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Coroner's Report on Jeni Echoes Family

Fri., Jun. 29, 2007 9:28 AM PDT by Sarah Hall

Richard Jeni's family members knew what they were talking about.

Months after the late comedian's family revealed he was suffering from severe clinical depression at the time he committed suicide, the Los Angeles County coroner's office has reached the same conclusion.

Jeni, 49, died at a hospital Mar. 10 after shooting himself in the head at his Hollywood home, police have said.

The coroner's office found that Jeni had a history of mental illness and was involuntarily hospitalized late last year for suicidal depression after threatening to jump off a building.

His girlfriend overheard him urging himself to "just pull the trigger," about a week before his death, according to a police report cited by the coroner.

Just days later, she was downstairs making breakfast when Jeni apparently found the conviction to go through with the act, shooting himself in the mouth with a handgun.

The comic had made no known suicide attempts before taking his life and left no note, per the coroner's report.

Shortly after Jeni's death, his family released a statement to clarify that his suicide was the result of mental illness and had nothing to do with career frustrations or any other aspect of his life.

"He was not down or blue," the family said. "He was ill."

The family said Jeni had been diagnosed earlier in the year with "severe clinical depression coupled with bouts of psychotic paranoia."

Jeni's girlfriend said he struggled with "insomnia, paranoia and high blood pressure due to stresses of his work schedule," according to the coroner's report.

The coroner also found that Jeni had a history of schizophrenia and had taken several different antidepressants and a sleep aid.

In brighter days, Jeni was a fixture on the comedy circuit and was regularly featured on The Tonight Show.

He appeared on the big screen alongside Jim Carrey in The Mask and starred in his own prime-time sitcom, Platypus Man, and in several HBO specials. Shortly before his death, he had set up meetings with the cable network about future projects, his family said.