Driving while listening to Controversy; the lyrics went right through me to where I had to find a place to pull into in order to post this. "Some people want to die so they can be free". Didn't Prince text "Controversy" to his friend T. Hall when she asked him how he was after the emergency plane landing? I'm grieving and can't stop searching for some kind of closure even it means him taking his own life. I have no idea what he was going through and would never ever judge him. I've always loved him and his music. I know the sheriff said no reason to believe it was a suicide but what makes him say that?? No note? Not everyone leaves one. Just odd 2 Over doses in such a small amount of time and then the "controversy" time. His people may have known the seriousness of the situation by knowing it was an attempt to end his life.

I feel like I can offer some input here as I have lost several people in my life to suicide. I hope no one finds this post offensive. When an ME is trying to determine cause of death, suicide vs. homicide vs. accidental, specifically when drugs or poisons are involved, there are several major factors taken into consideration.

1) Presence of a suicide note: the presence of a suicide note is often believed to be proof that there was some form of suicidal ideation. However, in truth, only approximately 10% of people who die by suicide leave a note. So, the absence of a suicide note certainly does not rule out suicide. Likewise, the presence of a suicide note can’t always be taken as proof of a suicidal act because homicides are sometimes staged as suicides. Furthermore, if a suicide note is found some consideration has to be placed on the time the note was written and when the act was committed. An individual may compose a suicide note with clear suicidal ideation and then commit the act but, then afterwards change his / her mind but lack the ability to get help. In this case is it really suicide?

2) Statistics. In the US, approx 42,000 people die each year from suicide, or 117 people each day. Worldwide, over 1 Million people die by suicide each year. That’s approximately 1 suicide every 40 seconds. People are very particular in the way they choose to end their lives and statistics tell us a lot.

3) Specifically suicide by drugs or poison: an ME will typically look at the drug or combination of drugs in the persons system. This is important for several reasons. If a person is found to have, for example a combination of alcohol, pain killers and sleeping aids in his / her system, each in 3-4 times the normal amount, it’s very possible that the ingestion of drugs was accidental. The person may have been drinking, become confused, forgot how much they had taken, etc … Any one of these drugs on their own, even though ingested in an above prescribed dose, may not be lethal. Now, if for example, the individual had ingested a 30 day supply of a beta-blocker, it would be very unlikely that this was accidental. The inference would be that there was some clear intent.

4) Red flags: Certain things are clear indications to the ME of suicidal intent when drugs are involved. A) The individual broke apart capsules prior to ingesting. This is a clear sign of someone have a suicidal plan. Large quantities of capsules in the stomach can cause a gastric bezoar and prevent absorption of the drug. B) Drug combinations. Example – the individual ingested quantities of the lethal drug with an etiemetic to prevent them from vomiting the lethal drug after ingesting. These things require a tremendous amount of forethought and are more telling sometimes than a note in terms of how intent the individual was in their act.

5) When all is said is done the ME must look at everything and consider how each individual drug and the quantity ingested specifically contributed to the cause of death. Often it is not clear cut and the ME can’t definitely rule if a death was suicidal or accidental.