Do you remember that completely awful story about Sons of Anarchy actor (and onetime Katy Perry boyfriend) Johnny Lewis from back in September? According to reports, Lewis killed his elderly landlady Catherine Davis and dismembered her cat before he leaped or fell from the roof of his house and was found dead in his driveway. Based on the fact that he'd been arrested several times on drug-related charges, it seemed like the sad conclusion was that he was suffering from some sort of drug-induced psychosis when all of this happened -- which was in fact what his own attorney speculated.
Well, the toxicology reports have come in, and the news is surprising and downright creepy: Lewis had no drugs in his system at the time of his death. Everything he did before he plummeted off that roof, he did completely sober.
Reports of the incident say that on September 26, Lewis stormed into his landlady's apartment, smashed up her furniture, and beat and strangled the 81-year-old woman. He then fled the scene, fought off two neighbors, and climbed the roof of the house he was renting from Davis. It's not completely clear whether he jumped or fell (although one investigating officer noted that Lewis “apparently lost his balance or struck an object”), but his body was later discovered in the driveway.
The two neighbors who encountered Lewis before he escaped to his roof told cops he had exhibited "superhuman strength," and it was initially believed he was under the influence of some powerful substance -- possibly an amphetamine-type drug called Smiles.
However, the toxicology results on Lewis found no traces of any drugs or alcohol in his body. Nothing prescribed, nothing illegal, nothing at all.
Clearly Lewis was a troubled man, since he'd served two recent jail sentences before the attack. Sources say he'd been in a downward spiral for years, and he'd been arrested last January for smashing a man in the head with a bottle.
Still, there's something extra awful about the fact that his inexplicable actions on September 26 can't be attributed to drugs. Whatever mental break he was experiencing, it wasn't triggered by anything chemical.
Even more disturbing, he was found to have nail marks on both sides of his neck when he died, and he'd suffered from partial strangulation. I'd guess maybe the latter happened during one of the run-ins with the neighbors, but the first detail makes me think that poor woman had struggled to fight him off.
I can't begin to imagine what his family -- and Catherine Davis's family -- has been going through. What a sad, weird ending to a truly bizarre Hollywood story.
Are you surprised to hear about Johnny Lewis's toxicology results?
Image via David_Shankbone/Flickr
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Comments 7
Like the "face eating zombie" who turned out to only show marijuana in his system, I am wondering if some of these new "designer drugs", like bath salts have strains you cannot see on drug tests? The "Spice" (fake marijuana) which has so many different unregulated varieties is so popular with the military because it can't be found on a drug test. But this guy is either a complete sociopath, or he was on something...........
I agree with tnyangel maybe it was a drug that doesn't show up in a drug test.
"bath salts" (which they suspected this guy to be on at the time) are currently untraceable by standard toxicology tests. unfortunately i don't think he was sober, but rather was on something that's undetectable in its current state. how anyone can hear a story like this and still want to try 'designer drugs' is absolutely beyond me. why would anyone try this stuff, seeing what it can do to people? sheesh.
Is it not possible that he was sober but seriously mentally ill? Maybe he deserves a level of sympathy as well. What he did was horrible but we'll never know what his state of mind was.