Mysterious death of NBC News star Jessica Savitch 40 years on: On-air slurring saw her accused of being high on COCAINE during 1983 broadcast – before she drowned in lover’s car weeks later

Forty years ago, America was rocked to its very foundations by the erratic on-air behavior and subsequent tragic death of one of its most famous newscasters.

An incoherent NBC News broadcast hosted by Jessica Savitch on October 3, 1983, led to claims that the four-time Emmy award winner went on the air while high on cocaine.

Just 20 days later, Savitch drowned after a car driven by a lover, New York Post Vice President Martin Fischbein, crashed into a canal, killing them both.

The death appears to have been accidental – though the New York Post later claimed she may have been murdered investigation into an Italian banking scandal.

The twice-married Savitch, who was childless and reportedly suffered from a serious drug addiction, was just 36 years old.

The 40th anniversary of the shocking events has sparked new online discussions about Savitch’s troubled life and shocking death.

In 1988, five years after Savitch’s death, a blistering biography called Almost Golden by Gwenda Blair claimed that Savitch was an “unstable and pathetic” sharp-elbowed egoist who was determined to become famous.

Another book about Savitch, Golden Girl, alleged that the $315,000-a-year newscaster “snorted ‘hills’ of cocaine from morning till night.”

Author Alanna Nash wrote, “She was so paranoid by this time that sometimes she didn’t go to work.

“But this was someone who had more than a drug problem. She had a serious personality disorder.

“Just before she died, she was in terrible shape. She was low, her hair and nails were ragged, she had drug sores, and her hands were shaking.”

And it’s that alleged drug addiction that sparked Savitch’s most infamous moment, just weeks before her shocking death.

On October 3, 1983, during an NBC News Digest segment, Savitch was broadcast speaking incoherently and stumbling over her words in a bizarre lilting voice while discussing then-President Ronald Reagan and handgun laws.

She tragically died on October 23, 1983 after a meal with a friend who accidentally drove into a canal during a heavy rain.

Her speech and cadence appeared normal later that evening, with some speculating that the drug she may have been taking had worn off.

Savitch blamed the problems on a glitch in the teleprompter. Her agent offered another excuse at the time, claiming that Savitch was feeling the effects of the pain medication she was taking — because she had to undergo reconstructive facial surgery after a boating accident.

But rumors of drug abuse persisted, and biographer Gwenda Blair claimed the incident had effectively ended Savitch’s career just a year after she was named America’s sexiest newscaster.

NBC correspondent Linda Ellerbee said she asked the network to intervene: “You have to do something. This woman [Savitch] is in trouble.’

Ellerbee said a vice president of the network responded, “We’re afraid to do anything. We’re afraid she’ll commit suicide on our time.’

The charismatic journalist, 36, was voted the country’s ‘sexiest’ female anchor in 1982 — as well as the fourth most trusted news anchor

She had arrived at NBC News under a cloud after colleagues at her old station—KYW in Philly—forwarded a recording of her throwing a huge tantrum over pages of her script being delivered out of order.

But thanks to her sudden death, Savitch and her fans never found out what the future held for her career.

The newscaster and Fischbein, 34, whom Savitch had been dating for two weeks, had enjoyed dinner at a restaurant called Chez Odette in New Hope, Pennsylvania.

They drove about 600 feet across a sand and gravel terrain and passed two warning signs, during which Fischbein took a wrong turn and suddenly veered off the road.

The car fell 10 feet into the Delaware Canal and ended up upside down.

There were signs that the pair had attempted to kick in the doors to escape the sinking vehicle. The rear window was smashed, revealing the gruesome wreckage.

An autopsy showed that both Miss Savitch and Mr Fishbein died of asphyxia from drowning. There were no drugs in their system – both had only had a small glass of wine that night.

Investigators believed the driver may have mistaken the towpath for an exit after they left Chez Odette.

Walter Everett, the New Hope police chief, said at the time, “It was raining, the weather was bad. Visibility was very bad.’

A more sinister version of events was offered by New York private investigator William Callahan, who suggested that Savitch had been murdered.

He claimed that her investigation into the death of Italian banker Robert Calvi had put her life in danger.

Callahan says Calvi was killed after costing his Milan-based bank $250 million, and suggested that Savitch had gotten the killer’s attention by digging into his life.

The local coroner dismissed the story, saying he had heard no such theory about Savitch’s death.

In the years leading up to her death, the broadcaster was dogged by personal tragedies.

Savitch in her Northwestern Washington apartment with her dog Chewy

She had a slew of jobs after finishing college – as a researcher for CBS radio, a reporter at KHOU-TV, and then an anchor for KYW-TV

An autopsy showed that both Miss Savitch and Mr Fishbein died of asphyxia from drowning. There were no drugs in their systems

Born in 1947 in Wilmington, Delaware, Miss Savitch is said to have taken a keen interest in watching the news with her father from the age of seven.

Executive Producers David Fanning and Jessica Savitch

American broadcast journalist Jessica Savitch of NBC News, as she reports on the ‘Great Debate’ between Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter in Pennsylvania

She divorced her first husband Mel Korn after just 11 months of marriage, reportedly after he found out about her drug problem – and then quickly remarried a gynaecologist, Dr. Donald Payne.

Five months into their marriage, she found him hanged in their Washington DC mansion.

Born in 1947 in Wilmington, Delaware, Miss Savitch is said to have taken a keen interest in watching the news with her father from the age of seven.

Her first job in journalism was while still in high school – she was a newscaster and DJ under the moniker ‘honeybee’ at radio station WOND in Pleasantville, New Jersey.

She then went on to study communications at Ithaca College, graduating in 1968.

In 1977, she got a job at NBC as a congressional correspondent for $500,000 a year. She was with the network until her death six years later

She had a slew of jobs after graduating from college — as a researcher for CBS radio, a reporter at KHOU-TV in Houston, and then an anchor for KYW-TV in Philadelphia.

In 1977, she got a job at NBC as a congressional correspondent. She was with the network until her death six years later.

She was praised throughout her broadcasting career, including when she had to fill gaps in the airwaves. Her KYW producer Cliff Abromats once said, “She [Savitch] was very good on his feet.

“She could think fast and ask the right questions, and she had the ability that so many lack, to actually listen to the answer.

“Jessica would never miss it if someone said something unexpected.”