This section deals with bringing together all the ideas and theories I have heard over the years. It does not imply a concrete solution.

Did Joe plan to commit suicide?

The consensus on this has always been 'yes', and that he specifically chose February 3rd because it was the anniversary of the death of his idol, Buddy Holly. However, there is growing speculation that it was a snap decision that could have happened at any time, and the date was a coincidence. After all, there is a 365-1 chance that any of us could die on February 3rd; had Joe died on April 17th, it would have been the anniversary of Eddie Cochran's death; October 23rd, Al Jolson's – both of these people were also among his heroes, and whatever day it happened would have been the anniversary of someone's death with whom a parallel could no doubt be drawn.

Evidence against a planned suicide

Joe was in the throes of completing a million-pound deal with EMI Records. He would have been their recording manager, effectively putting him in charge of the Beatles, among others. He would also have been allowed to retain the flat at Holloway Road as a private studio, whilst having artistic freedom at England's premier recording studio of the time. He got on well with EMI chief Joseph Lockwood, and by most accounts was looking forward to the job. It has been stated that Joe was starting to get paranoid about Lockwood's interest in him personally, but again, I have not been able to find a source for this information.

He was also in the process of setting up another company of his own, Gold Disc Productions, and had got as far as having the artwork for letterheads and business cards done (the bill for which arrived ten days after his death). With John Ginett's help, this would have been a much more organised and business-like venture than Meeksville, RGM Sound, Triumph or Heinz Burt Productions had been.

Interestingly, a record which came out in the 70's, "Questions I Can't Answer"/"The Beating Of My Heart", credited to Dave Andrews & The Sugar, and which was actually the original RGM Heinz 45 reissued, was credited on the label to Gold Disc Productions. It remains a mystery to this day, despite several of the hottest Meekophiles' attempts to research it. (Hands up who saw Joe in K-Mart last week.)

He was about to go on his first proper holiday for years, to Egypt, and had his passport photographs taken a few days before. Not only was he looking forward to getting away, to go to Egypt would have been a major thrill for him as he had long been interested in ancient Egyptian history, and believed Rameses II to be one of his spirit guides.

Although his finances were in a bit of a mess, John Ginett was confident that he could sort it out so that everyone was happy and paid, and without bankrupting Joe. (Gold Disc may well have been part of this!). No rent was owed on 304 at the time of Joe's death, and his only real concern with the flat was that the Shenton's lease on the building was due to run out in June, and at that time they were not sure that they wanted to continue with the shop or not. According to a contemporary news report, however, Joe had agreed terms for a lease extension with the Shentons, although he

had yet to sign the papers. (Incidentally, for anyone who is confused – Drivers & Norris estate agents owned the building. The Shentons leased the whole building from them and they sub-let the flat privately to Joe with D&N's permission.) As it turned out, Albert Shenton kept the shop going until 1973.

There had been some developments in the Telstar case which indicated that it was moving towards a favourable conclusion for Joe; in fact, he would have been a rich man, as the royalties had been frozen in 1963 and had merely sat in a bank and accumulated. Estimates for its' worldwide sales now are about seven million, including all the various re-releases; even at that time, it was estimated to be at least three million copies. After Joe died, the case was thrown into utter confusion all over again – eventually, though, it was settled in Joe's favour and the money presumably disappeared into the pockets of his creditors.)

Around February 1st, Joe had sent singer Bobby Ross to Radio Luxembourg with an acetate copy of his new recording, "Lips Are Redder On You". Joe was very enthusiastic about the track; so were Luxembourg when they heard it, and guaranteed Bobby airplay. Unfortunately, by the time Bobby got back to England with the good news, it was, in his words, "too damn late".

Chad Carson had a session booked at 304 on the 3rd, and arrived within minutes of the police. The Impac's next session was on the 4th, so Joe was still certainly making plans for his roster of bands.

There was much for Joe to look forward to in the coming weeks, and the amount of plans he had made indicates he was not planning to depart this earth quite so soon as he actually did.

Evidence for a planned suicide

It has to be said that most of the following circumstances are ones that Joe had experienced on and off for many years, which in some ways indicates even more strongly that it was a snap decision, made as everything overwhelmed him. If he had not been able to cope with it all and considered suicide his only way out, one would think it surprising that he had not done it before.

The hits had all but stopped coming, although the Cryin' Shames were in the lower reaches of the charts, and US DJ Ed Verschure had shown interest in exporting the Blue Rondos. The Telstar case had raged on for four years, and although Joe was convinced that he would ultimately win, he was sick and tired of the whole charade. He owed money left right and centre, estimated at around fifteen thousand pounds, although John Ginett was gradually sorting out the tangle.

Joe seems to have been aware that he had mental problems, and the uncertainty and stigma must have been a big pressure. He was convinced that the studio was bugged, and in fact, a couple of devices were found. There also seems to be some circumstantial evidence that at least one of the major record companies was taking up options on his records, and then suppressing them after the ink was on the contract, either by not publicising them at all, or by simply not releasing them. Of course, legally, they could not do that, but Joe was in no position financially to bring any breach of contract suits.

