The Question Lingers, “Could Todd Snider’s Death Been Prevented?”
As we near two weeks since the passing of beloved songwriter Todd Snider on November 14th, it seems the questions surrounding his time in Salt Lake City leading up to his death have only grown deeper and more confounding. The more information we receive, the more things fail to make sense, the more it appears opportunities to intervene in his fate were not taken, and cries for help went unheard.
The latest details came to light through a trove of information from the Salt Lake City Police Department detailing the investigation into the alleged “assault” that happened on October 31st. A “violent assault” was given as the reason Todd Snider’s appearance at Salt Lake’s Commonwealth Room was cancelled on November 1st, as was his final tour. Whatever happened, Snider suffered a major gash to the back of the head, and had to be taken to the hospital where he received multiple medical staples.
The Salt Lake City Police Department initially told us Snider’s injury did not happen in their jurisdiction, and there had been no investigation into the matter. It took them 17 days to come forward with the information from the investigation. When we did get those details, it painted a picture of Snider seeming to act erratically on his tour bus, and the conclusion that no assault happened at all, but that the injury was potentially accidental or inadvertent.
Saving Country Music and other media outlets have been criticized by some for characterizing the head injury Todd Snider sustained at some point on October 31st as “self-inflicted” or “self-induced.” But this was the characterization forwarded by police that Saving Country Music simply reported on, not the characterization of Saving Country Music. That is why the title of the article was “Todd Snider ‘Assault’ Determined to Be ‘Self-Inflicted Injury,’ Police Say.”
Meanwhile, the lack of details directly from sources close to Todd Snider’s estate has created a vacuum of information in which rumor and speculation is being allowed to spread. This is exacerbated by the fact that some of the statements that were made on Todd Snider’s social media accounts were misleading, however inadvertently. Snider was likely not the victim of a “violent assault.” We now know he died on November 14th and this information was being disseminated to people in the music community, even though the public wasn’t officially notified until the 15th, once again exacerbating rumors.
But whether we need more answers or should be demanding more accountability is something the music community and Todd Snider fans specifically are wrestling with and debating. Some say that we need to move on, enjoy and celebrate the life and music of Todd Snider, and stop prying into his personal affairs. Clearly, Snider was in some sort of compromised state of mind when all of this was unfolding in Salt Lake City, but should this really be a public matter with all the embarrassing details out there for people to peruse over?
But others are actively goading the public and the media to keep probing to find answers and not stop until we receive them, while asking the folks who were around Todd at the time to be more transparent about what transpired. That lack of transparency is what is raising suspicion.
Transparency was the tact the people around songwriter Justin Townes Earle took when he died in August of 2020 due to overdose. Earle’s family and associates used the tragic moment to underscore the risks of addiction, and specifically the fatal levels of fentanyl currently in the drug supply. Similarly, the family of country artist Luke Bell used his death in 2022 to elevate discussions and raise money for mental health resources.
We didn’t see the type of consternation, debate, speculation, and rumor surrounding the deaths of Justin Townes Earle and Luke Bell. It was all put to bed through transparency. Recently, Billy Strings came out to voluntarily reveal that his mother had died due to an overdose from methamphetamine after he received her autopsy. Strings didn’t just reveal this to squash rumors. He did it because he believed being up front about the situation could be critically important to families facing addiction.
It was revealed in the Salt Lake City Police report into the assault investigation that there will be no autopsy of Todd Snider according to the family. But as opposed to stamping out discussions about the nature of Todd’s death, this could potentially exacerbate them. The cause of death that has been announced for Todd Snider is pneumonia leading to sepsis, which there is no reason not to believe. But due to the misleading nature of previous announcements, some have speculated about the death announcement as well.
Speaking to Saving Country Music, a representative at the Davidson County Medical Examiners Office in Nashville said, “In general, we try to take into account the family’s wishes. But Tennessee state law does state that the medical examiner can perform an autopsy, regardless of their wishes … It does look like [Todd Snider’s] death was reported to our office, and it was determined not to be a medical examiner case.”
Some say that Todd Snider was clearly on drugs at the time, and his death is an open and shut case of an addict spiraling out of control. But multiple details about what happened in Salt Lake City don’t seem to square with this conclusion. And even if Snider was on drugs or suffering from a mental health episode, does this mean he didn’t deserve help or treatment?
