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Nobody saw comedy genius Sam Kinison’s death coming - at least not the way it happened. Most people assumed he’d succumb to substance abuse, but Kinison said he had that under control. Things actually looked good for Kinison leading up to his death: He just got married days earlier, and he was experiencing a career resurgence. Then an intoxicated teenage driver in a pick-up truck came along...
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Nobody saw Sam Kinison's death coming, at least not the way it happened
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Most people assumed he'd succumb to substance abuse, but Kinison said that was under control
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Things actually looked good for Kinison leading up to his death. He just got married days earlier, and he was experiencing a career resurgence
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Then an intoxicated teenage driver in a pickup truck came along. Today, we're going to recount the final hours of Sam Kinison's life
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Sam Kinison must have felt like a new man as he opened up his white 1989 Pontiac Trans Am
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northbound on Interstate 15, speeding through Barstow, California. He had just returned from a five-day Hawaiian honeymoon with his new wife, Malika Suiri
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He proudly bragged to his friends in the press that he was clean and sober for the last year or so
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And Hollywood film studios were returning his calls again after critics praised Kinison's recent television appearances
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including his co-hosting gig on Fox's New Year's Eve Live. And if his film career was improving
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his stand-up career was almost back to its late 80s glory. As a matter of fact, the reason why Kinison was on this road trip
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was because he was on his way to headline a stand-up gig. But you have to remember, while time favors Kinison's legacy
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the reality is that not too long before his death, his career as an A-list comedian was over
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Kitteson's career catapulted in the span of five years. From his national television debut on HBO's career-making Young Comedian Special in 1985
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to legendary guest spots for Late Night and The Tonight Show, three LPs, two were certified gold
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recurring appearances on Saturday Night Live, and theater-sized concerts that paid him up to $50,000 per set
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Yet with all that success, he crashed and burned hard, thanks to marathon drug-fueled binges, which turned Kinnison into kind of a jerk
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As much as they loved him, fellow comedians like Marc Maron and Joe Rogan
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have mentioned how miserable it was to be around Kinnison during those peak powder years
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Ultimately, it was Kinnison's substance abuse that pushed Hollywood away. Eventually, United Artists withdrew their offer for Kinnison to star in what would be his first leading role
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Fans walked out on his barely intelligible stand-up sets, where at times he had to run backstage to revive himself by sucking on oxygen tanks
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And in 1990, his third album, Tanked, HBO and MTV cut ties. Spurned by desperation
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Kinison clawed his way back By early 1992 he said he was clean Kinison was in negotiations for a two deal with New Line Cinema and the paychecks for his stand shows were back in the five range
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This headlining weekend at the Riverside Resort and Casino in Laughlin, he was driving towards, was a sign of big things on the horizon
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It felt like Sam Kinnison was on a comeback. At approximately 7.30 p.m.
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Kinison was zipping eastbound on Interstate 40 along the Mojave Desert National Preserve
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about 50 or 60 miles away from Laughlin, and he was making great time
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At this pace, Kinison, along with his new wife, who was riding shotgun in his Trans Am
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and his brother Bill, along with fellow comedian Carl LeBove, who were trailing behind the newlyweds in a van
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were expected to make Laughlin by 8.30. Troy Pearson was about an hour into a road trip of his own
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While Kennison was zipping eastbound on Interstate 40, Pearson, the 17-year-old Bonanza High School senior
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was about 40 miles into his 230-plus drive to Palm Springs. Pearson was headed to his senior spring break vacation
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Behind the wheel of his old Chevrolet truck, packed with a bag of clothes and toiletries to last a week
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along with a bunch of beer for the road, Pearson and a classmate were speeding towards Sam and Malika
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Within 30 minutes, the comedy world would never be the same again. As Kinison exited Highway 40 and merged north onto the small two-lane Interstate 95
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he must have known he was about 30 minutes from the casino. After all, he made this trip to Laughlin before for previous stand-up gigs
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While Kinison was navigating the 40 to 95 off-ramp, Pearson and his buddy had just sped past the Nevada-California border
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According to witnesses, Pearson was driving well over the speed limit and merging into the oncoming traffic lane to pass slower vehicles
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And that's when Kinison and Pearson came face to face near Needles, California, about three and a half miles north of the 40 to 95 interchange
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The sun had just set, and visibility was limited. As Pearson barreled southbound on the narrow two-lane desert road
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He swerved one last time into Kinnison's northbound lane in an attempt to bypass the car in front of him and dart back into his own lane
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Kinnison saw the pickup headlights rushing towards him. He slowed down the Trans Am between 15 and 25 miles per hour to give Pearson more runway to complete his maneuver, but it wasn't enough
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The full Chevy truck slammed directly into Kinnison car at 70 miles per hour creating a crash impact of 95 miles per hour Not wearing a seatbelt Kinison was thrown headfirst into his car windshield Immediately after impact Kinnison body broke off his steering wheel ricocheted off the
