A suicide note written by LPGA Tour player Erica Blasberg was read in a Las Vegas court, where a civil suit filed by her parents against Dr. Thomas Hess got underway this week.
Blasberg, who committed suicide on May 9, 2010, grew up in Corona and was a junior golf sensation in Southern California before becoming a two-time All-American at the University of Arizona.
“I’m sad and don’t want to be doing this right now,” the 25-year-old wrote in the letter. “Sorry for all the people I’ve hurt doing this, but please understand how miserable and sad I am, and that I feel no way of escaping it.”
Blasberg ended the note by saying: “love and kisses, eternity, Erica.”
Debra and Mel Blasberg, a teaching pro at Eagle Glen Golf Club in Corona, have accused Hess, who has her doctor and golfing buddy, of having had an inappropriate relationship with their daughter and failing to provide proper medical care before she died.
The lawsuit, filed in 2011 in Clark County District Court, charges Hess with wrongful death, medical malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty, and seeks unspecified monetary damages.
Hess, 46, who denies having a romantic relationship with Blasberg, pleaded guilty in 2010 to a misdemeanor obstruction charge for removing the suicide note and medications after discovering Blasberg’s body, and was sentenced to one year of probation and 40 hours of community service.
Nick Crosby, Blasberg’s parents’ attorney, told the jury that circumstantial evidence and series of seemingly secretive acts surrounding their communication point to Hess’ responsibility in the death.
“This is a case about a doctor who let his personal interest get in the way of his professional responsibility, and my clients’ daughter died as a result,” Crosby said
Two days before she died, Blasberg and Hess played golf at Southern Highlands Golf Club outside Las Vegas, Crosby said. Afterward, they were seen watching a hockey game on television at a lounge at a resort hotel, where Hess put his hand on Blasberg’s leg and they also touched hands.
Hess, who was married at the time, bought a prepaid cellular telephone the next day, which he used only to call Blasberg. Crosby said phone records show that Blasberg tried to call Hess about 3:30 a.m. the following morning and that Hess tried to reach Blasberg eight times that morning and nine times that afternoon before going to her home in and finding her body.
Crosby said the evidence will show that Hess left a drunken Blasberg at her home the night before she died.
“He left her in a compromised state,” Crosby said. “He was torn between leaving Erica and getting in trouble with his wife.”
Blasberg was found in bed with a dust mask over her mouth and a plastic bag over her head, secured by rubber bands. The Clark County coroner determined that she committed suicide by asphyxiation, with a toxic combination of medications in her system.
Defense attorney Kim Irene Mandelbaum told the jury that there was no evidence that Hess killed Blasberg or that the two had a romantic relationship.