A strong case can be made that Snider’s erratic behavior was due to him being off the medication he was legally prescribed as opposed to abusing illicit drugs. Yet some are characterizing inquiries about whether drugs might have been involved or contributed to Snider’s erratic behavior or death as irresponsible or censorious. But Todd Snider talked and sang openly about drugs on a regular basis. There should be no stigma surrounding these topics or discussions, whether it’s drugs or metal illness. There should only be compassion, and yearning for understanding.
Whatever state Todd Snider was in, he needed help, and never received it, including being arrested as opposed to admitted when he sought treatment at the Holy Cross Hospital in Salt Lake City on November 2nd. Snider was also home for multiple days in Nashville before being convinced to go to the hospital by fellow songwriter Otis Gibbs on November 8th.
The ultimate question we should all be asking is, “Could Todd Snider’s death been prevented?” What mistakes were made, and when? The reasons people are seeking these answers is not just for Todd Snider. They’re seeking them for all of the people who are falling through the cracks of society in increasing numbers, and don’t receive the help they need, whether they’re suffering from physical ailments, mental health issues, or addiction. These are the people Todd Snider often lifted up in song, or spoke about at shows.
Todd Snider had a successful career, health insurance, and was a known individual in society. And even then it feels like Todd Snider fell through the cracks. He became a victim of the same system and society he regularly railed against in his music.
Irrespective of the opinions on if we should probe further into finding the answers into what happened to Todd Snider—or who or what might be to blame for what happened to him—Todd’s decision to go on tour at all might have been the most critical and fateful one of the entire episode. After years of failing health, chronic pain, and other personal issues, it appears that Snider was in no capacity to be touring around the country. The details of the Salt Lake City Police Department investigation into the alleged assault seem to substantiate that idea.
The matter of Todd Snider’s death is not going to go away, regardless if some individuals want it to, or wish it did, or believe it should. There might be lawsuits involved in the future. Someone might write a book about this matter, or documentary films might be made about it, especially due to the curious nature of the circumstances, and the mysteries surrounding it. There has already been some buzz about this stuff in the works.
Until the question “Could Todd Snider’s death been prevented?” is answered, it will continue to be asked, and arguably should be, for concerned fans, friends, and family, for public knowledge, and most especially, for Todd Snider and all the individuals out there who were not famous musicians who the system is letting down in systemically higher rates, affecting the lives of all of us in increasingly direct ways. We ask these questions about Todd Snider so hopefully people are not asking them about us in the future.
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Saving Country Music’s investigation into the death of Todd Snider is ongoing. Anyone with further information can reach out via Saving Country Music’s Contact Page.
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November 26, 2025 @ 11:42 am
what’s going on with Billy Don Burns? Hospital? stabbing himself? BDB needs prayers per FB.
November 26, 2025 @ 11:44 am
Snider always talked about how much he liked the road. He seemed to enjoy everything about it. I’ve listened to 20 years of interviews/youtube videos of him and that is the most consistent thing about him. He was a road dog/traveler before he ever wrote a song, before he was a pothead. It is who he seemed to be at his core. Whether or not he “should” have gone on tour or not is probably irrelevant. He needed to. It seemed to be a big part of his self identity.
November 26, 2025 @ 12:33 pm
One of the complicating factors in this entire situation is how often two things can be true at the same time. Todd could have been irate with hospital staff, but still could have needed treatment, for example. Todd loved the road and spoke about how he wanted to go on tour one last time, but probably was not in the type of mental or physical state where that was safe for him, irrespective of what all transpired.
November 26, 2025 @ 11:59 am
Thanks, Trigger. Spot on, as usual.
November 26, 2025 @ 12:14 pm
Both with JTE and Billy’s mom it took a few months before details were made public. Just give them some time, they are grieving.
November 26, 2025 @ 1:47 pm
100% agree that everyone needs to be patient with family, close friends and associates when it comes to asking questions about what happened, if they need to be bothered at all. I personally have sent no inquiries to family or friends, and only would in exceptional cases. I have reached out to a couple of managers, but only because their role in this matter has come up publicly, and it’s only fair to them to reach out for comment. One issue people have here is we don’t know who the respective parties were when it comes to some of the situations, and one of the reasons myself and other media outlets have chosen to not use names at the moment is so these people are not bothered, if not outright attacked.
