Unsettled Matters

CHAPTER 22 – THE REVOLUTIONARY PATHOLOGY OF A.D. SPERANSKY

The following is a portion of an article that appeared in Frontiers of Medicine, which is highly reputable
anthology of historical scientific research. I believe its basic theory of neural pathology may be relevant to
the death of Bruce Lee. Although told in the context of a story, the scientific elements, as well as the
events, are true.
“THE LABORATORY ASSISTANT of the Italian scientist Dr. Sanarelli stared at the animals in
amazement. They were dead. Impossible! Hadn’t this been a harmless experiment?
Excitedly he rushed to his superior to report the incredible test result. Dr. Sanarelli shook his head. ‘We ’ve
got to repeat the experiment’.
“Luigi picked two well-fed rabbits from the cage, and while he stroke their fur, Dr. Sanarelli, by a deft and
painless stab, injected each with an innocuous dose of a germ filtrate. Luigi fed the animals, scrubbed his
hands, and then went to a nearby cafe to have breakfast with his friend Pietro, a reporter for the local
paper.
“On his way home that night, Dr. Sanarelli was almost run over by a truck, so heedlessly did he dash
across the street toward a newsboy who waved the evening paper, yelling: “Perfect Murder In The
Laboratory – Dr. Sanarelli Poisons Rabbits Without Poison! ’
“In the paper Dr. Sanarelli found in print, beside his picture, what had so astounded him earlier that
morning.
“A modest Italian scientist has accomplished what even hard-boiled crime-fiction writers didn ’t dare to
dream up,” the sensational story read. ‘Poisoning without poison – the perfect murder. The victims were
only rabbits, but the consequences of the experiments are frightening. Dr. Sanarelli injected a number of
animals with a harmless dose of bacterial extract. The next day he injected some of them with another
substance, which normally does not cause any symptoms. To his amazement, they became gravely ill
and died within a few hours, while the control animals, which had received only one injection, remained
unharmed. So far there is no satisfactory explanation for this phenomenon.
No trace of poison was found at the autopsy. Death must have been caused by hitherto unknown,
mysterious reactions of the animal organism. Experts’ conjecture that the process involved may be similar
to those, which in human patients sometimes, unexpectedly, produce grave clinical complications and
thwart all medical skill. Dr. Sanarelli may be on the track of this riddle.’
“Furious, the scientist stuffed the paper into his coat pocket and hurried back to the lab, where he shoved
the story under Luigi’s nose and gave him a piece of his mind.
During the next few days the assistant avoided the professor, but new exciting experiments soon made
both of them forget the incident. Sanarelli had not been mistaken. Moreover, he found that the lethal
reaction did not depend on the specific characteristics of the substance used; it could be produced by a
variety of microbes and chemicals. It did depend on timing, because it did not occur if the interval
between the first and the second injection exceeded 70 hours.
The strange experiments were published in scientific journals, but the laboratory did not have the means
to continue the work on a larger scale. The means were available, however, to the Soviet scientist A.D.
Speransky.
At present, Speransky directs the Institute of Experimental Medicine in Moscow, but large parts of the life
of this scientist, who wants to revolutionize medicine, are shrouded in a darkness impenetrable to the
western observer. He graduated in 1911 at Kazan, at the age of 23. After the revolution, he emerged in
distant Siberia, at Irkutsk on Lake Baykhal, teaching at the local university. In 1923 he became assistant
to the famous Nobel-prize winner, Professor Pavlov, in Leningrad, and soon thereafter he started to work
independently. A decade later his research culminated in a new, revolutionary theory of medicine – neural
pathology.
Speransky had observed the ‘perfect murder’ in animal experiments even before Sanarelli, when he
drained the brain fluid of anesthetized dogs. Normally this was a harmless procedure; but if a nerve fiber
was irritated afterwards with relatively innocuous substances such a croton oil, bile, formaldehyde, acid,
or even fresh nerve tissue of the experimental animal itself, the animals died under convulsions. Neither
fluid drainage alone, nor nerve irritation alone, can do this. Combined into a ‘one-two punch ’, as
Speransky calls it, they cause death.
But not all the dogs died. Some had convulsions but recovered; others did not react at all. Evidently the
lethal reaction could take place only against an as yet unknown background which was not present in all
the animals.
The surviving dogs where used for research on the consequences of severing of chemically damaging a
nerve. Usually a neuroma developed at the damaged spot, a small swelling of the nerve which acted as a
permanent irritation of the nervous system. When these dogs were anesthetized and their brain fluid
