# Cathy Smith dies, injected John Belushi with fatal drug dose **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 7, 2020, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cathy-smith-dies-injected-john-belushi-with-fatal-drug-dose/920000 "2020-09-07T06:33:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2020, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cathy-smith-dies-injected-john-belushi-with-fatal-drug-dose/920000/1 "2020-09-07T06:33:21Z")
I didn’t see this posted anywhere yet. > **[Cathy Smith, Who Injected John Belushi With Fatal Drugs, Dies at 73...](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/04/us/cathy-smith-dead.html)** > > After giving an interview to The National Enquirer, she was convicted in Mr. Belushi’s overdose death and served time in prison. Cathy Smith, groupie, occasional backup singer and drug dealer, who served 15 months of a 3-year sentence for injecting John Belushi with his fatal dose of heroin+cocaine, died Aug 16 at age 73. Cause of death was not reported. From the [NYTimes](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/04/us/cathy-smith-dead.html): > Before Mr. Belushi’s death, Ms. Smith occasionally sang backup on records and traveled in the hard-partying orbit of groups like the Band and the Rolling Stones. The Globe and Mail once described her as a “rock ’n’ roll courtesan to the likes of Levon Helm, Gordon Lightfoot, Keith Richards et al.” > > At 17 she had a child, whom she gave up for adoption, and whose father she said was Mr. Helm, best known as the drummer and singer for the Band. (Mr. Helm, [who died in 2012](https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/20/arts/music/levon-helm-drummer-and-singer-dies-at-71.html), did not acknowledge paternity.) In the 1970s she spent almost four years in a volatile relationship with Mr. Lightfoot, the Canadian singer-songwriter. Gordon Lightfoot wrote the song _Sundown_ about her. [He once broke her cheekbone in a fight.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathy_Smith) She was the “other woman” in his divorce, which at the time, [was the most expensive divorce settlement in Canadian history](https://www.macleans.ca/society/life/5-canadian-marriage-meltdowns-resulting-in-big-settlements/#:~:text=Gordon%20Lightfoot%20and%20Brita%20Ingegerd,close%20to%20%24290%2C000%20a%20year.). She was arrested after giving a $15,000 interview to the National Enquirer where she admitted injecting Belushi with a fatal dose. She plea-bargained to a 3-year involuntary manslaughter sentence, and served 15 months. From [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathy_Smith): > She later met Belushi again through Wood and Richards, when Belushi contacted her to purchase the drugs that eventually killed him. Smith alleges that she injected Belushi with 11 [speedballs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speedball_(drug)) (a combination of cocaine and heroin) at the [Chateau Marmont](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chateau_Marmont) in [Hollywood, California](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood,_California) in 1982, and that this injection led to his death. According to [Bob] Woodward, [Robin Williams](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Williams) was on the scene at the time and was “creeped out” by Smith, whom he deemed a “lowlife.”[[23]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathy_Smith#cite_note-CESMITH18-23) Belushi had been battling cocaine addiction for years and combining it with occasional heroin use.[[24]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathy_Smith#cite_note-24) From the NYTimes link: > The Globe and Mail said that in prison Ms. Smith taught computer skills to fellow inmates. After her release, she stayed largely out of the public eye. The newspaper said she sometimes spoke to teenagers about the dangers of drug use but also continued to have substance abuse problems, citing a 1991 charge of heroin possession. Pathetic woman, pathetic life. Not much else to say about her. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2020, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cathy-smith-dies-injected-john-belushi-with-fatal-drug-dose/920000/2 "2020-09-07T08:24:21Z")
Interesting info, in a pathetic sorta way. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2020, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cathy-smith-dies-injected-john-belushi-with-fatal-drug-dose/920000/3 "2020-09-07T09:42:59Z")
Stupid woman. People don’t get prosecuted for that often because even the most drug addled brains usually know not to make a public confession. Anyway, he committed suicide, she was nothing. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2020, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cathy-smith-dies-injected-john-belushi-with-fatal-drug-dose/920000/4 "2020-09-07T13:12:16Z")
She was the tool. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2020, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cathy-smith-dies-injected-john-belushi-with-fatal-drug-dose/920000/5 "2020-09-07T14:59:05Z")
Am I the only one who read the thread title and thought “Wait - John Belushi was killed by a zombie?”? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2020, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cathy-smith-dies-injected-john-belushi-with-fatal-drug-dose/920000/6 "2020-09-07T16:08:43Z")
Cathy was the gf of several members of The Band, Rolling Stones, and Gordon Lightfoot. Probably members of other bands too. Then she met Belushi. What a legacy. I hope her life after prison was more positive. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2020, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cathy-smith-dies-injected-john-belushi-with-fatal-drug-dose/920000/7 "2020-09-07T19:38:30Z")
What a way to get your 15 minutes of fame. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2020, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cathy-smith-dies-injected-john-belushi-with-fatal-drug-dose/920000/8 "2020-09-07T21:10:13Z")
That’s the woman “Sundown” is about? Maaan, well, I was a kid in the 70s, but Gordon Lightfoot has always been a favorite ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2020, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cathy-smith-dies-injected-john-belushi-with-fatal-drug-dose/920000/9 "2020-09-08T01:12:35Z")