All of these instances are different. With Justin Townes Earle, we had a police report within 48 hours saying it was “probable” his death was a drug overdose. But we didn’t know for some time for certain. I published an article explaining how Earle had been in the hospital suffering from pneumonia right before his death. Aspiration can be common with people who use drugs, resulting in pneumonia. But before the autopsy was released, Earle’s family came out and explained everything so the public would hear about it from them and not the media.
In the case of Luke Bell, within days the family had come out and made a statement attributing his death to mental illness.
The big linchpin to all of this is the autopsy. This is one of the reasons it takes weeks or months to get these answers, because it can take weeks or months to conduct. But if no autopsy is conducted at all, we might not learn what factor the head injury played in Todd’s death. We might not learn if he could have been saved if he was admitted to the hospital in Salt Lake City as opposed to arrested, or if he was brought to the hospital sooner once returning to Nashville, he’d still be alive. We will never have those answers, and so the questions will linger, and remain a burden.
December 1, 2025 @ 1:34 am
THIS FAKE NEWS WEBSITE SUXXXXXX
December 1, 2025 @ 7:46 am
You excessive use of X’s here is really uncalled for, sir or madam!
November 26, 2025 @ 2:25 pm
The hospitals did not fail Todd Snider. I can identify patients who are using emergency resources inappropriately. People malinger when they need a reason to avoid an obligation, or need a narcotic fix, or simply want attention, among other reasons. Todd Snider had spinal stenosis and, it sounds like, undiagnosed “stomach problems” that he described as being caused by stress. Neither of those should require frequent ER visits, but he was known to be “quick” to go to the hospital. In Salt Lake City he was evaluated and released from THREE hospital ERs in a couple of days. One of the first two hospitals released him with instructions to follow up with a doctor and a prescription to pick up. The third hospital did not deny him care. They simply did not allow him to stay to sleep. He was given a medical screening exam and discharged. It appears the hospital even filled prescriptions for him before he left. He’s alert and oriented to person, place, time, and situation. He’s is engaging in rational and linear conversations. His breathing is not labored and he’s able to speak multiple sentences without shortness of breath. There was no identifiable negligence in discharging him. They almost certainly didn’t want to involve law enforcement, but were likely forced to when Todd went knocking on neighborhood doors and yelling. There is not one iota of evidence that hospital staff were disrespectful toward him, despite Todd belittling them and calling them names. Regardless, his fans have continued insulting these hospital workers, up to and including calling the hospital and leaving bad online reviews. They didn’t deserve it from Todd, but can forgive it. Hospital patients are frequently emotionally dysregulated and take it out on hospital staff—they’re used to it. But to have Todd’s ill-informed but indignant fans coming at them with pitchforks—it’s unacceptable. Regarding Todd’s drug use—a video of him, clearly un-sober, taken a couple of days before his tour, has been scrubbed from his social media. He was honest about his struggles with addiction. There are multiple accounts of him losing his temper while performing. There is no mystery to solve. Todd was a beautiful, immensely-talented, troubled, and chaotic guy. Everything I’ve said can be true and you can still love and respect Todd, and be forever grateful for the way his art enriched your life. It’s not okay to blame everyone but Todd. Nobody can save someone who unable to stop destroying their self.
November 26, 2025 @ 3:26 pm
Hey Ester,
I agree that there is a contingent of Todd Snider fans that seems to be unwilling to recognize the culpability Snider likely had in the situations he found himself in during his visit to Salt Lake City. They even go as far as acting like someone such as myself who is simply reporting news or displaying facts is “attacking” Snider, or attempting to maliciously drag his name through the mud, as if I have some motive to do so. I also agree that attacking the hospital is not helpful, especially since this jams the lines of communication, and I can’t even get a statement from them about Todd’s death.
I have to respectfully push back on this though:
“The third hospital did not deny him care. They simply did not allow him to stay to sleep. He was given a medical screening exam and discharged. It appears the hospital even filled prescriptions for him before he left.”
I believe we have been here before. If you watch the body camera footage chronologically, Todd Snider is never given the prescription drugs he says he’s lacking. I understand at one point, a brown bag appears, but that appears to have some of Snider’s personal possessions. I don’t know why he would say he needed the medications, and the officers would not inform them that they had them. He could have had prescriptions in his discharge paperwork. But he didn’t have those drugs on hand.
