Coroner: Painkiller killed ex-Wilco member Jay Bennett

-ChicagoTribune

06/24/2009 - Former Wilco member Jay Bennett died of an overdose of a painkiller, the Champaign County coroner said Tuesday, and his office is investigating Bennett's death as an accident.

Tests showed Bennett died from fentanyl, a drug often prescribed to treat chronic pain, said the coroner, Duane Northrup. Bennett, who died May 24 at his home in Urbana, had posted a few weeks earlier on his MySpace site that he would need hip-replacement surgery.

"A decade plus of multiple nightly stage jumps and various other rock and roll theatrics had finally taken a toll that I could no longer merely deal with or ignore," he wrote, but added that he did not have health insurance to cover costs of the surgery.

Bennett, born in northwest suburban Rolling Meadows, was a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and engineer in Wilco from 1994 to 2001, when he departed the band acrimoniously.

Bennett sued Wilco lead singer Jeff Tweedy in early May, claiming he was owed royalties for songs during his seven years with the group.

After hearing about Bennett's death, Tweedy said Bennett would be remembered "as a truly unique and gifted human being."

PriCara, a division of Johnson & Johnson recalled fentanyl patches in 2008 after discovering that some leaked, causing labored breathing and possible overdose.

There was no indication that Bennett used such a patch.

The coroner's office declined to provide a copy of Bennett's autopsy, saying the investigation remains open.

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