Sam Kinison’s Brother Reveals the Comedian’s Final Moments

Sam Kinison died on April 10, 1992, after he was hit by another car while driving in Southern California. The already-iconic stand-up comedian was only 38 years old. Word of his death shocked his friends in the comedy world because Kinison, who had a history of alcohol and cocaine abuse, had been trying to get sober and settle down after getting married not long before. Fellow comic Richard Belzer said afterward that it was especially hard to accept Kinison’s death, seeing as how “he wasn’t doing anything wrong.”

Since then, a variety of stories have been shared about the moments leading up to Kinison’s death. His close friend, fellow comedian Carl LaBove, who opened for him for many years, said that he held the dying comic in his arms right there on the side of the highway. Some said Kinison got up and walked around immediately following the crash; among them Ozzy Osbourne, who’d heard that Kinison looked up to the heavens right before lying down in the street. A drug overdose was also suggested, which wasn’t accurate, but an autopsy did reveal traces of drugs in his system, so he wasn’t exactly “living a clean life” like Belzer initially told The Los Angeles Times. 

More recently, Sam’s brother, Bill Kinison, opened up about what he says really happened that night in 1992. For starters, he said the whole trip was unexpected because Sam was supposed to fly to the gig he was heading to. Instead, Bill rented a van and Sam decided to follow him to the venue in a separate car. According to Bill, things got weird when, 20 minutes from the destination, Sam asked to put all the stuff from his car into Bill’s van—along with his untrained dog, Russo. 

From there, Sam drove off ahead of Bill, not knowing where he was going. Just around dusk, Bill spotted a pickup truck passing cars that was heading right toward them. He and Sam slowed down to allow for the truck to get back into its lane, but what neither of them knew was that there was another truck directly behind it, and the driver of that truck couldn’t see Sam either. In the blink of an eye, the second truck hit Sam’s car head-on. 

When Bill got to Sam, he found him with just a few scratches on his head, asking him, “Why now?” Not thinking he’d suffered any life-threatening injuries, Bill went to check on Sam’s wife and the other driver, who was only worried about the damage to his pickup truck. By then, the 280-pound Sam was trying to scoot out of his car and couldn’t be held back. They figured it was best to help him out and lay him on the ground.

Contrary to what LaBove said, Bill remains adamant that no one was holding Sam because they feared he might have injured his neck. It was about that time that Bill noticed Russo with his paws on the dashboard of the rental van, looking toward Sam’s body as if he saw something no one else did. Sam then started speaking as if he were negotiating with an unseen person, repeating, “I don’t wanna die,” before seemingly giving in to whatever he was being told. He would repeat the word “okay” three times just before taking his last breath. By the time the ambulance arrived, he was already gone.

It was later discovered that the 17-year-old football player who crashed into Sam had been driving drunk. He pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter and was sentenced to probation and community service. Regardless of the outcome, Bill feels that Sam welcomed death in that moment after being offered something he couldn’t refuse. Furthermore, he believes that if Sam had been given the opportunity to come back, he would’ve chosen not to do it.