I have no confirmation at what point in the process Snider was discharged from the hospital. Again, the police officer at one point says he needed to get a statement from the nurse who denied him care, so this seems to not be in dispute. At one point he’s quite literally begging and pleading with officers to let him get admitted back to the hospital. He might have said he also wanted to sleep there. But that doesn’t mean he also didn’t want or need care too, and didn’t request it.
There is also that inconvenient truth that Todd Snider is now dead. It seems like maybe he did need care, even if he was not good at communicating why. And he can be heard numerous times on the body cam video that he can’t breathe, and coughing.
November 26, 2025 @ 4:22 pm
I can comment on “what point in the process Snider was discharged from the hospital.” He had undergone a Medical Screening Exam, any medical emergencies were addressed, and he was discharged. A police officer will absolutely not take a person from a hospital to jail without documented medical clearance. Todd may have begun begging and pleading with officers to “let him get admitted back at the hospital” (most people would prefer a hospital to jail, no?), but that would have been a waste of everyone’s time and valuable resources, as he had already been cleared (three times, in fact).
I understand that many people who are incensed about this are generally unfamiliar with emergency care in America. But, one cannot simply request to be admitted to the hospital. Anybody can walk into an ER, and screening and necessary treatment are guaranteed, by law. But they do not have to keep you once any life-threatening conditions have been ruled-out or treated. Many people present to every ER every day claiming they “can’t breathe.” It’s very easy to identify actual respiratory distress.
Also-the level of importance put on Todd’s potential baclofen withdrawal is very overblown. (Klonopin withdrawal could kill you, but his vital signs would have shown if he was at risk of that.) What would you do if you lost your meds while out of town? You would contact your doctor and ask them to call in a script to a nearby pharmacy.
November 26, 2025 @ 4:28 pm
The Jail nurse is on record saying Tod should be admitted.
November 26, 2025 @ 5:01 pm
The jail nurse is not in the video. One of the cops notes that Todd is asking to be re-evaluated, and the other cop reminds him that Todd will, again, be medically screened by the jail nurse on arrival, and, if the jail nurse doesn’t think he’s “fit for incarceration,” he will be sent back to an Emergency Department.
November 26, 2025 @ 6:26 pm
No, but the police quote the jail nurses’ recommendation in the video and then seem to ignore it. If the Jail nurse was given a run down of the medical complaints and the potential complications with the cessation of the said prescriptions, the jail nurses’ orders take precedence to legally force Holy Cross to admit the subject. That the officers may have suborned perjury by the security guard remains to be seen. But the actual arrest stems from the possible hearsay of the security guard about an alleged violent threat of which likely there is likely no video proof. Police often solicit complaints with no supporting evidence. Where is camera footage of Tod threatening the security guard? And even if it was verified as such in the officers’ investigation, still, the Jail nurse could, and should, recommend hospital admittance over refusal by Holy Cross based only on the limited care and observation the jail could provide. Holy Cross has deep pockets. Lawyers know this. Tod deserves justice, as do all who are victims of this atrocious system of selective health care and clear contempt for those who are begging, pleading while falling through the cracks.
November 26, 2025 @ 5:42 pm
Esther,
With all due respect, the same zeal some Todd Snider fans are defending Todd as a saint that did nothing wrong, this is the same zeal you seem to want to defend the hospital staff and not scrutinize any of their decisions. I’m not saying Snider should have not been discharged. I’m not saying they cost Todd Snider his life. I am saying these moments are fair to look at an ask if mistakes weren’t made.
There is a reason I did an article specifically breaking down the body camera video minute by minute.
https://savingcountrymusic.com/body-cam-video-otis-gibbs-reveal-new-clues-in-todd-snider-death/
16:24 – Snider continues, “I don’t have my medicine. I don’t have my medication.” When the officer asks him what his medication is, Snider responds, “Klonopin, Baclofen. I need to be in a hospital.”
20:15 – The second officer states, “The nurse at the jail says if he really needs to be at the hospital, then he should stay at the hospital.”
You say, “Anybody can walk into an ER, and screening and necessary treatment are guaranteed, by law. But they do not have to keep you once any life-threatening conditions have been ruled-out or treated.”
