Towie star Jake Hall made a number of suicide attempts before his shocking death last week – but his friends and ex-partner Misse Beqiri believe his death was accidental.
Businessman Hall, 35, died from a chest injury caused by broken glass on Wednesday at a rented property in Santa Margalida, Mallorca, where he had been living as he focused on his artwork.
He also suffered head and neck wounds after apparently running through a patio door during a party at the £200-a-night Mallorcan villa, investigators say.
A friend claimed that Hall, who was subject to a court-ordered ‘contact ban’ relating to Beqiri in 2018 after they split, was ‘killed by Towie.’
He said: ‘Jake was killed by Towie. Being famous and rich was the worst thing that could have happened to him. Being on the show was the worst thing he could have done, it sent him off the rails. He was very up and down and had a real problem with booze and drugs.
‘He made a suicide attempt around two years ago and there were some times before that where he had said that he was going to kill himself as well. There were a few attempts. We weren’t sure if it was about attention but he was distressed for sure.
‘He was very down and the drugs and alcohol had gone from being fun to actually breaking him. He was a beautiful boy but so lonely and so lost.’
The source adds that they were not surprised by reports that he was partying with strangers through the night when he died.
Jake Hall, 35, died from a chest injury caused by broken glass on Wednesday at a rented property in Santa Margalida, Mallorca, where he had been living as he focused on his artwork
His friends and ex-partner Misse Beqiri, pictured in 2016, believe that his death was accidental
He said: ‘He would have three or four day benders with hookers and hangers on. None of them were really his friends. There was a lot about his life which was for show, like giving the impression he was living in Mallorca when actually he was just in a rented place.
‘He wanted to live like Cristiano Ronaldo but had the budget of a Towie star.’
His home was in Essex, near his family. Ms Beqiri, a model, lives in Chelsea with their daughter River, eight, and her mother.
The source said: ‘They had a really bad break up and Misse was afraid of him at times. She found him to be controlling and threatening. She is heartbroken by this for their daughter. He was a very good father and adored River. She thinks it wasn’t suicide but just partying that got out of hand, and so do his friends.’
On Friday, sources close to the ongoing probe said the worst injury Hall suffered was a chest wound caused by a shard of glass from the door he crashed into.
The autopsy was expected to take place yesterday in the Mallorcan capital Palma – although the results will be sent to an investigating judge and not be officially released, as is normal in Spain.
The insider said: ‘The thorax injury was the one emergency responders at the scene felt was the most traumatic one and most likely to have been fatal.’
Police confirmed the reality TV star’s death is being treated as accidental, with a Civil Guard spokesman saying: ‘There is nothing pointing to it being the result of a crime at this stage.’
An investigating magistrate in the town of Inca is understood to have been sent an initial police report and will be receiving the autopsy results as they become available.
The post-mortem examination will yield only partial answers and be complemented with tests on tissue samples sent to a specialist lab to reveal whether he was high on drink and drugs when he died.
The investigating magistrate will only order the Civil Guard, the response police force, to conduct more inquiries if he suspects any criminality has occurred.
Officers are understood to have quizzed several others at the house where the death occurred, believed to be four men and two women.
Police based in Santa Margalida informed HQ around 7.30am on Wednesday about the discovery of a man’s body at the rented property.
Respected local paper Ultima Hora reported that a neighbour had heard a group of people talking about drugs the day before the horror incident.
The neighbour told the paper they ‘hadn’t been causing problems’ and seemed ‘relatively normal’, although he admitted being scared by how one of them looked.
Neighbour Rafael (pictured from behind) rushed to the scene to see if he could help, but he said there was no sign of life
He claimed he also heard them talking in English about buying a property in the area, and reported he had been woken up a few hours before police arrived, adding: ‘It must have been around 2am. It was late but I was still awake.
‘I began to hear a very loud noise, as if they were drilling something. I felt the walls vibrate. They stopped after about five minutes and then I fell asleep.’
Another neighbour said she hadn’t heard anything out of the ordinary and when she walked her dog just after 7am on Wednesday.
Jake’s body was removed at around 1pm that day.
Hall quit Towie in 2016. He had been romantically linked with celebrities including Ellie Goulding and Lindsay Lohan previously.
He was injured in a nightclub brawl in Marbella in 2015 and almost lost a kidney. In that same year he was also pictured with fugitive cocaine baron Gerard Hagan.
Following his death, Swedish model Ms Beqiri wrote on Instagram: ‘I never thought I would ever have to write this, and the pain of even putting these words down feels unbearable.
‘There was no way you were ever supposed to go. My heart is shattered, and so is our daughter’s.
‘You lit up every room you walked into – your smile, your charm, your energy that filled the air. The way you loved music, how deeply you felt every sound, your creativity, your mind, your spirit.
‘You were so deeply loved by so many people, and seeing the love everyone has for you is both heartbreaking and beautiful all at once.
‘Your constant mission to stop me from taking naps still makes me smile.
‘I loved you from the very first moment I saw you, and there was never a chance you were going to let me go. Together we created the most beautiful girl, the one you loved more than anything in this world, beyond words.
‘Your love for her was so strong it almost scared me, because I knew you would go to the ends of the earth for her.
‘She adored you – her favourite person, her daddy. You will be missed. I promise to keep River safe, loved, and wrapped in the kind of love you gave so effortlessly. You are at peace now.
‘As my brother used to say, “you gypos”, I know you’re laughing together now. You left behind your mini version, our River, and for that we are forever grateful. You will always live on through her, and you will forever be with us.’
On Sunday, his close friend Ryan Thomas, formerly on Coronation Street, wrote: ‘The moment I met Jake, I was in awe of him. I found myself gravitating towards him.
‘He was always the coolest guy in the room, he had class, charisma, this magic about him that nobody else had. Anyone who met him, even once, remembered him forever.
‘I used to ring him nearly every day reminding him how special he was and how much happiness he brought people through his music, fashion and art. Everything he touched felt effortless, but really it was genius.
‘I remember asking him once who filmed those videos of you walking across the street. He laughed and said, “I just ask random strangers and teach them to zoom in at the right time”.
‘The video on his Insta of the hotel porter on his bed taking pictures of him in his new collection is what Jake’s all about he had a special gift & we were all drawn to him.
‘It took a while for him to let me in, but once you were in, you were in. The deep chats, the hysterical laughs even the petty fallouts — We shared it all.
‘We had the same morals, the same family values, and the same outlook on life: we genuinely wanted people around us to win.
‘As I write this now I can hear him laughing saying, Shut up you silly c**t.
‘For all the people that admired his talent, what mattered most to him was always his family. He idolised his dad, adored his mum, and loved his little brother more than words could ever explain.You just felt it every time he spoke about them.
‘His next chapter is written in the stars now and it’s all about River. I promise she’ll grow up surrounded by love and stories about how inspiring & powerful her daddy is.
‘You wrote this in a message to me just last week so I’m sending the same one back. I love you mate. More than you’ll ever know.’
For confidential support, call Samaritans on 116 123, visit samaritans.org or visit www.thecalmzone.net/get-support