Book Nook: Killing Vincent - The Man, The Myth, and The Murder

The book, Killing Vincent; The Man, The Myth, and The Murder was just published in October 2018. Most everyone believes van Gogh committed suicide. Using 21st century forensics, I make the case the that it was not possible for Vincent to have self-inflicted his mortal wound! He was murdered in a premeditated  honor killing. This romantic twist and evidence on a 128-year-old unsolved homicide confounds the false narrative that surrounds the mysterious death of one of the world’s most iconic artists.

If this intrigues you and you are curious, please go to www.killingvincent.com to learn more about the killing Vincent project, The book, the movie, and the forensic reenactment videos.  Please participate in our challenging forums as you help unravel the mysteries of Vincent’s death and who and why this icon was murdered. 

You can buy the book at your favorite booksellers, like Barnes and Noble, or Tattered Cover in Denver metro area. 

I had a chance to interview the author to learn more.

How is new information about artists from so long ago still being discovered?

It is not so much new information from 128 years ago that is being discovered as it is the old, often contradictory, and self-serving information being relooked at with 21st century scientific/forensic approach to determine what makes sense, is most believable, who to believe, and what connects best to other corroborating information.

A tremendous amount of information and academic assessments of Vincent's life is so very well known, in distinct contrast to how little is really known about Vincent’s mortal wounding and his death. Thus, it is not new information being discovered, as much as it is the old known and accepted information being scrutinized by todays standard of criminology and forensics to yield a much more honest and modern conclusion of what really happened to Vincent van Gogh on July 27^th, 1890, his bedside death watch, his funeral, his burial,  and the afterwards. The truth of his death, not myth and legend,  is really needed to correctly add to his brilliant legacy!

Why is this information relevant?

It is only relevant if one wants to know what really happened and why to one our most beloved artist, who I believe was murdered. Many people who love Vincent and his art want to know the truth and want to change the myth of suicide to murder, regardless if some may consider it blasphemy to question the well-entrenched legend.

If the forensic/ballistic studies, rigorously just done can convince you that it was forensically and logistically not possible for Vincent to have self-inflicted his mortal wound, yet he died from this penetrating abdominal wound that he did not create, then whoever created this fatal wound, in fact murdered Vincent van Gogh!

 I believe there are many people who love Vincent and his art who would like to unravel the mystery of his death and premeditated cover up of an honor killing with an unexpected romantic twist. It is quite an intriguing challenge.

It is also important for Vincent’s legacy to exonerate him from the stigma on his honor, his faith, and his long-standing belief systems, that he did NOT in fact commit suicide.

Why did you decide to write this book?

I first wrote about Vincent van Gogh about 30 years ago for the special communication and cover story for JAMA, August 1990, 100 years to the week of his death. I wrote about Vincent well known “attacks” which were thought to be seizures or epilepsy.  I made the clinical, differential diagnosis, based on a clinical history taken from the patient , from his handwritten letters, wherein he described his attacks and other related symptoms, and named the attacks, “vertige” in French, for which there is no other translation other than “vertigo”. True, rotary vertigo is the primary classical hallmark in the diagnosis of an inner ear disorder called Meniere’s disease.  When I did this research for the JAMA article, limited to only 3 pages, I had to focus on the correct diagnosis of his inner ear disease , not the old diagnosis of epilepsy.  But I never believed then that Vincent committed suicide.  When I retired, I could now focus, over the last several years, on bringing all the available possible information and scenario’s together trying to connect the “facts” with the “dots”, much the same way Oliver Stone did in the movie “JFK”.  I wanted to finally show that suicide , on the one hand was very unlikely, but murder, on the other hand, was very likely. Clearing Vincent’s legacy of the crime of suicide has also been paramount.