There’s one little problem with this. Todd Snider is dead. He died. Maybe even if he was admitted and stayed at the hospital, it wouldn’t have made a difference. Maybe they would have caught the pneumonia earlier, and saved his life. All I’m doing is simply asking that question.
November 26, 2025 @ 6:23 pm
I have scrutinized their decisions. I don’t know those people. I would call them out in a heartbeat if I thought they had mistreated ANY patient.
I’m not sure what your point is with the jail nurse comment. If he were to fail the “fit for incarceration” criteria by the jail nurse, then he would be returned to the ER. So, he had another evaluation at the jail. And was, apparently, deemed fit. He did not die in jail, or for many days after his incarceration.
You say you’re simply asking the question about “if he was admitted…would it have made a difference.” Hospitals have very specific criteria for admitting patients. Todd did not meet that criteria–three times. What would have saved Todd’s life would have been him following up with his doctor, as he was instructed to do upon discharge.
November 26, 2025 @ 9:16 pm
“If the nurse at the jail needs to take you to the hospital, then you’ll go to the hospital.”
Sounds like the officer went back and told the hospital staff that Todd was asking to check back in (that would make the officer’s lives so much easier!), but was reminded that the jail nurse will send him back if he really needs to return. He was repeating what the hospital staff just told him. I doubt very much that the jail nurse was aware of this patient before his arrival to jail. Jail nurses don’t get report from ER nurses.
November 27, 2025 @ 7:28 am
Esther is correct. There are a lot of misconceptions about the responsibilities of the hospital and police here. Snyder was seen by medical staff at the hospital, apparently more than once. They cleared him and released him. Hospitals don’t hand out medication, they give you a prescription that you need to fill at a pharmacy, and then follow up with your own doctor. They are not required to re-admit a patient that has been medically cleared by a doctor just because the patient disagrees with the diagnosis.
The police are not medical staff. They cannot make their own diagnosis and force the hospital to re-admit someone. If the hospital shows the police the patient has been medically cleared and ask for him to be trespassed from the property, the police have to ensure the patient leaves. If the patient refuses to leave he is arrested.
County jails are not hospitals. They have minimal medical staff to respond to emergencies, handle routine illness, and to screen incoming prisoners. Anything beyond that is referred to local hospitals. Officers call ahead to inform the jail that a prisoner is incoming. The “Jail Nurse” was likely advised of the situation, but has no other information on the incoming prisoner than that relayed by the officer. A statement that ” if he really needs to be at the hospital, then he should stay at the hospital.” is the nurse informing the officer and the hospital that they do not have hospital accommodations at the jail, and he will be sent back to the hospital if screening determines he needs it.
Clearly, the hospital stood by their medical clearance, and Snyder was not returned to the hospital after screening by the jail’s medical staff, indicating he was stable at that point. Though not indicated, the prescription was likely filled by the jail’s pharmacy staff. Upon release it is the responsibility of Snyder to contact his physician to ascertain further medical needs. People always love to cast the blame on emergency responders, when ultimately it was Snyder who did not take the steps necessary both before and after this incident to care for himself. It’s unfortunate and sad, but that is the reality of it.
Lastly, I think it’s unfair to the family to cast blame on them for not wanting to provide details of Snyder’s death for public consumption. It is often the family that suffers most in the life of an addict. While attention is often given to the addict due to their self destructive ways, the family often is the real victim of shame and often abuse. Consider that they may have already seen this coming, that they may have dealt with years of pain from this addiction. Maybe they are not willing to continue the suffering publicly just to satisfy the curiosity of others. That is their right, and should be given compassion not scorn for the decision.
November 27, 2025 @ 8:43 am
Esther is not correct. She keeps claiming that Todd Snider had his medication with him when every single indication from both Todd and the police officers is that he didn’t. There’s video evidence that he did not have medications with him. She also keeps claiming that Snider was medically screened at the hospital when there is no indication that he was. Maybe he was. Maybe he wasn’t. We don’t have that information. Did they do a chest X-ray? Did they do anything that might have caught the pneumonia? For some reason, folks keep missing the bigger picture of Todd’s ultimate health outcome, which was diagnosed pneumonia leading to sepsis and death. So you can keep claiming he was screened medically, but the pneumonia was not caught.
