A new investigation led by CNN suggests that soul legend James Brown may have been murdered.
Brown passed away in the early hours of Christmas morning in 2006, after being admitted to the Emory Crawford Long Hospital in Atlanta due to suffering from pneumonia.
However, this new investigation suggests the singer may not have died from natural causes. It details interviews with nearly 140 people, while tens of thousands of pages of police and court records are said to also be included. Forensics testing and 1,300 pages of text messages are also part of the investigation.
The investigation began in 2017 after a CNN reporter was contacted by a circus performer and singer who told the network that she had information surrounding Brown’s death. Jacque Hollander later revealed that she and Brown had worked together in the ’80s, while also alleging that he raped her in 1988.
Brown was never prosecuted following this accusation but Hollander revealed that she saved documents, tapes and more alleged evidence about Brown and his associates. Hollander also took a polygraph test with a former FBI agent in 1995 surrounding the accusations, which you can watch on CNN.
A key subject in the report is Dr. Marvin Crawford, who signed Brown’s death certificate at the Atlanta hospital where he passed away. The doctor says in the report that “he has always been suspicious of foul play.”
Speaking in a CNN interview, Dr. Crawford said: “He changed too fast. He was a patient I would never have predicted would have coded… But he died that night, and I did raise that question: ‘What went wrong in that room?’”
Crawford adds that while he recommended Brown to have an autopsy, the singer’s daughter, Yamma reportedly declined.
CNN contacted Yamma for comment, but she reportedly did not offer an explanation.
The news network also reached out to Brown’s other daughter, Deanna Brown Thomas, over allegations that her father’s remains are not in his crypt. She did not confirm or deny the report.
The investigation comes in three parts, with part one detailing Hollander’s involvement; part two involving the similarities between the death of Brown and his third wife, Adrienne, and part three asking 15 questions surrounding Brown’s death – including a mysterious duffle bag, a handwritten note and a man called “Ghost”. You can read the full report from CNN here.