On October 4, 1935, actress Doris Dazey died of carbon monoxide poisoning in a Santa Monica garage only a few miles from Thelma Todd's Sidewalk Café. Her death was ruled a suicide, but there was no note, and there was some doubt about it.
Doris Dazey was in the news again when her husband was arrested in December of 1939.
He was accused of murder, but nothing ever came of it. The death of Doris Dazey was still considered a suicide.
The case had some similarities both to the death of Thelma Todd and that of a fictional character in Raymond Chandler's book LADY IN THE LAKE, leading to discussions by Chandler fans about the possibility that these cases might have been sources of inspiration for that novel. The fact that another woman had recently died of carbon monoxide poisoning in the same area and that it had been covered in the news* tends to weaken the story that Thelma Todd didn't know anything about carbon monoxide: moreover, Patrick Jenning, who apparently favors the accident theory, has written about the Dazey case but never seems to have considered that aspect.
Patrick Jenning's BAY CITY DOCTOR says that Dr. Dazey provided Mabel Normand with dope, but the story that Mabel Normand was on dope is also controversial, and has also been labeled a "myth" at
So there is some opposition to the story about Mabel Normand being on dope, just as there is some opposition to the one about Thelma Todd, but Patrick Jenning believes one and not the other.
* There had been a lot of carbon monoxide fatalities in the news. This was pointed out when the claim was made that Thelma Todd didn't know anything about the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning. This particular one took place only a few miles from where Thelma Todd lived.
Doris Dazey:
http://shamustown.com/truecrime.html
http://derangedlacrimes.com/?tag=doris-dazey
http://www1.freewebs.com/looking-for-mabel/dazey.htm
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2206&dat=19391204&id=6QktAAAAIBAJ&sjid=HNgFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5707,1738629
Raymond Chandler:
http://home.comcast.net/~mossrobert/
http://www.radiatingwings.com/
THE LADY IN THE LAKE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lady_in_the_Lake
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