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windshield, and landed in between his car's two front seats. Malika, who also wasn't wearing a
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seatbelt, was laid up next to him. She was knocked unconscious, but breathing. Sam's brother and
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Manager Bill, along with his longtime friend Carl Lebov, who were in the van behind Kinnison and witnessed the collision, pulled over immediately and rushed towards the mangled vehicles
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As Lebov ran towards the Trans Am to tend to the Kinnisons, Bill looked around and surveyed the scene
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Steam emitted from the vehicle's engines, and fluids pooled up along the highway asphalt
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Witnesses say Pearson exited the cab of his truck, and the first thing he said was
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God, look at my truck. LeBeau, who had been Kinnison's opening act for years, found Kinnison responsive, but groggy
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LeBeau was stunned when it seemed his friend was going to pull through. With only a small two-inch cut visible over his left eyebrow and a bloody lip
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Kinnison lifted himself out of his car's wreckage. LeBeau, who thought that Kinnison's injuries were more serious
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begged him to lay down on the side of the road and wait for an ambulance, which was already on its way
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As his wife remained unconscious in the Trans Am's passenger seat, Kinnison finally followed LeBeau's advice
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and laid down on the gravelly shoulder of the road, propped up in his friend's arms
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Meanwhile, a small crowd of drivers who pulled over to help noticed beer cans all over the crash site
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Bill also discovered beer cans in the cab of Pearson's truck. It was about this time that LeBeau said
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Kinnison started talking towards the sky. He said that Kinnison was clear, coherent, and softly said
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I don't want to die. I don't want to die. Then Kinnison paused, as if he was listening to the person he was talking to
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But why, Kinnison asked, followed by another pause. Then he said, OK, OK, OK
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As Lebov held Kinnison's head in his hands, he recalls that his last OK was soft
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almost like a whisper. Then at 8.31 PM, as paramedics were rushing to the scene
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Kinnison's body relaxed and he took his last breath. At 38 years old, the former Pentecostal
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tent preacher's final conversation was with God. Ironic, considering how the comedian railed
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against religion for the entirety of his career. Although he had already passed, the first ambulance
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on the scene rushed Kinnison to the Colorado River Medical Center in Needles about six miles from the crash site While mouth resuscitation was performed on Kinison at the crash site and on the way to the hospital the comedian passing was pronounced at 8 p Malika who was taken to the same
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hospital in a separate ambulance, was able to leave two days later, but Kinison's body stayed
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behind for an autopsy, and LeBove was correct. Although Kinison looked okay immediately after the
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crash, his body had sustained incredible internal trauma. Deputy Coroner Gabriel Morales said
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that the comedian suffered multiple traumatic injuries to the chest cavity. Troy Pearson, who sustained moderate injuries in the crash
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didn't have much of a trial. But that's only because he was a minor. In a brief court appearance, a judge
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sentenced the teen with felony vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence. The charge came with a year of probation, a two-year suspended driver's license, and 300 hours of community service
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Pearson was released to the custody of his parents, and that was it
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In addition to his outrage over the slap on Pearson's wrist for killing his brother, Bill Kinison was livid over Pearson's brief court appearance
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At no time did I see any remorse, but there's nothing we can do about it now
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A year after his death in 1993, Kinison was as popular as he was at his late 80s peak
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His fourth and final comedy album, Live From Hell, was released to great critical acclaim
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It even won that year's Grammy Award for Best Spoken Comedy Album against
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The Jerky Boys, The Jerky Boys 2, and Adam Sandler's They're All Gonna Laugh at You
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Bill also kept his brother's memory alive with Brother Sam, The Short Spectacular Life of Sam Kinison, the 1994 biography about the comedian
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The movie rights to the book were purchased by fan and friend Howard Stern
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and at one point, HBO was talking about producing it with Kinison being played by Dan Fogler
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Kinison's memory seems to be stuck in a holding pattern now. The Brother Sam movie never got past the script stage
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and the 2017 biopic I Am Sam Kinison, while sourcing much of Bill's book
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didn't feel like a proper send-off. In a recent interview, Bill mentioned movie deals that were in development at the time of his death
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One such deal was a movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger and another with Rick Moranis
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It's easy to imagine what direction Kinnison would have taken had he avoided his fatal accident in the desert
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and continued his newfound upward trajectory. Leading roles in motion pictures, arena tours, a family
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and imagine how Kinnison would have approached today's fevered political climate
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