The idea that someone who was clearly under distress in a foreign city without a cell phone or transportation can easily fill a prescription is to fundamentally misunderstand the complexities of a mental health breakdown. We can say all day, “It is not the responsibility of hospitals, it’s not the responsibility of law enforcement, it’s not the responsibility of nurses” and so on and so forth, and that is exactly the point that I am trying to make in this article. This is the textbook definition of “falling through the cracks.” Todd Snider just needed someone to say, “Dude, let me help you get your prescriptions. Do you have a debit card and a bank account? Let me find you a room nearby where you can stay. Is there someone I can call for you? Can I book you a flight back to Nashville?”
Instead, he gets kicked out of a hospital, thrown in jail, let out at 3 am in the morning (according to accounts I’ve seen from Todd), and left to his own devices.
Wonder why there is a homeless crisis in every single city and town in the United States at the moment that is only getting worse by the day? This is why. And as people continue to shirk doing something about it because “it’s not my responsibility,” we ALL pay the burden via homeless blight that is creeping on the edges of even the most affluent neighborhoods, the drag on the health system taking care of people via emergency rooms as opposed to proper medical care raises all of our premiums, and it is affecting all of our communities in very direct ways.
In some ways, you’re right. All the professionals did exactly what they were supposed to do, nothing more, and nothing less. And Todd Snider still died. That means the system doesn’t work.
As for the family, I agree they shouldn’t be bothered. But I am beyond stupefied why the Davidson County Medical Examiner would not choose to do an autopsy report in this case. This is not up to the family, it’s up to the medical examiner. My guess is they did not have the information about the injury in Salt Lake, or Snider’s experience of being turned away at the hospital. A lot of questions could have been answered through the autopsy. Instead, the lingering questions will burden the family and the individuals who were around Snider in his final days.
November 27, 2025 @ 9:09 am
Trigger, I regret saying that the hospital filled his meds instead of “the hospital may have filled his rx.” I do think that the hospital perhaps filled his rx before he left, and that’s what’s in the brown paper bag. You posited that those are Todd’s belongings. I admit that I don’t know for sure, but it doesn’t matter. If the hospital pharmacy didn’t fill his scripts, the jail did. It’s not an important detail.
And, for the love of all that’s holy, stop saying that Todd was “kicked out” and “turned away.” There is almost no chance that Todd did not have a medical screening exam to rule out emergent conditions. A hospital is not going to risk losing their licensure for an EMTALA violation when an MSE is very easy to accomplish. And a cop is not going to take a patient from a hospital without medical clearance.
You don’t have a medical background, and you’re not expected to. But it’s also clear that you haven’t done your due diligence in learning how emergency services work in America. I suppose I’m done trying to explain.
November 27, 2025 @ 11:10 am
It’s obvious Todd didn’t assault anyone, they could have
asked to see security footage to prove it.
He also said he needed somewhere to sleep.
The very least they could have done is driven him to
a hotel and helped him find his credit card.
It would have also been nice if they asked the hospital staff about
the meds he needed.
He had a head injury, they knew that.
Most hospitals with compassion would have
recognized that he was confused from a concussion
and having a bad withdrawal reaction to not having his meds.
November 27, 2025 @ 2:45 pm
From Scott S.: “Hospitals don’t hand out medication, they give you a prescription that you need to fill at a pharmacy, and then follow up with your own doctor.”
If I lost my meds on a Friday night or Saturday, as happened to Todd, I would contact my doctor by phone or message portal—and I would have gotten a response on Monday. 48+ hours is a long time, especially with meds that should not be stopped abruptly, as with Klonipin.
November 27, 2025 @ 8:31 pm
To Trigger’s reply: You stated in your articles Snyder was admitted, released, then returned causing the police to be called. So he was clearly screened and medically cleared to be released. What that entailed I don’t know, but he wouldn’t be released if he had a life threatening condition. He would also be screened by medical staff at the jail. If he had a life threatening condition at that time he would have been transported back to the hospital.
To TBheels comment a clarification. When I say hospitals don’t fill prescriptions, I mean upon release. A patient admitted to the hospital would be provided medication needed while they are there. Snyder may have been given a dose of medication if he was in immediate need, but would still need to fill his prescription at a pharmacy for further doses. Therefore it’s unlikely he had medication upon release, but a prescription, which is what I believe Esther either said, or meant.
