Cathy Smith served 15 months in the California Institution for Women for injecting actor John Belushi with a fatal dose of heroin and cocaine in 1982.
19 Facts About Cathy Smith
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Cathy Smith had been paid for a front-page headline story in the Hollywood tabloid the National Enquirer, where she stated she was the person who injected Belushi with a fatal drug overdose.
3.
Cathy Smith co-wrote the book Chasing the Dragon which told her life story; its title alludes to Cathy Smith's heroin addiction.
4.
Cathy Smith appeared prominently in the Bob Woodward book Wired: The Short Life and Fast Times of John Belushi and was played by Patti D'Arbanville in the 1989 film adaptation.
5.
Cathy Smith has been connected to the Band's song, "The Weight".
6.
Cathy Smith says in Rock and Roll Toronto: From Alanis to Zeppelin, that Richard Manuel offered to marry her, but she refused.
7.
Cathy Smith became an employee of Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot in the early to mid-1970s.
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Lightfoot has stated of his three-year relationship with Cathy Smith, "I was sometimes crazy with jealousy".
9.
Cathy Smith was cited in Lightfoot's divorce papers, and shortly after his affair with Cathy Smith ended, Lightfoot was a party to the most expensive divorce settlement in Canadian history to that date.
10.
Cathy Smith sang on his album Fearless and co-wrote the song "Flash of Fire" with Axton.
11.
Cathy Smith moved to Los Angeles and, as her addiction increased, she became a full-time drug dealer and courier to Wood, Richards, and others in the entertainment industry.
12.
Cathy Smith first met comedian John Belushi on the set of Saturday Night Live in 1976, when the Band were the musical guests.
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Cathy Smith later met Belushi again through Wood and Richards, when Belushi contacted her to purchase the drugs that eventually killed him.
14.
Cathy Smith claimed that she injected Belushi with 11 speedballs at the Chateau Marmont in Hollywood, California in March 1982, and that this injection led to his death.
15.
Cathy Smith ultimately returned to the United States in June 1986, where she accepted a plea bargain by pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter and several drug charges.
16.
Cathy Smith served 15 months in prison at California Institution for Women between December 1986 and March 1988.
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Cathy Smith was deported to Canada after her release and moved to Toronto, where she worked as a legal secretary and spoke to teenagers about the dangers of drugs.
18.
Cathy Smith was arrested in Vancouver, British Columbia in July 1991 with two grams of heroin in her purse, for which she received a fine of CDN$2000 and 12 months' probation.
19.
Cathy Smith died on August 16,2020, in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, at the age of 73.