he was struggling with drug abuse and wouldn’t accept help.
DRUG ADDICTION
“It was difficult for all of us. We certainly didn’t see it coming, but we certainly saw the journey he was taking,” Priscilla, 72, says.
“People go, ‘Why didn’t anyone do anything?’ Well, that’s not true. People there in the inner group did, but you did not tell Elvis Presley what to do. You did not. I mean, you’d be out of there faster than a scratched cat. They would try – and no way. He knew what he was doing.”
Elvis developed a drug problem when he was posted to Germany with the US army in 1958, Priscilla reveals.
“They gave [pills] to the soldiers over there to keep them awake. He had manoeuvres that he had to do late at night, so the pills were given to the guys and that’s how he started,” she explains.
“And if you take a sleeping pill, you have to do something to get yourself awake. He was in uncharted territory, he truly was, and he did this [tried to quit drugs] and tried to do this alone.”
These revelations from Priscilla – the mother of Elvis’ only child, Lisa Marie, now 50 – reinforce claims his death was deliberate, after he penned two notes hinting at his depression seven months earlier.
“I need a long rest,” Elvis wr wrote in one of the letters. “I’m sic sick and tired of my life.” He also de described losing Priscilla as the
‘You did not tell Elvis what to do. You did not’
“greatest “g mistake of my life” and admitted ad he was “embarrassed” he h couldn’t “kick drugs”. Elvis’ stepbrother Rick Stanley la later said, “The handwritten n note appears to be genuine. T To me, it’s a clear indication th that suicide was on his mind.” Priscilla promises this new d documentary will give fans a l lot of “answers” about the King, i including his tense relationship w with his domineering manager C Colonel Tom Parker. “I wanted Elvis’ life to be respected because he deserved it. The questions needed to be answered,” she says. “After living it, it’s hard for me to watch, because so much went down.”
Priscilla also says the doco – which she produced – might change fans’ perception of the singer. “I started thinking, ‘Well, if they truly cared for Elvis Presley, then they need to see what happened,’” she explains.
Insiders say being involved in the project has brought up a lot of painful memories for Elvis’ ex-wife, but she was finally ready to tell the world the truth.
PRISCILLA’S GUILT
“Elvis was and always will be the love of Priscilla’s life,” a friend tells Woman’s Day.
“It’s been tough for her to relive all of this, but she kept a lot of stuff a secret for a long time.
“Priscilla doesn’t find it easy to trust many people, but she connected with the director [Thom Zimny] and ended up opening up to him a lot.
“She’ll always feel some guilt over Elvis’ death and the fact that she couldn’t do anything to stop it,” adds the source.
“Now, she wants his fans to know the real Elvis. In her mind, that’s what they deserve – and Elvis deserves that too.”