drained, they died under the same symptoms as those in the first experiments. This time few survived.
The accumulation of certain nerve irritations (the fluid drainage also acted as an irritant) appeared to
cause death.
The absent-mindedness of the assistant, Dimitri Lebedev, and the blind obedience of his favorite dog,
Beta, led to an unexpected confirmation of the enigmatic observations. It happened to be the third
birthday of his son Andrej, when Dimitri was supposed to sacrifice Beta in an investigation of one of the
most horrible diseases, epilepsy. In order to study its progress, physicians created artificial epileptic
seizures in animals by freezing a cherry-sized piece of the cerebral cortex. Most of the experiments
ended in death.
The assistant himself let the dog out of its cage and Beta jumped on him, wagging its tail. Lebedev patted
the animal’s head, turned, and walked, slower than usual, to the operating room. He thought of the many
epileptics who are handicapped for life. He visualized his wife ’s sister collapsing with a moan, writhing on
the floor and foaming at the mouth. Still, he didn ’t like the job he had to do.
Absent-mindedly Dimitri beckoned the animal and tapped the operating table with his hand. The dog
jumped onto the table and did not resist the fitting of the respirator. When it was under deep anesthesia,
Dimitri opened its skull and carefully sutured the incisions. Then he waited for the convulsions, which
were due to start two to five hours after the operation.
But nothing happened. Beta was a little tired, but behaved normally and ate with good appetite. The lethal
convulsions failed to appear. The next day Lebedev examined the dog every three hours. Beta had
recovered perfectly and greeted its master as usual. It was a miracle, and Lebedev was glad. But should
one believe in miracles? Didn’t one have to search for the cause? Why had Beta failed to react to the
freezing like all the other dogs?
Lebedev checked his notes against previous test records. No difference. Or – yes, one. He had not given
Beta a morphine shot. It hadn’t been necessary. At all previous experiments the dogs had received
morphine injections before being placed on the operating table. This facilitated anesthesia by making the
animals unable to resist. Bur morphine could not cause epileptic seizures, that much was certain.
The only thing to do was to repeat the tests without morphine injections. The ten dogs selected for this
experiment remained alive, all of them. But when given a small amount of morphine subcutaneously up to
48 hours after the operation, they produced the lethal convulsions.
‘An outside observer, seeing these experiments without knowing what had preceded them ’, wrote
Speransky, ‘would be forced to ascribe to morphine properties analogous to those of so-called spastic
poisons – quite erroneously, of course.’
Again it had been shown that stimuli, which by themselves have no serious consequences, may prove
lethal if they overlap within a certain time interval, or “death window ”, so to speak.
To further illustrate Speransky’s theory, consider the case of young Natasha Stupin. Again, although told
in the context of a story, the historical events, as well as their scientific elements, are a matter of medical
history.
On a crunchy-cold winter morning Dr. Wassja Stupin said goodbye to his family for five days. “I ’ll have to
stay at the lab”, he explained to his wife, “we are running experiments which require constant
observation”. He kissed little Natasha, who was in bed with a cold, gave a few instructions and hurried to
the streetcar stop.
Two of his colleagues were waiting in the laboratory. Three small glasses were filled with a milky liquid.
The physicians lifted them with forced smiles and drank a toast to each other ’s health. Each glass held
concentrated death – about two billion fresh cholera germs.
The men were repeating again a test, which the famous German physician Max von Pettenkofer had
originally dared to perform in 1892, in front of colleagues and students. A few years later it had been
repeated by collaborators of the Russian scientist Metchnikoff. Pettenkofer had survived and thus proven
his contention that even highly virulent germs do not necessarily cause disease. Metchnikoff ’s test had
confirmed Pettenkofer’s thesis.
Wassja and his colleagues awaited the result of their scientific adventure in an isolated room. Had
Pettenkofer and Metchnikoff been right? After ten hours one of the physicians had acute diarrhea, but it
disappeared on the third day. The other two showed no symptoms. On the fourth day the success of the
experiment was certain.
Wassja, worried about his sick daughter, went home that night. He needn ’t have worried – Natasha was
going to school again.
Two days later, however, Natasha complained about a violent headache, started vomiting and got
diarrhea. Cramps in the calf tortured her, her voice became husky, her skin took on a bluish-gray tint, and
her usually sparkling eyes sand keep into their sockets. Although her father did all that was medically and
