Getty oil heir found dead wrote of serious health problem
By TAMI ABDOLLAH and ANDREW DALTON, Associated Press
Apr 1, 2015 3:43 PM CDT
An officer stands outside a home in the Hollywood Hills area of Los Angeles, Tuesday, March 31, 2015. Police say a man was found dead at the home of Andrew Getty, heir to Getty oil fortune. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)   (Associated Press)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Andrew Getty, among the heirs in a family whose name is synonymous with elite American wealth, said in a court filing before he was found dead that he suffered from a serious health problem that could endanger his life.

Getty, 47, whose grandfather J. Paul Getty's fortune made his family among the richest in U.S. history, wrote in a March 16 court document that he had been diagnosed with a condition, which he did not specify, in fall 2011.

"A rise in my blood-pressure places me in grave risk of substantial and irreparable injury or death," he wrote.

Neither the coroner nor police had officially identified him, but a statement from Getty's parents, Ann and San Francisco billionaire scion Gordon Getty, confirmed their son had died Tuesday.

Andrew Getty's 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. He said coroner's officials need to wait for the results of further examination and toxicology tests, which could take up to 10 weeks to process.

"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."

A law enforcement official briefed on the investigation said that Getty had been complaining of stomach pain in the days prior.

Another official with knowledge of the investigation said authorities found prescription medications and "injectables" at the home, where court records indicate he had lived for 18 years.

The officials spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly.

The second official said Getty's girlfriend, Lanessa DeJonge, who had a room at Getty's Hollywood Hills house and had apparently recently moved back in, found him with blood around him and called 911.

Getty's court filing was for a restraining order against DeJonge. The oil heir said in the March 16 document that he couldn't get her to move out. A judge ordered her to leave and stay 100 yards away from him, his home and vehicle. The court order was active at the time of his death and the next hearing on the issue was scheduled for Monday.

However, the law enforcement official said it appeared that DeJonge would come and go as she liked despite the restraining order, which was not uncommon in some relationships.

Getty is one of four sons of Gordon Getty, who is one of five sons of J. Paul Getty, founder of the Getty Oil Co. who died in 1976 at age 82.

J. Paul Getty was an avid collector of art and antiquities, and the Getty name is perhaps best known in the Los Angeles area for the museum that houses much of it, along with many other high-priced artworks bought since his death.

Another Getty grandson, J. Paul Getty III, lost an ear in a grisly kidnapping in Rome when he was a teenager. The family reportedly stalled on paying a ransom, and the kidnappers cut off part of his ear, sending the severed organ to a newspaper to prove they had taken him captive.

The oil heir, then 16, was freed after five months in captivity and a payment of $2.7 million. He died in 2011 at age 54.

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Associated Press Writers Anthony McCartney, Robert Jablon in Los Angeles and Sudhin Thanawala in San Francisco contributed to this report. Abdollah can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/latams.

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