DIMEBAG's Girlfriend Says PHIL ANSELMO's Actions 'Led To' Guitarist's Murder

January 7, 2008

"If Phil Anselmo hadn't quit PANTERA, Darrell wouldn't have been playing in that shithole where that guy could get to him."

That is but one of the many startling and revealing statements about "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott that his girlfriend of 20 years, Rita Haney, makes in the March 2008 issue of Guitar World magazine.

In a lengthy and exclusive interview conducted almost three years to the day after Dimebag's death on December 8, 2004, Haney gives Guitar World readers a revealing look inside the heart and soul of metal's lost cowboy from hell and offers some lacerating criticism of his former bandmates DAMAGEPLAN singer Pat Lachman and Anselmo.

With regards to Dimebag's final days on the road with DAMAGEPLAN, the band he and Vinnie formed following PANTERA's breakup, Haney says, "I remember in his final days, Darrell was calling me a lot and he told me that he didn't know what to do about [vocalist] Pat Lachman. Pat said that he didn't want to sing any PANTERA songs, but he knew what he was getting into when he joined the band. It got to the point where Darrell blew up completely. He said, 'Look, if I want a dickhead for a singer I'll call up Phil Anselmo! I can at least make money with that motherfucker.' "

And in one of the interview's most incendiary moments, she unleashes her verdict on Phil Anselmo and how his drug addictions and actions ultimately led to Dimebag's murder in Columbus, Ohio, at the hands of deranged gunman Nathan Gale.

"The bottom line is Phil's actions led to what happened," Haney says. "The guy wouldn't have been after Vinnie and Darrell if PANTERA had not broken up. It was all due to Phil's stupid, stupid actions."

For more on this story, visit www.guitarworld.com. To read the complete interview, pick up the March 2008 issue of Guitar World, on sale January 15.

Find more on

Prev More News Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).