humanly possible, three days later Natasha died – of Cholera.
Why do deadly microbes kill one person but do not harm the other, although both are equally infected?
According to Speransky, the answer lies in the nervous system of man and animal rather than in the
microbe. The power of germs is considerably smaller than is generally assumed. The German term
Erreger (meaning exciter or inducer) fits precisely the actual effect of germs as Speransky sees it. An
inducer induces something, triggers something, starts a process which then continues all on its own.
According to Dr. Speransky’s theory of neural pathology, Bruce Lee was at considerably higher risk than
the average individual, for he consistently bombarded his nervous system with noxious stimuli. Consider:
1) conservatively speaking, no less than a year of spinal cord injections; 2) the attachment of crude
electrodes to his body that generated pulsing electric currents to his muscles while he slept; 3) numerous
kicks to the head while filming fight sequences; and 4) exorbitant use of CNS pharmaceuticals, both as
stimulants and depressants, as well as an assortment of illicit drugs.
In addition to the complex central nervous system, Speransky was deeply interested in another large
communication network, the hormone system. Speransky had frequently noticed in his laboratory animals
a marked enlargement of important hormone glands, the adrenals and the adrenal cortex. He interpreted
their enlargement as a sign of overexertion of the gland, which frantically produces hormones when the
organism is exposes to great stress.
Again, in defiance of Dr. Speransky’s neural pathology, Lee’s abuse of steroids further confused, and thus
irritated, the sensitive maze of nerves and the continually reforming paths of signals by which the
unknown puppeteer controls all the phenomena of life.
The actual paths, over which the midbrain controls the active and recuperative phases of the organism
through the autonomic nervous system and the hormone system, are even more complicated than figure
I-I indicates. The drawing shows the various life functions (circles at right) intermeshing like gears in a
transmission. When the sympathetic nerve is stimulated, gear I (autonomic innervation) makes a 90-
degree turn to position A (bottom) and takes gears II through VII along. This means that the calcium level
rises, the blood picture changes, body temperature, metabolism and blood sugar level increases.
Stimulation of the parasympathetic nerve has the opposite result. All the gears turn to position B and the
effects listed above are reversed.
In these adjustments the hormones play as large a part as the nerves. An overproduction of certain
hormones can, for example, stoke up the metabolism; gear VI would turn counterclockwise and move all
the other gears toward position A. All these mutual effects and counter-effects, which have been only
partially investigated, result in an equilibrium or, when disturbed, in disease and, in the case of
Speransky’s fatal “one-two punch” – death.
And finally, it is interesting to note that Dr. Speransky ’s explanation of the neuro-dystrophic process is
identical to the method utilized in the ancient and highly secretive art forms of “poison hands ” and the
delayed death touch (dim mak). Practitioners of these lethal arts are allegedly capable of killing by simply
placing their hand on their victim. Through the process of imparting the “death energy ” into their victim ’s
body, nerve damage is caused and, as a result of the subsequent neuro-dystrophic process, death
follows, be it in a week or ten years.
Not long after Lee’s death, rumor spread throughout the martial arts community that a master of dim mak
had placed his hand, often referred to as the “vibrating palm ”, on Lee and actually had told Bruce the
exact time he would die and that death would be by brain convulsions. Whether or not this is exactly how
it happened is impossible to know for certain. However, it is true that Lee believed in the “death energy ”
process, and throughout his life searched for the masters of dim mak.
In essence, the deadly principle of dim mak is identical to the practice of “pointing the bone ”, which is
done by aboriginal witch doctors. Dr. Herbert Benson, who has written extensively about mind/body
relationships described one such occurrence in 1925: “The man who discovers that he is being boned by
an enemy is, indeed, a pitiable sight. He stands aghast, with his eyes staring at the treacherous pointer,
and his hands lifted as though to ward off the lethal medium, which he imagines, is pouring into his body.
His cheeks blanch and his eyes become glassy, and the expression of his face becomes horribly
distorted….He attempts to shriek, but usually is froth at his mouth. His body begins to tremble and his
muscles twist involuntarily. He sways backwards and falls to the ground, and after a short time appears to
be in a swoon; but soon after, he write, he’s as if in mortal agony, and covering his face with his hands,
begins to moan….His death is only a matter of comparatively short time ”.
Quote
Share

