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Artist News Legal
Jerry Sadowitz show includes video campaign for actor who died at Doherty party
By Chris Cooke | Published on Thursday 9 January 2014
Comedian Jerry Sadowitz has added a video appeal to the start of his current shows, according to The Guardian, relating to the mysterious death in 2006 of actor Mark Blanco.
Sadowitz, a friend of Blanco, has been supporting the late actor’s mother Shelia in her seven year fight for a full investigation into the incident, and in the video shown before the comedy magic man’s performances she explains the details of the case before concluding that “funds are desperately needed to expose this miscarriage of justice”.
As previously reported, Blanco fell to his death from the balcony of a London property that was hosting, at the time, a party attended by one-time Libertine Pete Doherty. Blanco had had a run in earlier in the evening with Doherty and his minder Johnny Jeannevol. Having been evicted from the flat, Blanco tried to return a little later, but within minutes was captured on CCTV falling to his death. Doherty et al are then seen leaving the property ten minutes later, examining Blanco’s body before running away.
Although police initially concluded Blanco’s death had been suicide or accidental, the coroner requested further investigations, though the Crown Prosecution Service subsequently decided there was insufficient evidence to charge anyone in connection with the death. But a ‘Newsnight’ report in late 2012 included the opinions of two experts who said that the CCTV footage suggested that Blanco had been dropped from the balcony by another person.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Doherty expressed remorse for having run past Blanco’s body on the night, but insisted neither he nor his entourage had been responsible for the actor’s death. Meanwhile Jeannevol, despite having once confessed, for a short time, to murdering Blanco, insisted in the ‘Newsnight’ report that he was not responsible for the death, adding: “[My] conscience is clear”.
Police have undertaken a further review of the evidence since the ‘Newsnight’ coverage, though Shelia Blanco continues her campaign for a full new investigation. Speaking to The Guardian, Sadowitz says: “It’s pretty disturbing that there was no investigation. It was swept under the carpet. Everything surrounding that flat and the people in it seems well protected”.
Asked if he thinks the most recent police review of the case will result in anything, the comedian said: “It’s not in my nature to be optimistic. You know, society always seems to wait for 30 to 50 years and then say, ‘Oh, why didn’t we listen to somebody all those years ago?’ I’m quite defeatist”.
But he is committed to continue showing the pre-show video about the case. “You have to at least try”, he continued. “You can’t let the details disappear. This was a really decent guy, a good guy. What Mark’s mum is doing is unbelievable: she’s got a mountain to climb, she has to discuss this with the press, the legal team, everyone, without cracking up. It’s very, very tough, and I’ll help her if I can”.
