Death of Max Spiers

The death on 16 July 2016 of ufo investigator Max Spiers (or Maxwell Bates-Spiers,[1] (1976–2016) caused controversy among some conspiracists, which led to reports from BBC News and other news outlets.

Spiers died on 16 July 2016 in Warsaw, Poland, while visiting a friend.[2] In a multi-part short documentary series on his death, made by the BBC, his mother stated that she had been concerned about Spiers's mental health prior to his death, and that she believed he had "gotten involved with the wrong crowd." A final video taken of Spiers before his death revealed what his mother interpreted as signs of substance intoxication;[3] she had seen him in a similar state in the past after he had taken heroin.[4][5] Another conspiracist, who was close to Spiers, suggested that his drug use was controlled by extraterrestrial life.[6]

Background

Spiers had been interested in conspiracy theories from a young age. He later recalled various events including out-of-body experiences which he used to justify conspiracy theories, including the belief that he had been given supernatural powers at birth. At a conference given in Warsaw, Poland he described the way he believed he was created/born. Youtube: Max Spiers w Warszawie II KPZ Published 10/18/2016. Spiers also suffered severe anxiety, which sometimes left him completely debilitated.

Spiers believed in a variety of paranormal events, such as that he had been altered as a child to become a supersoldier (a term he disliked). Max claimed that this “super soldier” side of him was simply inactive. All he was waiting for was a trigger word to wake the side of him up[7] Spiers's credibility as a conspiracy theorist has been doubted by other conspiracists, including Adam Borowski from Radio Paranormalium, a Polish independent journalist who stated Spiers "seemed to collect the research of other people and present it as his own" and that he had never proven any abilities related to his claim of being made a supersoldier at birth.[8]

While in the United States he had an accident which resulted in a crack to his pelvis. This led to a prescription of potent opiate pain relief. Spiers later developed an opioid use disorder. Unable to acquire more prescription opiates, Spiers began to take heroin.[9] There are claims that Spiers relapsed while in Poland, and a video taken shortly before his death seems to provide grounds for this, as according to his mother, he behaved as he had done after taking heroin.[10]

In the days leading up to his death, Max was in Poland for a convention and an interview. During this interview, Max was acting out of character. It has been stated that Spiers seemed to be unwell, under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or simply all of the above. During these interviews, there were emails being transferred between two women about Spiers’ condition. The emails were between Monika, Spiers’ publisher, and Madeline, a Quantum Therapist. Madeline stated in her emails that Max suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and a personality disorder. They had been planning an intervention to reground Spiers in the hours before his death. Spiers was supposed to attend a meeting with Madeline, but the meeting never happened[11]

Death

Max Spiers had been suspicious that people were after him. He had even predicted his death days before in a text to his mother. The text read, “your boy is in trouble, if anything happens to me, investigate” [12]

On 16 July 2016 Spiers died on the sofa at a friend's house in Warsaw, Poland. Max was in Warsaw for a UFO convention. At this convention, Max was going to present many of his ideas and conspiracy theories around UFOs. A few days before the convention, Max was found on his friend’s couch, dead, before he could speak of his ideas. One doctor stated that Spiers was found vomiting a dark fluid.[13]

According to the Polish prosecutor handling the case. Spiers's friend called an ambulance. A doctor attended the scene but was unable to revive Spiers. He did not take steps to inform the police about the incident. Information regarding Spiers' death did not reach the prosecutor's office until 30 August 2016, after his body had been handed over to British authorities. Due to this, Polish authorities could not conduct an autopsy.[14]

Max was only 39 years old, and none of his family members were aware of any known health conditions that could cause this sporadic death.[15]

Investigation and aftermath

Spiers was then returned to the United Kingdom six days after his death. Spiers family was advised to not view his body, however. This was due to the extreme deterioration his face had undergone. At this point, he was unrecognizable. [16]

On 30 August 2016 an investigation was launched into the circumstances surrounding Spiers' death. The investigation by Polish authorities is looking into the involuntary manslaughter of Spiers.[17][18] In December 2016 British authorities announced they would launch an inquest into his death, which is distinct from an investigation with an aim to convict. (Conviction is undertaken by the Polish Prosecutors' Office, who may choose whether to accept the inquest's findings.) A coroner told the inquest he was waiting to receive a report from Polish authorities. As a result, the proceedings were adjourned until February 2017.[19]

On 7 January 2019 the cause of Spiers's death was released as drugs and pneumonia.[20][21]

Spier’s mother claims that the Polish authorities will not release the paperwork containing the details about her son’s death without his written consent. [22]

References

  1. ["Maxwell Bates-Spiers inquest: Polish police probe criticised", BBC, 9 January 2018.]
  2. "Max Spiers: conspiracy theorist's friend Monika Duval to be quizzed by Polish police". Kent Online. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  3. "Could Max Spiers's last interview help explain his death?", BBC News, 25 February 2017, retrieved 2 March 2017
  4. "Fractured: The Death of Max Spiers". BBC iPlayer. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  5. "How fear and suspicion haunted the last days of Max Spiers", BBC News, 25 February 2017, retrieved 2 March 2017
  6. Calzado, Tatiana. "The unsolved death of a conspiracy theorist – The Hawk Eye". www.hebronhawkeye.com. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  7. "Project Mannequin And The Mysterious Death Of Max Spiers". UFO Insight. 5 March 2017. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  8. BBC Stories (27 February 2017), Max Spiers: How fear and suspicion haunted his last days (Part 3) - BBC Stories time stamp 220s, retrieved 2 March 2017
  9. BBC Stories (25 February 2017), Max Spiers: Could the last interview help explain his death? (Part 2) BBC Stories time stamp 318s, retrieved 2 March 2017
  10. BBC Stories (25 February 2017), Max Spiers: Could the last interview help explain his death? (Part 2) BBC Stories time stamp 465s, retrieved 2 March 2017
  11. "Project Mannequin And The Mysterious Death Of Max Spiers". UFO Insight. 5 March 2017. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  12. "Girlfriend of Dead UFO Conspiracy Theorist is Now a Suspect | Mysterious Universe". mysteriousuniverse.org. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  13. "Project Mannequin And The Mysterious Death Of Max Spiers". UFO Insight. 5 March 2017. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  14. BBC Stories (25 February 2017), Max Spiers: The mysterious death of a conspiracy theorist (Part 1) - BBC Stories time stamp 498s, retrieved 2 March 2017
  15. SeitzTwitter, Dan (18 October 2016). "Untangling The Strange Death Of Conspiracy Theorist Max Spiers". UPROXX. Retrieved 8 November 2021. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  16. SeitzTwitter, Dan (18 October 2016). "Untangling The Strange Death Of Conspiracy Theorist Max Spiers". UPROXX. Retrieved 8 November 2021. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  17. BBC Stories (25 February 2017). "Max Spiers: The mysterious death of a conspiracy theorist (Part 1) - BBC Stories time stamp 116s". Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  18. "Sci-fi writer to be quizzed over death of Kent UFO hunter". Kent Live. 26 February 2017. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  19. "UFO expert Max Spiers 'vomited black fluid' before his death, inquest hears". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  20. "Inquest date set for conspiracy theorist death". 10 August 2018.
  21. "Conspiracy theorist Max Spiers 'died after taking anxiety drug'". 7 January 2019.
  22. SeitzTwitter, Dan (18 October 2016). "Untangling The Strange Death Of Conspiracy Theorist Max Spiers". UPROXX. Retrieved 8 November 2021. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
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