Interview Tom Bleeker:

Author of 'Unsettled Matters' & Linda Lee's ex-husband Tom Bleecker

<img> </img>

Q 1 - I'm just a long-standing fan who would very much like to learn some answers from a person
uniquely qualified to give them.

Tom Bleecker: Thank you for your kind words. I'll try my best to answer your questions. As a footnote, I
like to point out to Lee's admirers that he, himself, would ask you not to refer to yourself as a "fan." I saw
him do this on more than one occasion. The word fan comes from fantasy and fanatic, which are two
words Bruce would have abhorred in this light. Perhaps another word, like admirer? Just a thought.

2. I find it extremely riveting the way you have separated the "man" from the "myth" and it is great to see
that even Bruce suffered the same human "frailties" as us "lesser" mortals!

TB: I have often said that Bruce Lee's real life story is far more compelling and compassionate than
anything anyone could manufacture. Author Joe Hyams (a former student of Bruce's) has stated publicly
that "Unsettled Matters" is the best book ever written on Bruce, and that if Bruce would have penned his
own autobiography, it would have read much like UM. Great compliement from Joe, who has written 37
books and studied the martial arts for more than five decades. You may be familiar with his classic "Zen
In the Martial Arts," which has sold over a million copies.

3. My understanding is that Joe Hyams and Stirling Silliphant took private lessons from Bruce; and in fact
it was Joe who introduced Stirling to Bruce?

TB: You are correct on both counts.

4. Regarding "Unsettled Matters," what was contained in Chapter 22 that Linda Lee and Raymond Chow
allegedly had removed? My two copies only have 20 chapters, and where is chapter 21?

TB: Whoever told you this simply doesn't know the facts. Prior to publication of UM, Linda, Adrian
Marshall, and Raymond Chow, through their attorneys, threated civil litigation if UM were published. My
response was swift: "File your lawsuit and let me know the court date. I will be there, and I will be on
time." Neither I nor my attorneys heard from any of them again. Therefore, to answer your question, no
one forced me to remove one word of my book, let alone two chapters. That said, I believe I know the
source of your confusion. I, along with my editor, decided to remove two chapters from the book prior to
publication. One centered on my personal experience in Hong Kong when I visited a Temple prior to
doing my research. It was a moving experience that relates to Bruce and myself, but my editor and I
decided it seemed out of place in the book. The second chapter was based on scientific research of a
renowned Russian pathologist named A.D. Speransky. Much of that chapter was reprinted from an article
he wrote for a medical journal. Initially I wanted to use that chapter to help further explain the problems
Bruce had that resulted from his use of anabolic steroids. But when the chapter was finished, it was just
too technical for the lay readership, so it was omitted from the book. But again, none of this was at the
behest, let alone the insistence, of Linda and Raymond.

5. How often (and what type) or narcotic drugs did Bruce Lee use?

TB: They are all listed in my book.

6. The tablet of Equagesic was given as a result of the symptoms he was complaining of, i.e. his
headache he experience at the apartment of Betty Ting-pei. This to me suggests his brain edema was
likely then taking place. What do you personally feel on this?

TB: I agree this is an obvious logical assumption.

