Numerous individuals have died while using a toilet facility or in the process of defecation or urination. This includes confirmed or suspected historical figures as well as more recent notable cases.
Pre-20th century DateLocationNameAgeDescriptionSourceSummer of 581 BC Jin, ChinaDuke Jing of JinUnknownDied falling into a toilet pit. Chapter X.8 April 217 ADBetween Edessa and Carrhae, Roman EmpireCaracalla29Murdered by his soldiers while stopping to urinate on his way to Edessa.11/12 March 222RomeElagabalus18Murdered by the Praetorian Guard "in a latrine in which he had taken refuge".336 ADConstantinople, Eastern Roman EmpireArius80Died from explosive gastrointestinal problems inside of a public toilet30 November 1016 Oxford or London, EnglandEdmund Ironside26Stabbed to death while defecating in a privy.4 November 1035 Lysá nad Labem, BohemiaJaromír, Duke of Bohemia60–70Was assassinated by being stabbed with the use of a spear from under the privy seat while defecating.Chronica Baemorum. "Kochan poslal svého kata a když onen slepec seděl na záchodě v hodině noční, vyprazdňoval břich, proklál ho ostrým oštěpem zezadu až do útrob břišních."26/27 February 1076Vlaardingen, Lower LorraineGodfrey IV, Duke of Lower LorraineUnknownWas assassinated by being stabbed with a spear from under the privy seat while defecating.19 April 1578 Echigo Province, JapanUesugi Kenshin48Allegedly assassinated by a ninja while using a toilet, but very unlikely because his anticipation of his own death is recorded in a death poem. Early sources record his deterioration of health, his complaints of pain in the chest "like an iron ball", and, as Kenshin Gunki recorded, "on the 9th day of the 3rd month, he had a stomach ache in his toilet. This, unfortunately, persisted until the 13th day, when he died". It is much more likely that he suffered from esophageal cancer.Turnbull, Stephen (2012b). Ninja AD 1460–1650. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781782002567.Turnbull 2012, p. 3225 October 1760 Kensington Palace, London, EnglandGeorge II of Great Britain76Collapsed shortly after attending to his close stool, possibly died of an aortic aneurysm.Thompson, pp. 289–290; Van der Kiste, p. 213.1892 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United StatesJ.W., also known as Balloon Man29Suffered from congenital aganglionic megacolon, which brought him considerable fame for his bloated abdomen. He suffered from constipation and was found dead in a bathroom at the age of 29, apparently having died trying to defecate. His eight-foot-long colon is currently on display at the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia.
20th and 21st centuries DateLocationNameAgeDescriptionSource3 August 1966Los Angeles, California, United StatesLenny Bruce40Died from acute morphine poisoning caused by an overdose in the bathroom of his home in Hollywood Hills.22 June 1969 Chelsea, LondonJudy Garland47Overdosed on barbiturates while using a toilet.citing United Press International article "Judy Took Too Many Pills" and containing a copy of Garland's death certificate.24 October 1971 Paris, FranceGeorge Dyer38Overdose of alcohol and amphetamine while using a toilet. Portrayed in The Black Triptychs 16 August 1977 Memphis, Tennessee, United StatesElvis Presley42He was found dead on the bathroom floor. The cause of death was cardiac arrest due to alleged drug overdose.8 March 1989Columbia, South Carolina, United StatesMichael Godwin28Former Suffolk, Virginia, resident accused of fatally beating 24-year-old Molly Royem with an iron in West Columbia, South Carolina; sentenced to death by electrocution, but later reduced to a life sentence. He was accidentally electrocuted when he bit a pair of earphone wires, in an attempt to fix a broken television, while sitting on a metal toilet at the Central Correctional Institute in neighboring Columbia. 21 May 1991Chicago, Illinois, United StatesIoan Petru Culianu41Assassinated by an unknown party while using the toilet in the University of Chicago Divinity School's Swift Hall.19 January 1996Los Angeles, California, United StatesDon Simpson52Died of heart failure caused by combined drug intoxication in the bathroom of his home in Bel Air.8 March 2004Hollywood Hills, California, United StatesRobert Pastorelli49Overdosed on morphine while on a toilet.25 June 2011Pilton, Somerset, EnglandChristopher Shale56Died of a heart attack on a portable toilet while at Glastonbury Festival. 17 May 2013Marcos Paz, Buenos Aires, ArgentinaJorge Rafael Videla87Died of a heart attack while on a jail toilet after slipping in the shower.10 October 2016Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria, GermanyTamme Hanken56Died of sudden heart failure on a hotel toilet.21 June 2019Doha, QatarToufiq M Seraj63Fell unconscious on an aeroplane toilet en route from Dhaka to Doha; he was pronounced dead of a massive heart attack shortly after landing.23 November 2021Seoul, Republic of KoreaChun Doo-hwan90Had multiple myeloma; found "fallen down" by a probable heart attack in a toilet at home.4 March 2022Auburndale, Florida, United StatesAaron Henderson40Crushed to death by a bulldozer while using a portable toilet.18 October 2025Florida, United StatesSam Rivers48Died in a bathroom in his Florida home.
Deaths in fiction
Donald Gennaro (played by Martin Ferrero) is eaten by a Tyrannosaurus rex while sitting on the toilet of a destroyed restroom cabin in the 1993 movie Jurassic Park. South Park: In the 2012 episode "Reverse Cowgirl", Clyde's mom falls into the toilet and suffers disembowelment. In A Song of Ice and Fire, Tywin Lannister is shot with a crossbow by his son Tyrion while on the privy. In the book series, Tywin is shot in A Storm of Swords. In the television adaptation Game of Thrones, Tyrion kills Tywin in the season 4 episode "The Children". On the television show, The Sopranos, in the episode He is Risen, the character of Gigi Cestone, a capo in the DiMeo crime family, died from a fatal heart attack while constipated on the toilet in his social club.
See also List of unusual deaths Toilet-related injuries and deaths
References