He may have been concerned to some extent about the 'suitcase murder' (see separate section on this subject). There isn't any evidence to suggest that his homosexuality was bothering him any more than usual, although he may have been depressed about the fact that an ex had recently started a new relationship. As has been mentioned before, there have been allegations of blackmail, but these have been vague.

There is no doubt though that his temper and moods were getting worse. He also seems to have been having hallucinations, and disappearing into his trance states more often, which could be due to over-work and pill-popping as much as anything else; ditto his conviction that an unknown someone was 'after him'.

None of this points to a specific intention to die on February 3rd. The only evidence of any premeditation – and even then, less than an hour before his death – is the note he handed to Patrick Pink, which said, "I'm leaving now, goodbye". It suggests that maybe that morning, Joe had decided it was all too much - in which case, why did he go upstairs and start working again? As Pink was the only other person to ever see the note, and he claims that Joe destroyed it immediately after he had read it, maybe he is not even remembering the exact terminology of the note, which might give it a different meaning.

Why shoot Mrs. Shenton?

A variety of reasons have been suggested. Immediately after the shooting, Albert Shenton said he imagined his wife was trying to stop Joe shooting himself and unfortunately got in the way – an understandable reaction, but unlikely as she was at least three or four feet away from him and facing in the opposite direction. A variation is that he shot her because she was trying to leave to get help – a possibility if he was determined to do it, although it would have been much easier to let her go and shoot himself as soon she left; he would have had plenty of time while she was fetching or telephoning someone, even if she only went to the shop to get Albert. If suicide was not on his mind, however, both theories evaporate. A popular idea is that the gun went off by accident, which is particularly likely if he was waving it around as a threat. He may even have pointed it at her and fired by accident, or not remembered (or known) that it was loaded.

The official version is that he murdered her in cold blood for some reason, presumably because she had made him angry (remember the cryptic quote from the coroner!). In light of the fact they had been good friends it seems unlikely, but remember they had apparently just had an argument.

Going back to the idea of another person - not necessarily a murderer – being present, maybe he was aiming for somebody else and hit Mrs. Shenton by accident. This could open up many new avenues of speculation, but without any evidence of who this other person might have been, it would be hard to choose a road and follow it… It's a pretty small landing & hallway and the tendency is for people to get out of each other's way in such cramped circumstances; on the other hand, if you were trying to shoot someone specific in such a small place, I would think you'd have a pretty good chance of hitting the wrong person.

According to the inquest, Joe had traces of hallucinatory drugs in his system. If he was suffering from these effects, it may be that, yes, he was aiming the gun at Mrs. Shenton with the intention to shoot, but he was not actually seeing her, rather someone who was the object of his fear or hate. This is not totally implausible.

Possibly the most likely scenario, though, is that Joe had gone into one of his occasional momentary blind rages, and fired the gun at Mrs. Shenton in the heat of the moment, without any thought of the consequences.

Why did he then turn the gun on himself?

I firmly believe that had Mrs. Shenton not died, Joe would not have killed himself at that time, although that may have come later. The two thoughts that spring immediately to mind are, first, that he killed himself out of remorse at what he had done and applied the rule of 'an eye for an eye' to himself; or, secondly, and with more selfish motives, realised that he would have to stand trial for capital murder, and killed himself to avoid that. If his mind was as disordered as it seems to have been at that point, how capable he would have been of that kind of logical reasoning is debatable.

And if Patrick Pink hadn't shouted up "She's dead!", which at that point she wasn't, would Joe still have pulled the trigger on himself? Another reason for both shootings concerns the Robert/Joe theory. The two personas were alternating at a sometimes-alarming rate toward the end of his life and, under that much pressure, they could come in and out in a matter of seconds. In a fit of temper following the accident, Robert shot Mrs. Shenton in a fury. Then Joe came back and killed himself in remorse, or, alternatively, Robert killed himself out of depression and self-loathing.

Why a gun?

A firearm seems like a strange choice for Joe. Right back to his childhood, he hated guns, and even growing up in a hunting area, he never really got used to even seeing them and would try to avoid being in the same house with one. There must have been something he was scared of in those last months for him to even consider choosing some thing as distasteful to him as a gun for protection.

Yet another line is that Joe was so depressed and fearful, and could see no way out other than suicide. He planned it in advance, although probably not very long before. Having made up his mind, Mrs. Shenton's appearance was interfering with his plans, and in desperation he shot her so he could carry out his original plan – a most tragic case of Mrs. Shenton being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Shooting is only around the fifth or sixth most common method of suicide in England, and is more usually found among those who have some firearms experience. Joe was unfamiliar with guns and could very easily have left himself not dead, but comatose or mangled; and a three foot long weapon is not the most obvious choice. Joe was not by nature violent towards people in a homicidal or injurious way; he would get very loud and throw things at people but not with any apparent intention to hurt them. Anyway, he had enough pills in the flat to kill everyone in the building, and this more passive method of suicide would appear to be more likely if he really had been planning it for any length of time.

However, if the shootings were a snap decision or an extreme fit of temper, the fact that the gun was loaded and nearby makes its use much more credible.

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