Who Killed Brian Jones? The Theory Explained | Vinyl Rewind

just after midnight on the 3rd of July 1969 the co-founder of The Rolling Stones Brian Jones was found Motionless in his swimming pool when he was pulled out his girlfriend claims he still had a pulse but by the time medical professionals arrived and transported him to the hospital it was too late the official cause of death was by misadventure suggesting that Brian accidentally drowned while under the influence of drugs and alcohol however in the years since various murder theories emerged as some people believed that his death was made to look like an accident on today's episode of strange and unusual Tales we will look at all the evidence to determine once and for all who killed Brian Jones foreign episode is brought to you by curiositystream the best place to find and watch documentaries about Science History technology nature travel and so much more if you like learning about real life Mysteries or the darker side of musicians I think you're really gonna dig curiosity stream it's a subscription streaming service that offers thousands of exclusive documentaries and non-fiction titles that you can't see anywhere else their content is updated weekly and you can watch from anywhere your TV PC or phone I really enjoyed the film all I can say which is a fascinating documentary on the final years of Blind Melon singer it's largely made from his home videos and gives an intimate portrait of his life before the fame the band's rise in popularity and even all the way up to the day he tragically died and the best part about curiosity stream is that they offer plans starting at just five bucks a month with both monthly and annual options so if you're ready to check it out for yourself go to curiositystream.com rewind 25 or scan the QR code for unlimited access to the world's top documentaries and non-fiction series not only will you be supporting my channel you'll save 25 off when you use the promo code vinore rewind 25 so click the link below or go to curiositystream.com vinorewind25 and save 25 right now foreign in November of 1968 Brian bought a country state known as kochford Farm which was once the home to the author of the Winnie the Pooh books at some point Brian needed repairs done to the main house and so he asked Tom keylock for help now Tom was a World War II vet and he worked for the Rolling Stones primarily as a chauffeur bodyguard and eventually somewhat of a tour manager Tom recommended Frank Thorogood as he was just completing some Renovations on Keith Richards home at the time Frank was living in London and so when he started work on Brian's home he lived on the property in a flat above the garage he brought on a number of workers to help out but honestly they probably did more partying than they actually worked you see Frank was 44 married with kids and so you know he wanted to live a little and while he and Brian had a bit of a rapport those on the outside could tell that Frank was using Brian Jane Perrin said Brian phoned me up another time upset that the work was going all wrong he said a beam teams falling down in the kitchen I said well get them right back this minute to fix it but Brian didn't like to I don't know he just wasn't the type to demand that they put it right those around Brian knew he didn't like confrontation and so it was difficult for him to stand up to Frank even though he felt like he was getting taken advantage of at the same time though he enjoyed having Frank and his workers around his girlfriend Anna said Brian made the excuse that he needed Mail company and that's why he used to invite Franken to have coffee drinks and dinners I know he's using me but it's my own fault Brian said I like having someone to chat to and franks better than no one various accounts say that Brian planned to fire Frank the evening of July 2nd but it's unclear if this actually happened what we do know is a little murky since the three eyewitnesses gave conflicting accounts but I will try my best to summarize the events during the day of July 2nd it was exceptionally hot outside and that summer produced a lot of pollen in the year and so both of these factors were adversely affecting Brian's asthma causing it to flare up that day then early in the evening Brian and Anna had dinner with Frank and a woman staying with him Janet Lawson now Janet had an on and off relationship with both Tom keylock and Frank which is already a little strange but it's rumored that Tom asked her to go to Brian's house to look after him since she was a nurse by profession there were concerns about Brian's health within the Rolling Stone Circle especially after he left the band about a month earlier and so later in the evening closer to like 9 30 or 10 o'clock Brian walked over to where Frank and Janet were staying and invited them for a drink on the way back to the house Janet says Brian was stumbling and acting really drunk but Frank says he was fine around 10 or 11 pm after an unknown number of drinks Brian decided he wanted to go swimming because it was still really hot outside Frank told police Brian was staggering he had some difficulty in balance seen on the diving board and I helped to steady him Janice said Brian's movements were sluggish but I felt reasonably assured that they were all able to look after each other now there's some discrepancies on who left the pool first but basically at some point both women left at different times leaving Frank and Brian in the pool Janet estimates