Nancy Grace Speculates Whitney Houston Could Have Been Killed

In matters of speculation, few are as willing to go into unsubstantiated territory as Nancy Grace. In a recent appearance on CNN, Grace had her own questions about how Whitney Houston may have died. And those questions did not align with the official position of "no foul play."

So how was it that pop legend Whitney Houston came to be found dead in a bathtub with so many people charged with her care and security just feet away? This is a question Nancy Grace, the sometimes controversial host of HLN's legal current affairs program that bears her name, asked on CNN during an appearance following the death of the pop star. Grace's questions prompted CNN to quickly move to assure viewers that Houston's cause of death was as yet unknown and still under official investigation.

"I'd like to know who was around her," Grace told anchor Brooke Baldwin. "Who, if anyone, gave her drugs following alcohol and drugs. And who let her slip, or pushed her, underneath that water?"

The official position from the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office is that Houston's cause of death is as yet undetermined. Authorities will await the results of a toxicology screen before making a final determination. However, the manner of death, pending further information is that the manner of death was accidental.

However, prescription medication bottles were reportedly found by police in Houston's Beverly Hills hotel room. The presence of drugs could complicate matters and might have contributed to the 48-year-old Houston's sudden and untimely demise. But the Coroner's Office, when it made it's report on Sunday, would not corroborate whether or not drugs of any kind were found in Houston's room.

It has been reported that family members said that Houston was in the habit of taking Xanax, an anti-anxiety and anti-depression medication, prior to doing performances. She was expected to open the pre-Grammy party being thrown at the Beverly Hilton later Saturday evening, but she was reportedly found, her head submerged in water a short time after she went to take a bath. Although paramedics were called in, they could not revive her unresponsive body and the singer was pronounced dead at 3:55 p.m. (PST) Saturday.

But Grace did not let the official line stop her from speculating.

"Apparently, no signs of force or trauma to the body," Grace went on, echoing what the Coroner's Office had reported. But then she asked, "Who let Whitney Houston go under her water?"

She said this while a banner at the bottom of the screen read: "Houston's Cause of Death Unknown." Baldwin also quickly interjected, "All excellent questions. Again, we don't know the cause of her death."

It isn't difficult to remember the speculation that ran rampant following the death of Michael Jackson. Some thought he had committed suicide, while others thought someone had killed the King of Pop. But all anyone knew at the beginning of the investigation into his death was that he had been found with prescription medication in the room he expired in. The same can be said about Brittany Murphy's death, where prescription bottles found at her bedside led to speculation that her husband may have had something to do with the actress' death. And then there was actor Heath Ledger's death. And Anna Nicole Smith's.

The trail of deaths via prescription medication goes on and on. So, too, did the accompanying speculation that they may have been killed or met their deaths in a manner not in agreement with the official police and/or coroner's reports.

But speculation is Nancy Grace's stock in trade. Even unfounded speculation. Because, simply put, there at present exists no reason to believe that Houston died in any other manner than that which has been reported through official channels.

Still, a simple drowning death seems too simple, so it has to be something else -- like murder. And since the dead individual was famous and rich and young, their death had to be the result of something scandalous -- right? Because drowning is just too mundane for the rich and famous. Someone had to have killed her, or had her killed, perhaps staging her death to look like a simple drowning.

Such speculation is what keeps viewers -- albeit the more suspcious, conspiracy theory-minded, and cynical -- watching Grace's eponymous show on HLN.

Such speculation has also led to accusations of Grace being some sort of macabre opportunist using deaths and missing persons cases to attract better ratings for her show and/or garner attention for herself. And then there are those that find her speculations and opinions, like her tirades against Casey Anthony during her trial (and after her being found not guilty of murdering her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee), legally irresponsible as well.

Such speculation is also what had CNN anchor Don Lemon reminding viewers later that Grace's questions and assertions were simply that and not actual reporting.

But people like Grace seem to understand that there is a fairly large segment of the populace that firmly believe that things are not always as they appear to be. And for those same people, answers to mysteries aren't so easily obtained. The official position is always suspect. Questions have to be asked.

Because the possibility -- even though a slim one -- exists that something other than a simple drowning took place in that Beverly Hills hotel room over the weekend. And Nancy Grace is more than willing to exploit that possibility for ratings -- at least until the final autopsy report records the determined actual cause of death.

And if something is found amiss, well...

(photo credit: Vidiot, Creative Commons)

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