CHESTER BENNINGTON's Widow Blasts Coroner, TMZ For 'Dramatizing' And 'Sensationalizing' Previous Suicide Attempt

Chester Bennington's widow has slammed the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office and taboid web site TMZ for revealing that her husband allegedly attempted to drown himself nine months before he committed suicide by hanging.

TMZreported earlier today that the former LINKIN PARK frontman got drunk, tied himself up and jumped in his swimming pool back in November 2016. He eventually changed his mind and was able to free himself and surface.

The information was reportedly given to an investigator for the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office by Talinda and was originally part of the coroner's report on Chester's July 20 suicide, but was redacted following a request from his widow's lawyer, Ed McPherson, according to TMZ.

McPherson contacted the coroner's lawyer and argued that the 2016 incident was protected by "marital privilege." TMZ reports that the coroner's office was split over the decision to redact the information, with some arguing that "marital privilege" does not exist.

After TMZ published its report on Wednesday, Talinda lashed out at the Los Angeles County Coroner and the gossip web site, writing in two separate tweets: "Fun fact- When your husband dies by suicide, the LA County Coroner’s office will PARAPHRASE your private conversation with them to dramatize and sensationalize the story and then SCUMBAG FILTH like TMZ post it for the world to feast on. It was redacted to protect all the kids!! And now I get to go pull my 11 yr old out of school- because all the kids can use their phones at lunch-to be the first to tell him what REALLY happened in Nov. Thanks again to SCUMBAG reporting. FUCK YOU TMZ"

Bennington had previously talked about committing suicide more than a decade ago. According to the coroner's report, he had been drinking heavily in 2006 and threatened to kill himself before leaving with a gun. That passage was not redacted.

Autopsy results for Bennington revealed that he had a small amount of alcohol in his system when he died. But the report also noted that the singer was not under the influence of any drugs at the time of his death. The official cause of death was suicide by hanging, with the coroner writing: "Autopsy findings are characteristic of suicidal hanging. There was a history of suicidal ideation."

Bennington's body was found in his Los Angeles-area home last July 20. He was 41 at the time of his death.

The police officer who found the body wrote in his report that half a pill of insomnia drug Zolpidem, a half-full container of Corona beer and an empty bottle of Stella Artois were in the room. Also present was a journal with a biography that was handwritten but not dated. There was no suicide note.

According to TMZ, Talinda told the police that he was recently in an outpatient treatment program and that to her knowledge he hadn't taken antidepressants in a year.

Shards of his fingernails were found on his iPhone, the result of a nervous tic that Talinda said was caused by anxiety. Friends told Rolling Stone that Bennington had been struggling to maintain his sobriety over the past year.

LINKIN PARK staged a tribute concert for Bennington on October 27 featuring guest appearances from a number of different acts, but the band has not revealed if it plans to carry on without the vocalist. They will release a concert album titled "One More Light Live" on December 15.