7. The big unanswered question is what was it that actually caused Bruce to suffer the edemas on May
10th and July 20th?

TB: As stated in my book, it was either: (1) poison (2) a crashing system caused by the interaction of
anabolic steroids/diuretics/cortisone, or (3) a combination of the two.

8. Bruce Thomas wrote in his 2003 revised edition of "Fighting Spirit" that Lee's death is now believed by
the doctors who treated him on May 10th and July 20th to have been caused by his use of hashish in
cookies and chewing cannabis leaf. What are your thoughts?

TB: Personally, I believe the notion of Bruce dying from injesting hashish (wrong in itself; he injested
marijuanna - huge difference in potency) is ludricrous. There is not one case on record throughout the
entire world of anyone dying from brain edema caused by eating grass - or hashish.

9. From what I have opined, Bruce was already dead in Betty's apartment prior to the ambulance staff
and doctor's arrival at her residence.

TB: I agree.

10. Do you feel Betty has any further information she could add to Bruce's final hours, particularly as she
was the last person to see him alive?

TB: Yes.

11. While I am in no way implying an ulterior motive, could there have been anything sinister in Raymond
Chow's decision not to summon an ambulance when he first learned that Betty was unable to awaken
Bruce? It is now well known that Raymond and Bruce were not getting on well at that time?

TB: Only Raymond Chow can answer that question. That said, two people not getting along well in the
film industry isn't breaking news. My focus was on their business relationship, as well as Bruce's
relationship with the triads.

12. The narcotics you refer to used by Bruce leading up to his demise, i.e. diuretics and anabolic steroids,
do you still feel these are what "likely" caused the edema?

TB: First, diuretics and anabolic steroids are NOT narcotics. And, yes, I believe they contributed to
Bruce's death, along with his depleted reserves of cortisone, although they may not have been the direct
cause. This is elaborated upon in my book.

13. It has been said that Bruce had an allergy to marijuana, following his May 10th collapse at Golden
Harvest, and that the doctor who examined him in Los Angeles told Bruce not to use marijuana anymore
as it could result in dire consequences. What are your thoughts on this?

TB: I know the doctors who examined Lee when he came to the states. They had nothing else to go on
and were literally grabbing straws. Important to note that back in the early 1970s doctors did not routinely
run a liver and kidney function tests as part of a routine physical work-up. Had they done that, they would
have picked up Bruce's Addison's disease.

14. To my knowledge cannabis was the only drug found in Bruce's body on both occasions?

TB: Yes, according to the toxicology tests run in Hong Kong.

15. How do you rate "Bruce Lee world authority" John Little?

TB: I've never heard John Little referred to under that title, but I suppose it's possible. That said, John
Little has done a substantial amount of work that has had a positive effect on Lee's image and has been
widely accepted by the majority of Lee's following.

16. John Little would have us believe Bruce Lee's muscle definition on "Enter the Dragon" was due to his
intense training regime and use of the "Marcy fitness program" rather I feel the acute muscle definition
was due to his further loss of body weight and body-fat thereby given his muscles no place to hide under
the skin. What are your thoughts?

TB: As I stated in UM, Lee's physique in ETD was the result of a combination intense workouts and his
use of diuretics and anabolic steroids. I think it is important to point out that in the early 1970s anabolic
steroids were neither illegal nor was their any scientific evidence that they were harmful. Lee wasn't the
only martial artist using steroids at that time. And, of course, the Soviet Bloc had been beating the stuffing
out of the United States Olympic athletes through their use of steroids. But the point is that Bruce wasn't
doing anything wrong or illegal. He was simply pursuing what he felt at that time were the best
bodybuilding supplements available, and he did so after consulting a physician.

17. Did Bruce have "physical" relations with Nora Maio, Maria Yi, Betty Ting Pei, or any others ?

TB: Initially I always wonder why Bruce's followers want to know this. Clearly implied in my book is that I
felt that the only affair that was relevant to his death was his relationship with Betty Ting-pei and her direct
link to the triads. That said, I think it's well known that Bruce had many women in his life during the final 2-
3 years of his life. This was not uncommon in his culture; in fact, it was both acceptable and, to many,
expected.

