Casey Johnson was an heiress to one of the largest fortunes in America, but during her short life she was best known for bizarre behavior, drug and alcohol fueled binges and a lifestyle that ranged from high style to utter squalor.
The petite blond was found dead Monday (Jan. 4) in her Los Angeles home and an autopsy is pending, perhaps as early as today. All immediate signs point to a prescription drug overdose. Police said she was dead for several days before she was found.
Most of the drama in her life revolved around non-stop parties, her wealthy, but often dysfunctional, family, her erratic behavior, her scatological venture into lesbianism and the loss of custody of her adopted daughter, which she was fighting to regain when she died.
Casey adopted the girl from Kazakhstan, but her mother, Sale Johnson, took custody of the seven year old this year when she grew concerned that Casey was an unfit parent. The child, Ava Monroe, has been living with Casey’s mother since then.
Casey Johnson and Jasmine Lennard
Casey’s aunt, Libet Johnson, who built an orphanage in Cambodia, opposed the adoption. Casey and Libet feuded famously over a star-crossed romance with the same man.
Sale was said to take custody earlier this year out of concern for Ava’s safety. Casey’s rented house on Mulholland Drive in Los Angeles was said to rival the squalor of Grey Gardens, the broken down Hamptons mansion featured in a movie, where relatives of Jacqueline Kennedy lived in poverty.
Sources said the house was filthy with dirty dishes piled everywhere and rotting food in the kitchen. Graffiti covered the walls and the pool was described as a swamp.
At the same time Johnson often appeared at parties and media events in expensive dresses and jewelry. Although she was desperate for money when she died.
Her father, Robert Wood Johnson IV, owner of the New York Jets football team, and other family members had curtailed her access to her inheritance in an effort to force her into rehab. Casey had gone through several programs without ever finishing.
“She can’t pay her bills, so the electricity was cut off. She can’t put gas in her car,” a source told the New York Post, earlier this month. “She’s been keeping her Porsche in the garage because she’s afraid it will be repossessed.”
Growing up she lived a life of privilege, and ran in a tight circle of heiresses like herself that included Paris Hilton and Courtenay Semel, the daughter of former Yahoo Chief Executive Terry Semel.
The aimlessness of growing up super wealthy was documented by her uncle Jamie Johnson in “Born Rich,” which portrayed the Johnson family as eccentric and dysfunctional.
Casey added to the image when she accused her aunt Libet of seducing her then 38-year-old boyfriend, John Dee, a music manager who has worked with Maxwell and Megadeth. Dee said he was never Casey’s boyfriend.
She also dated Calumet Farms heir Stephen Kwiatkowski, before veering into lesbianism, and hooking up with Semel, who allegedly dated Lindsay Lohan before Sam Ronson.
Semel and Johnson made news after Semel viciously beat her and set fire to her hair. Johnson was charged in November with robbing the home of another lesbian girlfriend, model Jasmine Lennard. She left a wet towel and a used vibrator as a calling card.
She later hooked up with reality television star Tila Tequila, and the two announced their engagement. Courtenay was dating Tila before Johnson.
Tila and Casey announced their engagement with a video they posted online of themselves in bed wearing only bras and panties. Later, they said it was all just a joke.
Tila and Casey posed together at the Famous Stars & Straps party in Hollywood last month. An eyewitness told Fox411 that Casey could “hardly stand straight” and that Tila held her up all night.
In a recent interview with E! Entertainment before Casey’s death, Semel was sharply critical of her ex-girlfriend, although the two are said to have remained friends. See the video here.
