The final autopsy report of Whitney Houston reveals in detail, for the first time, the grim realities that caused her death. See the full autopsy report on INSIDEEDITION.COM
Shocking new details about Whitney Houston's death are revealed in the just-released final coroner's report.
The official cause of death—accidental drowning—is already known. But the report reveals in intimate detail just how far Houston had descended into a nightmare of drug abuse.
She was "acutely intoxicated from cocaine" when she collapsed into into the bath tub and drowned. There was a "bloody purge coming from her nose" when she was found.
Famed pathologist Cyril Wecht told INSIDE EDITION's Diane McInerney, "I believe she died as a result of a drug overdose and then falling into the tub, with the submersion being a final contributing factor."
McInerney asked New Jersey medical examiner Bill Mannion to review the report. Mannion said cocaine is really to blame for Houston's death.
"It's accidental drowning but secondary to the cocaine use. If the cocaine had not been in her system, she would not have had the arrhythmia and she would not have passed out from the lack of oxygen to the brain," said Mannion.
Street drugs had taken a terrifying toll on her once-beautiful body. She actually had a perforation in her nose caused by heavy cocaine use.
A graphic full-body diagram from the coroner's report details the condition of Houston's body. Abrasions on the shoulders, arms, and knees. Contusions on the upper arm and hand. She also had Emphysema and Artherosclerotic Heart Disease—a 60% blockage of the arteries of the heart.
Mannion said, "Although she was only 48 years old, she had the heart of a someone much older, maybe 68, 78 years old."
McInerney asked, "She had the heart of a 68-year-old woman?"
"Yes," replied Mannion.
The report reveals Whitney was 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighed 151 pounds and was "muscular and well-nourished."
It also reveals intimate secrets Whitney kept from the world: She had breast implants, wore a full wig, and all her upper teeth were dental implants.
And there is a mystery surrounding the temperature of the water in which Whitney drowned. INSIDE EDITION's Jim Moret reports from the Beverly Hilton Hotel where Houston died.
Houston was found face-down in the bathtub in suite 434 of the Beverly Hilton Hotel. The final report describes the temperature of the water as extremely hot. It was still at 93.5 degrees by the time investigators arrived. She had scald marks on her body and a contusion on her forehead.
How hot was the water when Houston drowned in it? Moret filled the tub at the hotel and measured the temperature with a meat thermometer at 120 degrees—more than hot enough for painful scalds.
Wecht told INSIDE EDITION, "I believe she blacked out and then fell into the water. She could not have been in that water because one could not sustain that kind of temperature if one is conscious. Nobody goes into a tub like that."
To read the full autopsy report, click on the PDF link at the top of this story.
