CORONER TO THE STARS

Ed Winter, Hollywood’s Coroner, Dies at 73: Report

Ed Winter hung up his badge in 2019 after nearly 17 years of investigating the deaths of celebrities like Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, and Brittany Murphy.

Ed Winter, who investigated celebrity deaths over nearly two decades of work in Tinseltown, himself died Friday, law enforcement sources told TMZ. His death was attributed to unspecified natural causes. He was 73. When Winter hung up his deputy’s badge in 2019, having given 17 years to the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office, he said that undoubtedly his most notable investigation had been that of Michael Jackson, whose death a decade earlier prompted rabid speculation as to its cause. Winter’s investigation eventually led to a four-year prison sentence for Jackson’s doctor, Conrad Murray, who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter. A few years later, Winter took on the case of Whitney Houston, whose death was ruled an accidental drowning with cocaine use and heart disease as contributing factors. He recalled being introduced by a detective to Houston’s family, including her first cousin—Dionne Warwick. “She took my hand, held onto it and said, ‘You take good care of Whitney, cause you took care of Michael,’” he recalled to ABC7. Winter also handled the deaths of Brittany Murphy, Paul Walker, Tom Petty, and Corey Haim.