18. What was the state of Bruce and Linda's marriage just prior to his death?

TB: Unquestionably it was highly strained. I personally was surprised that Linda allowed the scene in
DRAGON where Bruce states confidentially to a friend that if he doesn't get his life together he is going to
lose his wife and family. That said, it's a stretch because Bruce was always the one in complete control.
While he may have lost his wife, it is highly unlikely that he would have lost his children, especially when
they were residing in Hong Kong.

19. Who did Bruce write a letter to outlining that he was planning to divorce Linda and return to live in the
US?

TB: I'm not aware of any such letter.

20. Regarding the black and white footage that was used in the credits of DRAGON, romantically I
theorize this was filmed in the mid-to-late '60s when Bruce was developing JKD?

TB: That footage was indeed filmed in the late 1960s. Ironically, I was the one who found that footage
while cleaning out Linda's garage after we were married. I accidentally came upon a dozen reels of 8mm
and super-8mm film and asked Linda what they were. She didn't know. I had them tranferred to video
tape, and we were both pleasantly amazed to see it was Bruce working out with his students in the
backyard of his Bel Air home. I had the tapes edited and gifted Brandon and Shannon with the tapes for
Xmas. Neither had ever seen the footage. Understandably both were deeply moved.

21. How do you feel Bruce would fare against someone like Rickson Gracie, whom I consider the greatest
modern-day hand-to-hand fighter?

TB: As you probably know, it all boils down to who scores first. Both men could surely inflict serious injury
upon the other.

22. Or Mas Oyama, the legendary karate bull-killer?

TB: My sense is that Bruce would have prevailed over Mas Oyama. He would have simply picked him off
and whittled him down, then put him away. Although extremely adept and powerful, Mas Oyama's
prowess was centered on brute force, not speed. To draw a similarity to boxing, my thinking is that a fight
between Bruce Lee and Mas Oyama would have been similar to the classic match between Muhammad
Ali and George Foreman that took place in Zaire.

23. Or even "The Greatest" Muhammad Ali?

TB: In my view, Bruce would have been no match for Ali. Because you never met Bruce, it's difficult for
you to grasp his small stature. At 5'7" in height and weighing around 125 pounds when he died, he was
the size of most men's girlfriends and wives. Imagine Sugar Ray Leonard against Ali. There's no match.
As skilled as Ray Leonard was, and still is, he would have been overwhelmed by Ali's sheer size and
power.

24. Do you know of any other footage out there (other than Ahna Capri) that may yet find its way onto the
market?

TB: No. I was surprised to hear about this "lost footage" that Ahna Capri produced.

25. Of all the people you interviewed who knew Bruce personally, I'm sure some of them made some "off
the record" but honest remarks about his capabilities as a world-class street fighter.

TB: None really. I don't know what you mean by world-class street fighter. Aside from his fight with Wong
Jack Man, Lee's experience in the street amounted to a handful of rooftop fights in Hong Kong where his
opponents were teenagers. This hardly compares with guys who grow up in the ghettos and tenement
slums and have been brawling since they were in grammar school and are still fighting today as adults.
Mike Tyson is a good example. That said, I personally believe that Bruce would have cleaned up on the
martial arts tournament circuit in his weight division, mainly because of his incredible speed and coyness.

26. People like "judo" Gene Lebell, whom I read threw Bruce around the Green Hornet set once, Joe
Lewis, and Chuck Norris . I suspect the truth would not be as 'favorable' as fans would want!

TB: Again, that's the inherent problem with being a "fan."

27. I believe you are acquainted with George Tan. Do you consider him to be "The" Bruce Lee authority,
and if so, why?

TB: I have only talked with George Tan over the telephone on one occasion many years ago, so I know
very little about him. If my memory serves me, I don't believe he ever knew Bruce personally, which in my
view limits his scope. This isn't to say that George Tan isn't highly knowledgeable about Bruce Lee. I'm
only saying that he is missing this personal relationship that I feel is necessary if one is to be known as
"the" authority. By the way, I have never stated or implied that I am "the" authority. I'm not sure that it's
important that there be one.

