1999-2010

Wednesday, January 06, 2010

DANNY GANS EXCLUSIVE: Cops say "there is no evidence to not believe Mrs. Gans' timeline" on death-- despite manager's statement


A spokesman for the Henderson, Nevada Police Department says that recent comments by Danny Gans' manager do not lead them to question the accepted timeline about Gans' death on May 1st, nor to suspect any evidence of foul play.

Tabloid Baby has been in contact with Henderson Police spokesman Keith Paul since the beginning of the week. After conferring with detectives assigned to the Gans case, he told us exclusively:

"There is absolutely no evidence based on their investigation to not believe Mrs. Gans' timeline. There is no indication of foul play, no indication for us to suspect that Mrs. Gans' timeline is incorrect or that Mr. Gans was dead for any perceptible amount of time prior to his wife calling.

"Again, there is absolutely no indication of foul play."

Danny Gans' wife Julie called the Henderson 911 operator at 3:44 a.m. on May 1st, to say she had awakened four minutes earlier to find her 52-year-old husband was not breathing. She then performed CPR while the 911 operator guided her through the motions.

In the December 23rd edition of the Las Vegas Sun, however, Gans' manager Chip Lightman spoke of how he learned his friend and client had passed away:

“I get a call at 3:15 in the morning, and it’s Julie, his wife, and she goes, ‘Dan is gone.’ I’m like, “What!?” At that moment, it was like I was dreaming. I didn’t think I was awake and on the phone, and then I go, What do you mean?’ And she said, ‘Danny died, Chip.’

“...I asked, ‘When did it happen?’ She said, ‘A couple of hours ago.’”


Lightman's statement not only indicated that Danny Gans had been discovered dead hours earlier, but that his wife had phoned Lightman a half hour before calling 911.

Police spokesman Paul would not say if detectives had interviewed Lightman about his latest story, or whether they had checked cell and home phone records in their investigation. "We will not be releasing details into the death investigation," he said.

Las Vegas news media fails again

Of perhaps equal significance, Paul also told us that no other news organization-- not the Las Vegas Sun, whose columnist John Katsilometes got the explosive scoop, not the competing Las Vegas Review-Journal, not any television news outfit, blogger or gossip columnist, had contacted Henderson Police to inquire about this latest twist. No one in the Las Vegas news media has followed up since December 23rd, despite the fact that Tabloid Baby representatives had reached out to Katsilometes and several other Las Vegas journalists to tip them on the story.

No one with a journalistic background could deny the Lightman statement was provocative and compelling. Any journo with a stake in Las Vegas crime reporting would check it out, even knock it down. But no curiosity whatsoever? Not even a phone call?

That's another reason the behaviour of the Las Vegas news media has become a story of its own.

LISTEN TO JULIE GANS' 911 CALL

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Here is a reader comment from a 6/25 TMZ story about the 911 call.
Please note the end of the comment about Danny's face. Seems to support Lightman's statements.

22. I am in the death care industry (Mortuary) and I have seen thousands of bodies and spoken to family members at the scene/and or place of death. Usually, there is some emotion displayed either on the 911 call or after we arrive.Sometimes people are hysterical, sometimes they are moderately upset, visibly shaken. In this case there wasn't a hint of distress or emotion that emerged from the mouth of Danny's wife. Most likely, when they say he was "snoring" on the different times they say they checked on him, in reality he was probobly dying (also known as the "death rattle"). I am appalled at the way this case was handled and would bet anything this was no "accidental overdose". I am so tired of hearing that manner of death used for these "celebrities". Hopefully, the law enforcement has announced that the case is "closed" when in reality they are still investigating it and will learn that there was foul play involved. I also hope that Danny's family reads these posts and comes to their senses about this tragic event and come clean. Would be interesting to know the amount of inheritance that was divided between these people who did "CPR" while hesupposedly lay dead on the floor. How do we even know that his wife was actually performing the chest compressions? There is no question in my mind that he had been dead for HOURS before this 911 call was made. That being said, notice the explanation by the crime scene investigator
describing Danny's face being swollen and red. This takes hours to happen post mortem. I am not showing any disrespect to anyone, I am stating fact based on years of experience. God rest your soul, Danny Gans; and may God judge those who imposed any foul play.

Posted at 4:14PM on Jun 25th 2009 by DAVID

Elsie said...

7 months and it's like the guy never existed. How sad for poor Danny.

His family couldn't pack up and leave Vegas fast enough. Accepted the autopsy; never questioned where he got the drugs that killed him, which seemed odd, since he had nothing but an expired bottle of meds in his cabinet. If it was your loved one/friend/business associate, wouldn't you want to know how a "clean living" guy suddenly dropped dead from a powerful drug like dilaudid aka drugstore heroin?

I assume it's because rather than him being "Mr. Clean Living Born Again evangelical" entertainer, he was a long time abuser of opiates and steroids. That's what I keep on hearing.

I assume that the reason why the calls were so matter of fact to 911 by his wife, and the case closed so quickly by the PD, is because a whole lot of people in town knew Gans would come to this end, sooner than later. And digging into the who/what/where/when/why and how would only lead to more sordid details and drama about this good, but sadly, hopelessly addicted man.

Not to mention that real digging into his death could lead to an arrest or two, and sordid details about some powerful players in town. And nobody could stand for that.

In the end, the potential to uncover illegal and morally unethical behavior, which could save other lives, or even, dare I say it - bring justice - wasn't worth it to all those involved.

A multi-millionaire, Las Vegas star of the last 10 years wasn't worth it.

That means you, me and the average Joe are definitely not worth it. Somehow, I don't think the real Danny, clear from the drugs, would have been ok with that.

Anonymous said...

You are “right-on”, Elsie.

The “real Danny” would not have been OK with the cover up of the cause of his sad and unnecessary death and would have wanted the complete truth to be known, so that others would not fall into the wicked trap he fell into.

I am deeply sadden to hear that the Henderson Police Department is apparently unwilling to reopen the case upon hearing of Mr. Lightman’s statements to the Las Vegas Sun about Mrs. Gans’ 3:15am call to him and, apparently, a comment she made about the true time of Danny’s death “a couple of hours” before her 3:44am call to 911.

If Mrs. Gans knew Danny was dead hours before she called 911, she committed a criminal offense by “faking” the call - causing the emergency personnel and police to quickly respond, putting fine men and women at risk… not to mention the public! AND, of course, all at the taxpayers expense.

Why did Mr. Lightman wait until 4pm to announce Danny’s death to the media upon being directed by Mrs. Gans to do so at 3:15am? Did he know that Mrs. Gans had not yet called 911? Did he advise her to call 911 and “fake” the call before he called the press? Did they have any other phone conversations earlier that morning or the night before? Did Mr. Lightman “conspire” with Mrs. Gans to fake the 911 call and is he now trying to distance himself from her? Are there others involved? Why did Mrs. Gans fail to call 911 when she first knew Danny was dead or dying?

Of course, “who called who and when” can all be easily documented by the police through Mrs. Gans and Mr. Lightman’s phone records. Unfortunately, the police will act and re-open this case only if they receive enough pressure from the media and the public.

The truth about Danny’s tragic death must be made public for those who truly loved him and to help others from falling into drug addiction.

Tabloid Baby is “right-on” on too, Elsie. The Las Vegas news media has (so far) sadly turned its’ back on the 2009 Las Vegas Story of the Year. Perhaps it isn’t too late for at least one respected Las Vegas journalist to stand up, do what is right and start asking some serious questions.