Smith Ordered to Stand Trial in Death of Belushi

Cathy Evelyn Smith, a former backup vocalist, companion to rock musicians and heroin addict, must stand trial for second-degree murder in the 1982 drug overdose death of comedian John Belushi, a judge ruled today.

“Surely Mr. Belushi issued the invitation to this dance,” Los Angeles Municipal Judge James F. Nelson said of the comedian’s last five days of drug-taking with Smith.

“But it was an inherently dangerous dance, and the Legislature has provided that the price for the piper in these instances is high,” the judge added.

For the first time, a relative of Belushi’s attended the court proceedings in the Smith case. Pamela L. Jacklin, the sister of Belushi’s widow, said after Nelson announced his decision, “I think the judge was short and eloquent and I do hope it will get resolved soon, one way or the other.”

In addition to the murder count, Smith, 38, must also stand trial on 13 felony counts of furnishing or administering drugs. If convicted of all charges, she could face a maximum prison sentence of 17 years to life, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael J. Montagna, one of the two prosecutors in the case.

Nelson ruled after a preliminary hearing during which several witnesses testified that they watched Smith repeatedly inject Belushi with a mixture of heroin and cocaine during the final days of his life. He died March 5, 1982, in the Chateau Marmont hotel on the Sunset Strip of acute cocaine and heroin intoxication.

Smith’s lawyers, Howard L. Weitzman and Scott S. Furstman, had argued that the prosecution failed to show that the drugs that killed Belushi came from Smith.