Gary Coleman Was Divorced When Ex-Wife Pulled The Plug
June 2 2010, Published 6:48 a.m. ET
The controversy surrounding Gary Coleman’s death has just ignited into a roaring controversy.
The actor died at age 42 on May 28 after being hospitalized with an intracranial hemorrhage, suffered after a fall at home.
DOCUMENTS: Read The Police Report
His "wife" Shannon Price made the decision to pull the plug and take him off life support.
But now a new report says that Shannon and Gary were divorced – calling into question her authority to remove him from life support.
Entertainment Tonight reports that Gary and Shannon were legally divorced on August 12, 2008.
“Gary filed for divorce from Shannon under sealed divorce documents that referred to the parties as "John Doe" and "Jane Doe." All court fees were paid for by Gary. No alimony was awarded, however, property was awarded to Gary under the decree,” ET is reporting.
AUDIO: Hear Gary Coleman's 911 Tape
Making the situation even hotter is this: a hospital spokesperson told ET, “We had no indication that the information Shannon gave us was false. She portrayed herself as his wife."
RadarOnline.com was first to report that the Medical Examiner’s office is investigating the former D’ffrent Strokes star’s death. “The state medical examiners office looks at cases to determine answers to questions,” Janet Frank, spokeswoman for Utah Valley Regional Medical Center, told RadarOnline.com.
Coleman’s estranged parents have demanded answers about what happened to put their son in a coma and ultimately forced his removal from life support.
And Randy Kester, Coleman’s lawyer, told Us Weekly that Shannon may not have had the authority to pull the plug. "Some people have raised the issue that they saw Gary and Shannon on Divorce Court and now there's some questions about whether or not they were married at the time of the death and whether Shannon had the authority to pull the plug at the hospital," Kester told Us Weekly.
"Some people in the public are raising issues whether she had authority to do that. I think there's going to be some developing controversy about some issues of authority."
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He’s correct about that.
The revelation about the divorce and hospital’s reaction is certain to cause an uproar and a demand for answers.
Coleman’s 911 call was released Wedensday and it did little to solve the mystery of how Coleman fell. Shannon made the call and said, “I don’t know what happened. I really don’t know what happened.” She said, “there’s a lot of blood on the floor.”
A Santaquinn police spokesperson told RadarOnline.com that they are not investigating Gary Coleman’s death. Reports that Coleman and his wife were legally divorced when she pulled him off life support and that the hospital thought they were married, will not cause the police to investigate either. “No we are not investigating. That would really fall on the hospital who let that decision be made.”
