J. Paul Getty's grandson found dead; family requests privacy in 'extremely difficult time'

[itsrobert]

Source: LA Times

drew Getty, an heir to the Getty oil fortune, was found dead at his Hollywood Hills home Tuesday. Los Angeles police are investigating.

Andrew Getty, an heir to the Getty oil fortune, was found dead at his Hollywood Hills home Tuesday. Los Angeles police are investigating.

Getty's parents Ann and Gordon Getty confirmed his death late Tuesday night in a statement issued through a family spokesman.

"The family has requested that members of the media and the public respect its privacy during this extremely difficult time," the family spokesman said.

The cause of death was undetermined at this time, LAPD Sgt. Kyle Kirkman said.

The investigation into the death has stalled as officials wait to secure a search warrant before collecting evidence inside the residence, said LAPD Capt. William Hayes.

Police were called to Getty's compound, located at the end of a narrow, leafy street, at 2:18 p.m., said Cmdr. Andrew Smith.

A woman who was present at the time of the death was escorted from the residence by police for questioning, Smith said. She is cooperating with investigators, Smith said.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-j-paul-gettys-grandson-found-dead-lapd-investigating-20150331-story.html

[Journeyman]

1. As a child, I was told J.P. Getty was the richest man in the world. Wouldn't it be great, I imagined. . .

to be rich? A common dream of the poor. One of the first I lost, too, as I realized at a young age that what I truly want in life has little to do with money.

Today, I see Getty Sr. as more a Cory-esque figure -- the whole family, actually, wealthy but incredibly troubled.

I'll take my troubles, thank you very much. They may be overwhelming at times, and sometimes they're tied to money (or the lack of it), but they're manageable and rarely place me in questionable moral dilemmas.

[C Moon]

4. +1

[rocktivity]

2. A tale of two media outlets

Last edited Wed Apr 1, 2015, 12:39 AM - Edit history (1)

TMZ: Andrew Getty was found in the bathroom of his L.A. home at around 2 PM. Law enforcement sources tell us the ex-GF called 911 to report cardiac arrest...We're told he suffered a traumatic injury to the rectal area and paramedics found significant bleeding....

...(H)is ex-girlfriend is currently being detained as a possible witness/suspect...Our sources say Andrew and his ex-girlfriend have a storied history with the LAPD. Cops have been to his residence 31 times, mostly for domestic disturbances...(S)he has been placed under a 5150 psychiatric hold in the past, after injuring cops when they responded to the house...

She injured cops during a domestic disturbance and lived? And they say there's no such thing as celebrity justice!


rocktivity

[ND-Dem]

3. That family seems to have a lot of heartache through the generations.

Also, I never knew the Getty family (Getty Sr) was American, related to the Gettys of "Gettysburg" PA.

[ashling]

5. This is the first thing I think of when I see "J. Pau; Getty"

In 1973, J. Paul Getty III, the 16-year-old grandson of J. Paul Getty, was kidnapped and held for ransom for more than five months. He was released after the family, which had been sent the boy's severed right ear, paid the kidnappers $2.8 million.

I remember that

[Cooley Hurd]

6. JPG III had a terrible life after his kidnapping:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Paul_Getty_III

Later life[edit]
In 1974, Getty married German Gisela Martine Zacher (née Schmidt) who was five months pregnant. He had known her and her twin sister Jutta since before his kidnapping. Getty was 18 years old when his son, Balthazar, was born in 1975. The couple divorced in 1993.

[1] Getty tried his hand at acting in European films: he played supporting parts in Raúl Ruiz' The Territory and in Wim Wenders's The State of Things, which was shot at the same time as Ruiz's film, using part of its cast and crew.[12]

Getty was an alcoholic and drug addict. In 1981, he imbibed a valium, methadone, and alcohol cocktail which caused liver failure and a stroke, leaving him a quadriplegic and nearly blind.[13] He never fully recovered and remained heavily handicapped for the rest of his life. By 1987, however, a daily regime of exercise, physiotherapy and speech therapy during which he reportedly showed "extraordinary willpower", had helped him regain some degree of autonomy. He could again visit concerts and cinema, and was even able to ski, when strapped to a metal frame.[12]

In 1999, Getty, along with several other members of his family, became citizens of the Republic of Ireland in return for investments in that country of approximately £1 million each, under a law which has since been repealed.[14]