Getty Oil Heir Found Dead in Lurid Scene at Los Angeles Home
Law enforcement officers are investigating after Andrew Rork Getty, an heir to the Getty Oil fortune, was reported dead Tuesday by a former girlfriend against whom he had recently obtained a restraining order.
Getty, the grandson of oil scion J Paul Getty and member of the Getty trust, was reportedly in his late 40s.
It's still unclear what happened—Getty's ex-girlfriend, who called 911, apparently told the operator he had suffered a cardiac arrest, and TMZ's initial report contained a now-excised reference to a gunshot wound to the face. Now, in an updated post, TMZ reports Getty's death involved a "traumatic injury to the rectal area" with "significant bleeding."
It also wasn't the first time cops had responded to the address—the LA Times reports Getty sought the restraining order against her as recently as two weeks ago. And, via TMZ:
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. Our sources say they have both frequently been under the influence of drugs during the police visits.
We're told the drugs cops found in the past were prescriptions.
As for their relationship, we're told he has a restraining order against her and she has been placed under a 5150 psychiatric hold in the past, after injuring cops when they responded to the house. We're also told she's allegedly broken into Andrew's house on numerous occasions.
Update 4/1/15, 12:30 a.m.:
Although the Los Angeles Times reports Getty was "found naked from the waist down in the bathroom of his Hollywood Hills estate Tuesday and appeared to suffer from some type of blunt force trauma," an LAPD spokesperson tells the paper, "this does not appear immediately to be a criminal act."
Update 4/1/15, 2:00 a.m.:
According to The New York Times, Getty's death was most likely natural or an accident. From the Times:
The death appeared to be from natural causes, Los Angeles County coroner's Assistant Chief Ed Winter said, but it has been initially called an accident because of medication found at the scene.
"The tentative information that we do have is that he was not feeling good for the last couple months," Winter said, "and he supposedly had an appointment tomorrow with a personal physician."
[image via AP]