Houston drowned in very hot water, cocaine in system

Whitney Houston performs during the World Music Awards at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada as a tribute to music mogul Clive Davis, who received the Outstanding Contribution to the Music Industry Award, in this September 15, 2004 file photo.

Credit: Reuters/Ethan Miller/Files

LOS ANGELES | Thu Apr 5, 2012 2:21am EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Whitney Houston drowned in a hot bathtub in a Beverly Hills hotel room with cocaine in her system and white powder nearby, a final coroner's report revealed on Wednesday.

Detectives found white powdery substances, a rolled-up piece of paper, a small spoon and a mirror in the bathroom shortly after Houston's naked body was found face down in the bathtub on February 11, the 40-page Los Angeles County coroner's report said.

Houston, 48, had a history of drug addiction. An autopsy in March determined she died of accidental drowning due to the effects of cocaine and heart disease.

Wednesday's report revealed that Houston had a perforated nose, indicating substance abuse, filled with a bloody discharge.

Detectives said she was found in about 12 inches of extremely hot water, which was determined to be 93 Fahrenheit (34 Celsius) some six hours after her death.

The singer also had traces of marijuana in her system and an open bottle of champagne was found in her room at the Beverly Hilton, hours before she was due to attend a pre-Grammy party.

On a counter in the bathroom, detectives found "a small spoon with a crystal-like substance in it and a rolled up piece of white paper."

In a drawer, they found "a white powdery substance and a portable mirror on a base" together with more remnants of powder on the base of the mirror.

Wednesday's report did not identify the substance.

The "I Will Always Love You" singer appears to have been left alone in the hotel room for less than an hour. Houston had complained of a sore throat and her personal assistant advised the singer to have a bath to get ready for the party while she went to a nearby Neiman Marcus department store to pick up items for her appearance.

When the assistant returned, she found a naked Houston face down in the bathtub and unresponsive, according to the report.

Houston was one of the world's best known singers in the 1980s and 1990s with hits such as "Saving All My Love For You" and "I Wanna Dance with Somebody."

But her career declined during a tumultuous, drug-fueled 15-year marriage to singer Bobby Brown. She was last known to have entered drug rehabilitation in May 2011 but celebrity media reported that she was seen drinking heavily and behaving erratically in the three or four days before her death.

Houston's family said in statement last month that they were "saddened to have learned of the toxicology results" that revealed recent cocaine use, but were glad to have closure.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Sandra Maler, Paul Simao and Lisa Shumaker)

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Whitney Houston Drowned With Cocaine in Her System

by Billboard Staff / AP Reports  |   March 22, 2012 6:00 EDT

W hitney Houston's death on Feb. 12 was caused by accidental drowning, heart disease and the effects of cocaine use, the L.A. County Coroner's office announced on Thursday. The just-released coroner's report states Houston was found submerged in a bathtub filled with water and lists "cocaine intake" as a cause of the injury.

According to spokesman Craig Harvey, Houston, 48, had cocaine in her system and that it contributed directly to her death. Marijuana, Xanax and Flexeril, a muscle relaxant, were also found but did not contribute to her death. He says the results indicated Houston was a chronic cocaine user.

Beverly Hills police said in a statement there was no evidence of wrongdoing in connection with Houston's death. Officials had previously confirmed that prescription pills were found in the room, but no mention of cocaine.

A TMZ source that is connected to the investigation calls it "very possible" that Houston suffered a heart attack that led her to lose consciousness in the bathtub.

"We are saddened to learn of the toxicology results, although we are glad to now have closure,' said Patricia Houston, the singer's sister-in-law and manager.

Houston died just hours before she was scheduled to appear at producer Clive Davis' pre-Grammy Awards bash.

Sister-in-Law Feared Drugs Would Take Whitney's Life

The singer was buried in a New Jersey cemetery next to her father after an emotional four-hour funeral service that was attended by friends, family and superstars such as Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry, Alicia Keys, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, Jennifer Hudson and Roberta Flack

Houston, a sensation from her first, eponymous album in 1985, was one of the world's best-selling artists from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s, turning out such hits as "I Wanna Dance With Somebody," ''How Will I Know," ''The Greatest Love of All" and "I Will Always Love You." But as she struggled with drugs, her majestic voice became raspy, and she couldn't hit the high notes.

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