they were alone together for about 30 minutes close to midnight Frank went back to the house to smoke a cigarette leaving Brian by himself at some point Janet decided to check in on Brian and that's when she saw him Motionless in the pool and screamed for help both Anna and Frank came outside but this is where it gets confusing Anna claims she dove in and pulled him out but Janet claims that she did the same thing but realized she didn't have the strength alone and asked Frank to help however Frank claims that he and Anna were both in the water at the same time and got Brian out of the pool then someone phoned for help Anna started giving him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation while Jana performed cardiac massage they did this for about 50 15 minutes until the ambulance arrived and the Medics took over Brian was either pronounced dead at the scene or when he was taken to the local hospital either way his official date of death was July 3rd however the pathologist claims that Brian probably died on July 2nd sometime between the hours of 11 30 pm and 12 a.m his autopsy revealed no bruising on his body and no signs of a struggle so whatever happened to him was without his knowledge and definitely not against his will officially his death was ruled an accident but the fact remains Brian was a young man who died in his prime he had a bit of a drug and alcohol problem but he seemed to be handling it okay he was a strong swimmer and yet he drowned it just didn't make a lot of sense and so naturally people started to think that something else was in play like this wasn't just an accident this had to be done on purpose and from these suspicions three distinct theories emerged that all claim Brian was killed foreign subscribe to this Theory and honestly it has less to do with the members of The Rolling Stones and more to do with the people working for them as the band became more and more popular they got used to living a life of luxury but with their manager Alan Klein how much they actually made was always a little mysterious there seemed to be this constant pressure on them to work in order to keep the cash flowing the truth was Brian wanted out of the band he felt his contributions were no longer welcomed and the band was becoming more about making money than making new and interesting music the problem was Brian didn't have the nerve to actually quit the band instead of just telling them he wanted out he basically forced them to make the first move once it was agreed to have Brian leave the band part of the deal was that he would get an initial 100 000 pound Severance and then 20 000 pounds every year the Rolling Stones remained active as a band so the theory goes Alan Klein thought this was a waste of money and wanted Brian out of the the picture so we asked Tom keylock to get rid of him and so he with the help of Frank Thorogood killed Brian but made it look like an accident and this isn't as far-fetched as it seems since Tom was described as a jack of all trades he was very well connected to law enforcement but also to the criminal underworld basically if there was something that needed to be done or he felt should be done he would make sure it happened by any means necessary supposedly if the police continue to investigate Brian's death as a murder there was a strong possibility that the whole band would get dragged into the investigation and this would prevent them from touring America in the fall which ended up being their most profitable tour up to that point therefore there was a strong motive to wrap up the investigation as soon as possible but here's what's crazy Tom's brother just happened to be a high-ranking officer in the UK criminal investigation department and allegedly Tom asked his brother to make the whole investigation go away now it's true that the police didn't do a great job their investigation wasn't as thorough as it could have been and they didn't really secure the house right after Brian's death very well but that doesn't mean they were in on a cover-up I mean if they were you would think they would do a better job and not leave any Loose Ends also historically the police were not very kind to Brian and they were essentially out to take down pop stars for drug possession even going as far as to plant false evidence according to one of Brian's staff the police were very determined to find a crime he said the police sergeant in charge told me they were trying very hard to bring a charge of manslaughter but they couldn't prove murder ultimately though despite the conflicting testimony from the three Witnesses the police investigation concluded no crime was committed honestly there is literally no evidence to support this Theory despite any royalty or Severance payments the truth is Brian was worth way more alive than dead at the time he was working on new music and I'm sure Alan Klein would have found a way to monetize his solo career if Tom is guilty of anything it's probably embezzlement it's very likely that Tom was exploiting Brian through Frank by overcharging for the work on the house but for Tom to want to kill Brian just doesn't add up you don't kill the Golden Goose and so to me this Theory doesn't make any sense foreign this next one the third man Theory because it involves additional men at the pool not reported to the police in the 1990 book Blown Away the author interviewed an anonymous man who claimed he witnessed two of his co-workers taunting and dunking Brian in the pool eventually