28. Also, is George ever going to release any books on Bruce Lee? I remember many years back
attending a Bruce Lee convention in London where George was to release a series of books entitled
"Tracking the Dragon," which was to go behind the scenes of all Bruce movies in separate volumes.
George appeared at the convention and apologized for the books not being published in time. I clearly
recall the disappointment I felt then, and as they have still not yet been published (to my knowledge) I
wondered if they were just idle boasts by him never to be completed.

TB: I do remember hearing about George Tan's book projects when Linda and I were married. So it's
been more than 15 years that these book projects have been in existence, and probably longer. I don't
know their present status. My sense is that George Tan is finding that the Bruce Lee market isn't what it
was years ago. After all, Bruce has been gone for more than 30 years. I think it would be extremely
difficult to interest a mainstream publisher in a series of Bruce Lee books today, particularly in light of the
volume of work penned by John Little. My guess is that if George Tan isn't prepared to foot the bill for
self-publishing, these books won't be published, but he could prove me wrong.

29. Finally, is there any likelihood of a "revised edition" of "Unsettled Matters" in the future?

TB: I no longer own the copyright, which I sold some time ago to Don Warrener. He ran an initial printing,
then sold the copyright to Leo Fong, who from what I'm told wants to make UM into a film. He should
hurry up with that. I get offers every year from producers interested in turning UM into a documentary
and/or film.

30. Thank you so very much for taking the time out to answer my questions so promptly, it was totally
unexpected and greatly appreciated.

TB: You're most welcome. I hope that I have been of some help in answering your questions. I wish you
well.
Quote
Share
https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/bruceleelivestributeforum/my-interview-with-tom-bleecker-t74.html

DW Forum - Thanks Tom for coming here and spending some time with us.

Tom Bleecker - Thanks for having me here DM.

DW Forum - Do you think Bruce saw his death coming?

Tom Bleecker - It appears that he did. Remember, he did tell Linda a few weeks before he died
that he "didn't think that he would live as long as she because he couldn't keep this up much
longer."

DW Forum - Was Bruce Lee beaten up on July 20th 1973, no way medicine can do that to your
face. he was posioned, went to bed, then beaten up, then they put his clothes on and forget about
his second show?

Also his body is not really buried in seattle?

Tom Bleecker - I seriously doubt that Bruce as beaten up on July 20th. The swelling of his face is
not uncommon. Compare Bruce's face to that of Elvis Presley. The swelling was caused by retention
of water, in his face and his brain.

DW Forum - Just before Brandon died he claimed that he has evidence about the real death of his
father is this true?Do you know more about it??

Tom Bleecker - I have heard that Brandon had made a public statement that he intended on
reopening the investigation of his father's death after he (Brandon) finished filming "The Crow."
When I was married to Linda, Brandon often came to the house to sit in what I called "The Bruce
Lee Room" and read over his father's files.

DW Forum - Was Bruce given poison by his herbalist and this caused his death?

Tom Bleecker - Certainly a strong possibility.

DW Forum - To ask a expert as yourself only one question is very hard so I put my question like
this .Here a rough run down on a few points, can you tell me if I am off track or close ?

Bruce was a legal resident of the County of Los Angeles , state of California at the time of his death
( this is strange but I reading it for a legal document) After his death his estate was valued at
2,797,351.00 $US dollars. Bruce's assets were in Wu Ngan name and after Bruce's passing Wu
Ngan recieved a large sum of money from Linda's lawyer to sort this out and quicky disappeared
and returned to England. In 1974 two Insurance companys only payed half of the amount on the
polices and were unable to obtain a copy of the Autopsy report , not because of what it included but
what was missing in the report pointed to something much more ... There was a big row the night
before Lee died with Raymond Chow over the business accounts and even after Bruce's passing the
were problems over the rights to Enter the Dragon. Bruce is not buried in Seattle. Bruce's body was
in an unusual conidition not link to the offical story of his passing. Betty Ting Pei a few years after
Lee's passing gave some of Bruce's clothes to a famous Hong Kong comedian. Both the HK police
and insurance company invesagated Lee's drug connections and quietly closed the case.

