True Crime With Caledonian Kitty

(Michael Hutchence & Paula Yates. Picture credit: telegraph.co.uk)

Continued from part one....

As hard as it was to be separated from Paula and the girls, Michael had to fly to Australia for a tour to mark the 20th anniversary of the band and to promote the new single ''Elegantly Wasted''. Paula and Michael made plans for the holidays for Paula to come out with the girls to see Michael, he was so excited about this.

Michael seemed to be in good spirits and had drinks with friends in his hotel room and attended rehearsals. He knew the situation with Bob would continue to be a nightmare but he seemed to be focused on seeing Paula and the girls. 

On the night of the 21st of November 1997 he had dinner with his father and seemed to be fine although his father later said that looking back, Michael may have been covering up what he was really feeling. At the end of the dinner Michael smiled and danced away back up to his hotel room. There was nothing strange or worrying about his behaviour.

For the rest of that night Michael appeared to be excited waiting on Paula's phonecall from London, he was in his hotel room drinking with friends and taking some substances. At one point the friends had left and Michael continued to stay up and wait for Paula's call. In the early hours of the 22nd of November 1997, Paula called to say that she wouldn't be bringing the girls out to Australia because Bob had got a court injunction which banned the girls from travelling out of the country. Michael was furious. 

(Michael, Tiger and Paula. Picture credit: smh.com)

At some point during the early hours, a guest in the room next to Michael's overheard a heated conversation. They said it was a man shouting ''She's not your wife anymore''. Paula later claimed that Bob had said to Michael during this phonecall ''Remember, I'm above the law''.

Michael continued to suffer alone in his hotel room and tried to make a few phonecalls. He spoke to his business manager and ex girlfriend and in both of those phonecalls he was highly emotional. His ex girlfriend (who he often rang in times of trouble) Michele was very concerned so she decided to come over to the hotel to see him. His business manager, Martha said that he left an angry message on her answer machine saying ''I don't give a f*ck anymore''. 

Michele came to the hotel but couldn't get an answer so she assumed that Michael had fallen asleep and left a message at the front desk for him. At around 11:50am, a maid tried to get into Michael's room and couldn't get the door open, it soon became apparent that Michael's deceased body was behind the door. He was naked and had tied a snakeskin belt over the security latch at the top of the door. One can only imagine what that poor maid must have felt being in that situation or how Michele must feel. Michael was just 37 years old. 

Paula refused to believe it, when she was told by her assistant she slapped her across the face and told her she was lying. Paula went into a really deep state of depression and denial. The whole story about Michael's death by Erotic Asphyxiation was invented by Paula who refused to believe that he had taken his whole life. The Erotic Asphyxiation story went worldwide and for years (even up until recently even though it was confirmed to be suicide) a lot of people believed it. Some people were cruel and made jokes about it. I felt that it took a little bit of dignity and respect away from Michael to hear people talking like that and for Paula to say such a thing.

She said he would never leave his daughter which we can believe to be true if he was of sound body and mind, he was really out of it and so depressed that I don't think he even knew what he was doing, it could have been a spilt second decision, just the night before he was excited and looking forward to seeing Paula and the girls. 

Paula had a narcissistic side to her and I'm not saying that she didn't care about Tiger's feelings or Michael's feelings about his daughter but there was a sense of ''He would never leave me'' about the whole thing.

Michael's funeral took place on the 27th of November 1997 in Sydney. The night before the funeral, Michael's brother claimed that Paula had put a gram of heroin in Michael's pocket.

(Michael & Tiger. Picture credit: dailytelegraph.com)

Michael was cremated and his ashes were divided up between his parents and Paula. His father scattered his ashes in Sydney Harbour.  

Paula did an interview where she spoke about both Michael and Bob, even in that interview she played the two men off against each other. I'll never forget her comment aimed at Bob ''It's hard to be playing pubs when someone else is playing stadiums''. 

She obviously knew that Bob's music career was important to him and that he regretted the fact that The Boomtown Rats didn't go as well as he'd hoped. Paula could be cold when she wanted to be. 

Paula claimed that Michael was the love of her life but it wasn't long until she was back in the newspapers dating other men. One ex boyfriend even went to the newspapers saying that Paula kept a cushion filled with Michael's ashes on her bed. 

After Michael's death, Paula had some stints in rehab and a number of flings. Gone were the days of babydoll dresses and bows in her hair, she was looking drained and exhausted. 

She never got over Michael's death and for the next two years she battled to get through the days, weeks and months and more tragedy was just around the corner...

Continued in part three...