this escalated to them holding him under water until he went limp and then they ran from the pool a remarkably similar story was published in the 1994 book the author claims another anonymous man confessed to accidentally killing Brian at the time the man was working on fixing Brian's home and on the night that Brian died the man and his co-worker were playing in the pool with Brian and they held him down for too long and the two men panicked and ran from the pool this version of events is corroborated by Nicholas Fitzgerald in his book he claims that he went to Brian's house after he didn't pick up the phone when Nicholas and his friend arrived at coachford Farm they saw Brian getting out of the pool when three unidentifiable men came out of the shadows and pushed him back into the pool drowning him him he then claims that Tom keylock chased him off the property Nicholas goes on to say that Brian was murdered in order to prevent him from forming a rock super group with Jimi Hendrix and John Lennon his book also names other people who knew Brian was murdered but surprisingly and conveniently they had all died by the time of the book's publication so there's no way of corroborating the story The Sussex police eventually interviewed Nicholas and deemed him to be an uncredible witness they felt that he made up the story to promote his book also Tom keylock was at Olympic studios in London the night Brian died and he was seen by other people so there's no way he could have made the drive from London and be at Brian's property at the time that Nicholas says plus as I mentioned earlier Brian was a money maker and if he were to form that super group why would you kill that while all three of these authors tell remarkably similar stories to the accounts were told by men who wish to remain anonymous and Nicholas's version of events can't be proven could they all be telling in the truth sure but without any hard evidence it's much more likely that all three were lying to sell their books and so it's hard for me to give this Theory any clap foreign [Music] plausible Theory Frank Thorogood killed Brian Brian wasn't broke but he was concerned about his income moving forward without the stones he wasn't touring anymore and his own music output had slowed he was due to receive about a hundred thousand pounds but this was taken a while and the renovations were dragging on and costing a lot of money he was suspicious that something was going on but Brian had trouble with confrontation as we know and so he was planning on having a third party go over all of Frank's previous bills to make sure he wasn't overcharging Brian even called Keith Richards to tell what was going on and Keith's response was basically he was crazy for letting Frank into his house and for becoming friendly with him according to Anna's book the week before he died Brian had requested all payments to Frank B Paws until he could sort things out by the evening of his death Brian was growing concerned that Frank was going to find out about the stop payments and so he wanted to talk things out in person hence why he invited Frank over for a drink once they were all in the pool Anna remembered that Brian teased Frank about being older and not having as much money as him Frank seemed to take it personally and push Brian's head under water then at some point Anna left to answer the phone and then she heard Janet shouting and I rushed outside and then wondered why it took so long to Frank to get to the pool Anna thinks he must have known that it was too late when Janet started screaming for help that would explain why she felt he was so unsympathetic when she was trying to save Brian's life she also recalled how nervous Frank seemed giving his statement to the police over the years Anna suspected Foul Play was involved because Brian was such a strong swimmer there was no way he could have drowned she said there was no doubt in my mind Frank had killed Brian he'd finally lost his self-control Brian had made a fatal mistake when he insisted on teasing Frank however in her book she never gives any evidence it's all just based on her hunch Janet also changed her story over the years and right before she died of cancer in 2008 she gave an interview to the Daily Mail in it she claims she was not totally truthful to the police when she was first interviewed on the night that Brian died she claims he asked her to get his inhaler from the house as she was walking back she ran into Frank and saw he was shaking and in a terrible State Janet felt something was off and so she rushed back to the pool and saw Brian motionless when she called for help she claims Frank knew exactly what was going on even though she didn't say what was wrong it was like he instinctively knew where to go in her opinion Frank accidentally killed Brian when they were roughhousing in the pool and while all this could be true it's mostly just based on her feelings also Anna claims Brian was always cautious around the pool telling her to never swim alone and he always let her know when he was swimming alone he also kept four inhalers at Each corner of his pool so it doesn't make sense that he asked Janet to grab one from the house in the 1994 book who killed Christopher Robin Tom keylock says he visited Frank while he was in the hospital in the fall of 1993. this was shortly before he died and he confessed that he killed Brian Tom asked him why and Frank said he just snapped at Brian during an argument about money Frank's daughter doubts