Raymond Chow about to lose the biggest part of his business so he had Bruce poisioned though his
drug use (cannabis) unable to prove this , and because of Chow past connections to the Taiwan
Grove, something like the C.I.A. , Linda and Marshall closed the book on the case and got as much
of the money from the insurance company as they could for Linda and the kids.

Tom Bleecker - I didn't see a question in your post. That said, I do agree with most, or all, of what
you posted. Please email me sometime at your convenience, and I can share some things that were
not in UM. Incidentally, I would like to purchase a copy of your book if you will give me a link.

DW Forum - Regarding your time spent in Hong Kong for Unsettled Matters, were you able to
speak with Betty about July 20th or was she unavailable at the time? She does seem more candid
than the rest of the lot there. Perhaps her conscience and love for Bruce,it seems. Although like the
others, she spun a few white lies as to her whereabouts on 7/20, a short time later, she seemed to
open the door more than anyone else would have been willing to.I still find it hard to believe there
are some who refuse to believe that there was a love affair going on between them, no big deal it
happens to many,actors and non actors alike. I wonder what she is recollecting on this day in Hong
Kong? I would think today,the press is having quite a time with her.

Tom Bleecker - There is no question but that Bruce and Betty had an ongoing love affair, and
you're right, it isn't all that uncommon, inside and outside Hollywood. Yes, I have talked with Betty,
and I found her to be honest and down to earth. And yes, she did have a great love for Bruce.

DW Forum - Was Lee's grave really filled with cement years later?

Tom Bleecker - I doubt that Linda would have allowed Bruce's grave to be filled with cement. That
said, I had a problem in my investigative work with regard to finding a burial certificate in Seattle.
By law, the death certificate and burial certificate must follow the body. I didn't get into this in UM,
but the suggestion was that Bruce's body was not in the grave in Seattle, but the evidence was, and
still is, vague.

DW Forum - Do you know the exact cause of his death and also what are your favorite memories
of bruce?and finally what are your future plans? and where do u see yourself in 5-10 years?

Tom Bleecker - My favorite memories of Bruce are many. I loved the laughter, and I especially
loved being in his presence when he was a spoiler to so many great masters. He really did have an
 incredible talent. The cause of death? We can start by dismissing the single pill of Equagesic.
Beyond that, my sense is (1) poisoning, or (2) drug abuse of which Bruce was unawares, mainly
cortisone and anabolic steriods and diuretics.

DW Forum - Are they legal resons why the Death cert and Autopsy report are hidden ? I thought
they would be a matter of public record in Hong Kong. If so can you reveal what is the time of death
on the Death cert ( I relised this would have been done by the doctor at the hospital) and whats in
or not in the autopsy report that makes it so keep from view. The morgue photo seems to show
dents on the forehead and side of the face and something strange with his neck, can you explain ?

Can you tell so what happen to Bruce once they took him to hospital , I understand he was left on
the floor for sometime and move from one dept to another before they try in vain to revive him with
electric shocks to the heart (?) etc and the autopsy was not done until Monday (he died on friday) ?

Tom Bleecker - There is nothing in the autopsy (cause of death ruled brain edema) and Bruce was
DOA at Queen's and had been dead for some time prior to transport.

DW Forum - I can't imagine anyone ever owning up to taking part in a cover up,so what evidence
would be needed to open an official investigation into the deaths of Bruce and Brandon ?

Tom Bleecker - The issue of the death of Bruce Lee is closed forever. The reason being that the
English Hong Kong police department and British government no longer exists. Hong Kong has now
returned to Mainland China. As to Brandon's tragic death, this is still open to new information and
evidence.

DW Forum - Thankyou very much for answering the questions Tom.

Tom Bleecker - My pleasure!

http://www.bruceleedivinewind.com/tombleecker.html

https://www.tombleecker.com/

https://medium.com/catchesbulletswithhisteeth/the-man-who-killed-bruce-lee-cbcc7fcdc3ec