just heard sundown on the radio , first time in many years ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2020, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cathy-smith-dies-injected-john-belushi-with-fatal-drug-dose/920000/10 "2020-09-08T02:07:09Z")
there’s just something about the man’s performance and style. Captivating to me. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2020, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cathy-smith-dies-injected-john-belushi-with-fatal-drug-dose/920000/11 "2020-09-08T04:46:22Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Stupid woman. People don’t get prosecuted for that often because even the most drug addled brains usually know not to make a public confession. > > Anyway, he committed suicide, she was nothing. While he was well on his way to killing himself, she brought the drugs, injected him, and left him to die alone on the floor while she fled the scene in his rented car. [She "was arrested](https://allthatsinteresting.com/cathy-smith) after she attempted to drive the wrong way out the one-way exit of Los Angeles’ Chateau Marmont Hotel in John Belushi’s rented red Mercedes." In my mind, she murdered him. She was charged with second-degree murder but plea-bargained down. Interesting: a 2017 photo of Gordon Lightfoot and Cathy Smith together again: [![](https://www.theglobeandmail.com/resizer/eFIL7iO33tSoLcVLi8z5r1uPxpM=/620x0/filters:quality(80)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tgam/HBVZOBPWFZB2PNU75YH7YSHFUA.jpeg) ](https://www.theglobeandmail.com/resizer/eFIL7iO33tSoLcVLi8z5r1uPxpM=/620x0/filters:quality(80)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tgam/HBVZOBPWFZB2PNU75YH7YSHFUA.jpeg) It’s from this website: [Cathy Smith, who admitted to killing John Belushi, was a woman of mystery - The Globe and Mail](https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/music/article-mystery-woman-admitted-i-killed-john-belushi/) A lot more background info from this Rolling Stone article: > **[John Belushi: Wrong Time, Wrong Place, Wrong People](https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/john-belushi-wrong-time-wrong-place-wrong-people-62730/)** > > John Belushi's final days and the role Cathy Evelyn Smith played in them are examined. She also had a relationship with Ian Tyson (Four Strong Winds, Walk Right In, Summer Wages, many more) of Ian & Sylvia.Good grief, is there anyone she wasn’t with? ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2020, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cathy-smith-dies-injected-john-belushi-with-fatal-drug-dose/920000/12 "2020-09-08T05:31:11Z")
And why? Seriously, what was there about her? Willing to have sex AND supply drugs? She was pretty, but so are a lot of groupies. An endearing personality? What? ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2020, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cathy-smith-dies-injected-john-belushi-with-fatal-drug-dose/920000/13 "2020-09-08T05:32:22Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > A lot more background info from this Rolling Stone article Paywalled. It looks interesting, though. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2020, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cathy-smith-dies-injected-john-belushi-with-fatal-drug-dose/920000/14 "2020-09-08T06:18:46Z")
Sundown is from 1974, wow that woman got around and lasted long ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2020, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cathy-smith-dies-injected-john-belushi-with-fatal-drug-dose/920000/15 "2020-09-08T06:40:22Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > In my mind, she murdered him. She was charged with second-degree murder but plea-bargained down. That means that not only in your mind but according to what she told the court she did murder him, doesn’t it? I seem to recall that part of a plea deal is to allocute to what one actually did and the charges and sentencing will be on the bargained-to charges. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2020, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cathy-smith-dies-injected-john-belushi-with-fatal-drug-dose/920000/16 "2020-09-08T10:30:38Z")
> [@nelliebly](#): > > > [@needscoffee](#): > > > > A lot more background info from this Rolling Stone article   > > Paywalled. It looks interesting, though. Strange, not paywalled for me. I don’t have an account or anything. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2020, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cathy-smith-dies-injected-john-belushi-with-fatal-drug-dose/920000/17 "2020-09-08T10:32:13Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > > [@needscoffee](#): > > > > In my mind, she murdered him. She was charged with second-degree murder but plea-bargained down. > > That means that not only in your mind but according to what she told the court she did murder him, doesn’t it? I seem to recall that part of a plea deal is to allocute to what one actually did and the charges and sentencing will be on the bargained-to charges Yes, I was responding to th e notion that he killed himself and she was just the vehicle. There’s more to it than that. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2020, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cathy-smith-dies-injected-john-belushi-with-fatal-drug-dose/920000/18 "2020-09-08T13:05:49Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Yes, I was responding to th e notion that he killed himself and she was just the vehicle. There’s more to it than that. She did what he wanted and I don’t think she deserves another millisecond of fame for doing it. YMMV ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2020, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cathy-smith-dies-injected-john-belushi-with-fatal-drug-dose/920000/19 "2020-09-08T14:23:11Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > > [@needscoffee](#): > > > > Yes, I was responding to th e notion that he killed himself and she was just the vehicle. There’s more to it than that. > > She did what he wanted and I don’t think she deserves another millisecond of fame for doing it. YMMV  That I concur with. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2020, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cathy-smith-dies-injected-john-belushi-with-fatal-drug-dose/920000/20 "2020-09-08T17:42:52Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Strange, not paywalled for me. I don’t have an account or anything. I read an article there a few days ago. Maybe you only get one before hitting the wall.