her father said this because he didn't know he was about to die and also the confession lacks any real detail for all we know it could have been made up to sell the book ultimately anyone who claims Frank killed Brian has no evidence other than the way he acted the night Brian died and to me it's totally understandable to not act yourself in the face of death especially when it's someone you know if Frank is guilty of anything I think it would be for accidentally contributing to Brian's death as the autopsy proves Brian wasn't struggling he didn't know he was about to die also as the author of from crime scene to courtroom points out the movement to accuse Franco murder only happened after he passed away in 1993 because libel laws in the UK are only enforced for living people foreign wasn't murdered why did he die some people wondered if Brian had an asthma attack in the water couldn't get to his inhaler in time and then drown however according to the pathology report there wasn't any physical evidence that an asthma attack occurred in the time of death he also didn't die from any natural causes or from any condition related to his past drug use or any sort of illness additionally most everyone who looked at his medical report concluded that Brian was not in any condition to just suddenly die what is interesting though is that when they did some additional drug testing they found the presence of an amphetamine-like substance at a very high level it was like something like eight or nine times the normal amount that you should have in your body unfortunately the testing at that time couldn't identify what caused such a spike they could only say that he ingested a lot of something and that is suspicious however the substance was found in his urine so it was already out of his system and unlikely to have contributed to his death the police did search his property but no illegal drugs were found they even tested the bottles of alcohol that were consumed that night but everything came back as normal it's also possible that Brian took his own life by ingesting something before he swam however without a note or other evidence this is really hard to prove by all accounts his life in the country was really doing him wonders he was looking forward to starting a family with Anna and he was excited about working on his own music Anna said Brian was cheerful and optimistic after his breakup with the stones you could tell by his behavior that he was happy and relaxed another friend of Brian's visited him in June and said he was so happy he was extremely positive about his new band and rabbited on about the type of music he would be playing he was so fired up you couldn't help but feel his excitement rub off on you so yeah to me this doesn't sound like the kind of guy who wanted to die but it's important to note that at the time of his death Brian was taking several prescription medications including Valium a sleeping pill allergy medicine a sedative known as black bombers and his inhaler therefore I think the most likely explanation is that he was very drunk that night and with the warm water and the warm air induced a sleepiness that caused him to become unconscious and drown so in the end I don't think it was a person that killed him but rather a lethal combo of drugs and alcohol a sad end to a brilliant musician foreign despite the many conspiracy theories there has never been any credible evidence to support them just because there are discrepancies in the eyewitness accounts doesn't mean they were lying I mean it's very common for eyewitnesses to have their stories vary as people's memories are funny and they can put events out of order and you would think if they were all working together their stories would line up better the sad truth is people have money to gain by spinning the tail that Brian was murdered it makes for a much more interesting story than a simple accident if and this is a big if Brian was killed I believe it was by accident could Frank be responsible absolutely but it's just as likely or more likely that Brian passed out and drowned on his own Keith Richards said something to the effect of that perhaps those around Brian didn't really take care of them as they should have but he doesn't believe anyone wanted him dead all right everybody that will do it for today I'm curious to know what you think of Brian's death do you believe he was murdered or was it just an accident leave a comment below also before I go I do want to mention that Brian died at the age of 27 making him a member of the 27 club which is a topic I'll cover in a future video on what's even stranger is that Tom keylock died 40 years after O'Brien on basically the same day July 2nd I think that's pretty crazy all right everybody thank you so much for watching and I especially want to thank my members over on patreon I'm your vinyl geek and I'll catch you on the flip side

Channel: Vinyl Rewind

Views: 32,203

Keywords: brian jones, rolling stones, keith richards, brian jones death, the rolling stones, frank thorogood, 27 club, cotchford farm, sympathy for the devil, mick jagger, brian jones death announcement, brian jones death news, brian jones death frank thorogood, brian jones death newspaper, life and death of brian jones, the curious life and death of brian jones, rolling stone life and death of brian jones, 27 club documentary, tom keylock, anna wohlin brian jones, anna wohlin, klein

Id: 2ghBoLOmfwA

Length: 20min 43sec (1243 seconds)

Published: Thu May 25 2023