Nancy Spungen - Death

Death

Over the next few months, Vicious and Spungen spiraled into deeper drug abuse, punctuated by domestic violence within which Vicious allegedly attacked Spungen. Their relationship ended violently on October 12, 1978, when Spungen was found under the sink in the bathroom of their hotel room, dead from a single stab wound to the abdomen, later traced to a knife owned by Vicious. This was reportedly a "007" hunting knife he had obtained after seeing Dee Dee Ramone give one to The Dead Boys' Stiv Bators, although conflicting reports claim the knife to be a Jaguar K-11 with a five-inch blade. Vicious was immediately arrested and charged with second degree murder. Vicious pleaded not guilty and was released on bail. Four months after Nancy's death, incarceration at Riker's Island before bail and drug rehabilitation, he overdosed taking a lethal amount of heroin, and died before the trial could take place. After Vicious died the police closed the case. Nancy was buried in her hometown in Philadelphia, Her Hebrew name is inscripted on her gravestone: "Haya-Leah daughter of Ephrayim-Aharon".

A young woman is dead. I don’t care. You probably don’t care. The police don’t care. The papers don’t care. The punks for the most part don’t care. The only people that care are (I suppose) her parents and (I’m almost certain) the boy accused of murdering her.
––Lester Bangs, on Nancy Spungen's murder

There are several theories that Spungen was murdered by someone else, usually said to be one of the two drug dealers who visited the apartment that night, and involving a possible robbery, as certain items (including a substantial bankroll) were claimed to be missing from the room. In his book, Pretty Vacant: A History of Punk, Phil Strongman accuses actor and stand-up comic Rockets Redglare of killing Spungen. Redglare had delivered 40 capsules of hydromorphone to the couple's room at the Chelsea Hotel the night of Spungen's death.

Redglare steadfastly denied any involvement in the murder of Nancy Spungen throughout his life. He stated that the other dealer known to have been there that evening had left before him to obtain more heroin, and was due back after he had left the building. He said he believed that the other dealer returned, found Vicious out cold, and attempted to steal the remaining drugs, leading to a confrontation with Spungen.

In his review for director Alex Cox's film, Sid and Nancy, critic Roger Ebert speculated that Spungen's stab wound was not severe enough to cause death, but she was a hemophiliac, and because her blood wouldn't clot, she bled to death. He further stated that he didn't believe Vicious' intention was to kill Spungen, but rather that it was an accident.

In the film, Cox also put forth the theory that Spungen and Vicious had a suicide pact, but they got into an argument when Vicious reneged. The argument escalated when Spungen assaulted Vicious, who was trying to leave the apartment, and that she was actually stabbed accidentally when she charged him when his knife was out. Subsequent scenes show Spungen sleeping with Sid even while she is bleeding to death.