If this story was some tabloid invention, or a possibly made up interview, I would have skipped it. We’re talking about someone’s death, and it’s a sensitive issue. But this interview is a legitimate one, on the record, with Nancy Motes’ fiance’s brother. Nancy, Julia Roberts’ half-sister, was found dead at the home of her pet sitting client on Sunday. The coroner confirmed that a suicide note was found and that there were prescription and illegal drugs at the scene. Additional sources claimed that Nancy’s note was five pages long and that the majority of it described her strained relationship with Julia Roberts. Nancy also allegedly apologized to her mother and to her fiance in her note.

Now Nancy’s fiance’s brother, Conner Dilbeck, has given statements to The Daily Mail saying that Nancy timed her suicide to interfere with Julia’s Oscar campaign, and that she intended to send a message to the public about Julia. Dilbeck confirmed that the suicide note implicated Julia, but said on Facebook that it was eight pages, not five. It’s all very sad and chilling. Here’s Conner’s brief interview:

Julia Roberts’ half-sister may have killed herself in a deliberate attempt to harm the actress’ career and scupper her chances of winning an Oscar at this year’s Academy Awards, her fiance’s brother claimed today.

Nancy Motes took an overdose after writing a suicide note which allegedly contained dark secrets about the Pretty Woman star that she wanted to be made public, said Conner Dilbeck in an exclusive interview with MailOnline.

Nancy’s fiance John Dilbeck, Conner’s own brother, found her dead body in the bath Sunday, the same day Julia was due to be at an Oscar nominees lunch. She is up for Best Supporting Actress for August: Osage County.

‘We are talking about people who are powerful,’ Conner told MailOnline.

‘People who have very delicate power, people who are in the limelight. Their power can be destroyed very easily if unfortunate things make them look more wicked.

‘They have to be careful, it can destroy their career or their Academy Award.’

[From The Daily Mail]

On Facebook, Conner co-signed this other Mail interview with Nancy’s friend, her apartment manager John Fraschetti. Frachetti also did an interview with Inside Edition in which he defended Nancy, and said that the story of Nancy’s death was not of an addict killing herself, but of a woman with problems who “didn’t know where to go.” Fraschetti claimed that Nancy’s mother and her half-sister, Julia Roberts, drove her to this by rejecting her for the last six months. Here’s some of what he said:

Nancy Motes, the half-sister of Julia Roberts was driven to take her own life by her uncaring family who are now ‘crying crocodile tears’ over her tragic death, a close friend claimed today.

John Fraschetti, who knows Nancy’s grieving fiancé, John Dilbeck, claims the family of the Oscar winner are now only interested in manipulating public opinion after her suicide, but during her life, ‘drove her to death.’

Making the incendiary comments today outside Nancy and Dilbeck’s home, Fraschetti said that Nancy spiraled into depression after her and Roberts’ mother, Betty Lou Motes, ‘rejected’ her six months ago – and that she ‘just couldn’t handle it anymore’.

‘And then you get the actress woman who is pretending to grieve but she didn’t want to deal with Nancy and made her f***ing miserable.’

Fraschetti, who has known Dilbeck since he was 13, said that since her death, her family have been careful to mold a favorable public reaction.

‘They are crying crocodile tears. They have taken control of this situation, but they never cared of her when she was alive,’ said Fraschetti.

Labeling them ‘a family that drove her to death’, Fraschetti said that Nancy, ‘couldn’t stand the rejection of her mom, who in the last six months had cut her off entirely.’

‘It hurt her that none of her family wanted to be with her. She had a miserable Christmas, truly awful, and I think she just couldn’t handle it anymore.’

Fraschetti admitted that Nancy’s well-documented problems with drugs and her weight had caused divisions, but claimed that to cut her off was unforgivable.

‘They didn’t care when she was alive. She was a handful, and yes she had her problems, but there’s a way to deal with your relatives,’ said an angry Fraschetti.

Nancy’s suicide note also reveals the true depths of depression that her family’s rejection had sent her to.

‘It read about how much she loved and cared for her fiancé and how happy he made her, but it also said how unhappy and depressed her family made her and how she couldn’t cope anymore,’ said Fraschetti, who said that fiancé, Dilbeck, is grief stricken by Nancy’s death and can’t face the media.

[From The Daily Mail]

Fraschetti went on to say that we shouldn’t judge Nancy by how she chose to commit suicide. “I wouldn’t read too much into where she did it, it wasn’t in some drug den. She was dog sitting, and I imagine she did this, so she didn’t have to do it at home and let John find her.”

Assuming all this is true, that Nancy somehow thought that she would affect Julia’s Oscar chances, and her career, by killing herself, I just feel sad and sorry for her family. Whatever happened between Nancy, Julia and her mother, this is something that Nancy is wholly responsible for, and that she paid the ultimate price for. This isn’t going to change any Oscar votes. Julia doesn’t have a chance to win anyway, as cynical as that sounds. When an adult kills themselves, and particularly when there are drugs involved, the narrative often changes to implicate the suicide victim. I’m not saying that’s right or wrong, and I do feel for Nancy’s family, it’s just that the severity and finality of that act tends to nullify anything the person has to say.