Coroner: Valium, Alcohol Killed Painter Kinkade

Posted: Tuesday, May 8, 2012 10:00 am | Updated: 12:41 pm, Fri May 3, 2013.

Coroner: Valium, Alcohol Killed Painter Kinkade Associated Press |

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — An autopsy has found that artist Thomas Kinkade's death was caused by an accidental overdose of alcohol and prescription tranquilizers.

NBC Bay Area News reported Monday ((http://bit.ly/Jsgrvg) ) that the Santa Clara County medical examiner concluded that the self-described "Painter of Light" stopped breathing at his Northern California home on April 6 from a combination of alcohol and Valium.

Before his death, the 54-year-old Kinkade produced sentimental scenes of country gardens and pastoral landscapes that he sold in a nationwide chain of galleries.

In recent years, however, he had run into personal difficulties, including a 2010 bankruptcy filing by one of his companies.

His brother has said Kinkade battled alcoholism and relapsed before his death.

A judge last month issued a restraining order against a former girlfriend that prevents her from talking about the late painter.

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Posted in Currents on Tuesday, May 8, 2012 10:00 am. Updated: 12:41 pm.