A FORMER girlfriend of 1960s rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix was found dead yesterday just two days after she was convicted of contempt of court, police said.
Ms Monica Danneman (50), a German artist, was discovered in a fume filled car near her home in Seaford in southern England. Police said they were treating the death as a suicide.
Ms Danneman was convicted of contempt of court on Wednesday in a case involving a 26 year feud with a rival, Ms Kathy Etchingham, over Hendrix's affections.
A High Court judge agreed Ms Danneman had broken a legal promise not to repeat an allegation about Ms Etchingham's truthfulness given as part of the settlement of a libel action over Ms Danneman's memoirs, The Inner Life of Jimi Hendrix.
Each woman claimed to tend the flame of the legend surrounding the left handed guitarist, singer and songwriter.
The feud began in the 1970s when Ms Etchingham gave a racy interview to a British newspaper about life with "the wild man of rock" and Ms Danneman strongly objected to its contents.
The US born Hendrix moved to London in 1966 and formed a trio, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, which had hit singles with songs like Hey Joe and Purple Haze.
Ms Danneman, then a 23 year old ice skating champion, said she was engaged to Hendrix and was sharing a London apartment with him when he overdosed on sleeping tablets in September 1970.