Earlier this week, it was revealed that Slipknot bassist Paul Gray was one of the eight patients named in physician Daniel Baldi involuntary manslaughter charges. The doctor is being accused of prescribing large amounts of narcotic painkillers to patients who later died of overdoses, including Gray. And yesterday, Slipknot made an official comment on the case.
Slipknot issued the following statement regarding the charges against Daniel Baldi:
“As the loss of our brother Paul Gray is still very fresh for us in the Slipknot family, this new development has us all in a state of anger and sadness. The fact that this person took advantage of our brother’s illness while he was in a position to help others has outraged everyone in our family. We can only hope that justice will be served so this can NEVER happen to anyone else ever again! Our thoughts go out to the families of the other victims. We plan to cooperate as much as we possibly can to ensure this tragedy is never repeated, and to make sure this man pays for what he has done.”
Shortly before the joint statement was released, Shawn “Clown” Crahan (who along with Gray’s widow Brenna was supposedly among nine people interviewed in the investigation) spoke to the Des Moines Register about the matter. “None of it is going to bring back our brother Paul,” said Crahan. “This epidemic of this sort of activity is becoming more and more … evident. It truly is becoming a problem amongst people. And it trickles all the way down to the youth. And awareness needs to be brought about… Hopefully justice will be served.”
As echoed by Slipknot, the case is a painful reminder that it’s been two years since Gray was found dead in a hotel in Urbandale, IA. In the words of Crahan, hopefully justice will be served.
