Editing Janis Joplin (section)

====Death====

On Sunday evening, October 4, 1970, Joplin was found dead on the floor of her room at the Landmark Motor Hotel by her road manager and close friend John Byrne Cooke.<ref name=Cooke>[[John Byrne Cooke|Cooke, John Byrne]].''On the Road with Janis Joplin''. New York: [[Berkley Books]], 2014.</ref> Alcohol was present in the room. Newspapers reported that no other drugs or [[Drug paraphernalia|paraphernalia]] were present.<ref name=ergdiapt>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=P6lVAAAAIBAJ&pg=4793%2C831257 |work=Eugene Register-Guard |location=Oregon |agency=Associated Press |title=Rock singer found dead in apartment |date=October 5, 1970 |page=5A |access-date=October 2, 2020 |archive-date=October 9, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201009065221/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=P6lVAAAAIBAJ&pg=4793,831257 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=bbtrv>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=AQBYAAAAIBAJ&pg=4705%2C3605084 |work=The Bulletin |location=Bend, Oregon |agency=United Press International |title=Top rock vocalist Janis Joplin dies |date=October 5, 1970 |page=1 |access-date=October 2, 2020 |archive-date=October 10, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201010231356/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=AQBYAAAAIBAJ&pg=4705,3605084 |url-status=live }}</ref> According to a 1983 book authored by Joseph DiMona and Los Angeles County coroner [[Thomas Noguchi]], evidence of narcotics was removed from the scene by a friend of Joplin and later put back after the person realized that an autopsy was going to reveal that narcotics were in her system. The book adds that prior to Joplin's death, Noguchi had investigated other fatal drug overdoses in Los Angeles where friends believed they were doing favors for decedents by removing evidence of narcotics, but then "thought things over" and returned to put back the evidence.<ref>[[Thomas Noguchi|Noguchi, Thomas]] and DiMona, Joseph. ''Coroner''. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1983.</ref> Noguchi performed an [[autopsy]] on Joplin and determined the cause of death to be a heroin [[drug overdose|overdose]], possibly compounded by alcohol.<ref name="buried" /><ref>{{cite news |first=Derk |last=Richardson |title=Books in Brief |work=[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]] |date=April–May 1986 <!--|access-date=December 14, 2009-->}}</ref>

[[John Byrne Cooke]] believed Joplin had obtained heroin much more potent than what she and other L.A. heroin users had received on previous occasions, as was indicated by overdoses of several of her dealer's other customers during the same weekend.<ref>[[John Byrne Cooke|Cooke, John Byrne]]. ''On the Road with Janis Joplin''. New York: Berkley Books, 2014.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Janis Joplin: A Performance Diary 1966–1970 |first=John |last=Cooke |author-link=John Byrne Cooke |publisher=Acid Test |isbn=978-1-888358-11-7 |page=126 |year=1997 |url=https://archive.org/details/janisjoplinperfo00cook/page/126}}</ref> Her death was ruled [[accidental death|accidental]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.autopsyfiles.org/reports/Celebs/joplin,%20janis_report.pdf |title=Janis Joplin autopsy report |access-date=June 28, 2018 |publisher=Autopsyfiles |archive-date=June 13, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180613113905/http://www.autopsyfiles.org/reports/Celebs/joplin,%20janis_report.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Janis Joplin - The Peninsula Times Tribune (1970).jpg|thumb|left|Newspaper clipping, October 5, 1970]]

Both Peggy Caserta, Joplin's close friend, and [[Seth Morgan (novelist)|Seth Morgan]], Joplin's fiancé, failed to meet Joplin on Oct. 2, the Friday immediately before her death; Joplin had been expecting both of them to keep her company that night. According to Caserta, Joplin was saddened neither of her friends came to the Landmark as promised.<ref name="amburn" /><ref name="caserta" /> During the 24 hours Joplin lived after this disappointment, Caserta did not call to explain why she failed to show up.<ref name="caserta" /> Caserta admitted to waiting until late Saturday night to dial the Landmark Motel [[Telephone switchboard|switchboard]], only to learn that Joplin had instructed the desk clerk not to accept any incoming calls for her after midnight.<ref name="caserta" /> Morgan did speak to Joplin via telephone within the 24 hours before her death, but little is known about that call.<ref name="amburn" /> She used a phone at Sunset Sound Recorders where her colleagues ("there were perhaps twenty to twenty-five people present," wrote biographer Myra Friedman)<ref name="buried" /> noticed that whatever Morgan said to her made her very angry.<ref name="buried" /><ref name="amburn" />

Peggy Caserta has insisted Joplin's death was not an accidental overdose, but rather a result of a head gash suffered after the "hourglass heel" of her slingback sandal caught in the shag carpet, causing her to lose her balance. Caserta did concede, however, that drugs and/or alcohol may have played a role in hastening Joplin's death that night.<ref name="vulture.com" /> Joplin was [[Cremation|cremated]] at [[Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park and Mortuary]] in Los Angeles, and her ashes were scattered from a plane into the [[Pacific Ocean]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ultimateclassicrock.com/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-janis-joplin/ |first=Karen 'Gilly' |last=Laney |title=10 things you didn't know about Janis Joplin |date=January 19, 2012 |access-date=June 28, 2018 |publisher=Ultimate Classic Rock |archive-date=June 28, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180628234005/http://ultimateclassicrock.com/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-janis-joplin/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://ultimateclassicrock.com/janis-joplin-wake/ |first=Frank |last=Mastropolo |title=That time Janis Joplin paid for her own wake |date=October 26, 2015 |access-date=June 28, 2018 |publisher=Ultimate Classic Rock |archive-date=August 24, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180824033850/http://ultimateclassicrock.com/janis-joplin-wake/ |url-status=live }}</ref>