Whatever extra assistance insinuated that emergency responders should have given may have actually been given. A body cam video detailing a partial interaction is not the complete story. Emergency responders and hospitals often provide information and advice for people in need and may have done so. But the bottom line is in the end they have to do their job. In this case removing Snyder from a place he was asked to leave. Expecting them to fix the long term problems of someone in a single interaction is ridiculous. At some point Snyder needed to take account for his own wellbeing before landing in a desperate position. This is a culmination of a lifetime of poor decisions, not a one time incident.
December 1, 2025 @ 6:22 am
Scott S.: Blaming the victim? If every police officer or medical professional said, “This is a culmination of a lifetime of poor decisions, not a one time incident,” hearses and funeral homes would replace squad cars and hospitals.
OK, the video doesn’t show everything. But it does show the cops leaving a handcuffed man unattended in a cop car while he was clearly in a mental health crisis. Instead of looking for a reason to arrest him, they could have asked for intervention by a mental health professional—one who worked inside that hospital a few feet away.
November 28, 2025 @ 9:29 am
Benzo withdrawal was the absolute worst experience of my life. I also had breathing issues (aka air hunger) Look up what Stevie Nicks has to say on the subject.
November 26, 2025 @ 4:03 pm
The hospitals were negligent in not considering the dangerous withdrawal symptoms of the two prescribed drugs Snider was taking, and in not resuming the drugs and keeping him for observation during that critical period.The hospitals may have not have ruled out pneumonia. It is improbable that he was pneumonia-free only to die of advanced pneumonia a week later. Tod is on video asking repeatedly for his medications and complaining of breathing difficulties.The Police are also negligent. People are going to lose their jobs and there will be damages sought. There are lawyers all over this case.
November 26, 2025 @ 5:07 pm
Do you have the medical records? How do you know the hospital did not provide these medications? Or a prescription for them? I can trust that the emergency providers were able to rule out life-threatening withdrawal symptoms. Do you imagine that anybody can walk into an ED and say, “I’m withdrawing from xyz” and receive xyz, in absence of symptoms of xyz withdrawal? Todd was instructed to follow up with a doctor (you can see this on his ER After Visit Summary). Did Todd do this? There are prescriptions on the AVS. Did Todd pick them up? Nobody’s losing any jobs. Nobody’s winning any lawsuits.
November 26, 2025 @ 5:46 pm
Esther,
Again, we know Todd Snider did not have these medications because he was saying he didn’t have them and needed them, and every single thing on his persona had been emptied out on the trunk of a patrol car as they searched for drugs, and most certain would have found his prescription drugs if they were there. I agree there is a possibility he could have had prescriptions in his discharge papers, but obviously Snider was not in a position to know where or how to fill them. He had no phone. He had no car. He could call his doctor back in Nashville and get new scripts. And he was clearly distraught and disoriented.
November 26, 2025 @ 6:11 pm
Why do you think Todd was not in a position to know where or how to fill a prescription? He did not suddenly become an invalid in need of conservatorship. There is nothing in the video to make anyone think he was unable to make his own decisions. He is distraught. He is absolutely not, by the medical definition, disoriented.
Too much importance is being placed on Todd’s baclofen. We don’t know that Todd did not receive baclofen at the hospital, or that there is not baclofen in the small paper bag in the video. Regardless, it is exceedingly unlikely that the baclofen, or lack thereof, had anything to do with his death.
November 26, 2025 @ 7:31 pm
“Why do you think Todd was not in a position to know where or how to fill a prescription? He did not suddenly become an invalid in need of conservatorship.”
Todd Snider was not from Salt Lake City. Todd Snider didn’t have a cell phone. Todd Snider didn’t have a vehicle. He was literally roaming the streets of Salt Lake City, and probably did need a conservatorship, or at least somebody with him. Read the accounts of the women on tour with him from what they saw on the tour bus.
I never mentioned Baclofen in this article.
December 1, 2025 @ 7:14 pm
FWIW in this video of Todd’s high school friends talking about Todd. his friend Terii says that Todd did have a cell phone and she communicated with him on it while he was still in Utah. !:16:42
https://youtu.be/dtfLjz-W-I0?si=KInBqfpaHuvlevDs
December 1, 2025 @ 7:41 pm
Interesting, good find.
If you talk to people, including people very close to Todd, they will tell you he did not have a cell phone. Now maybe he did, but he only gave the number out to certain people. He communicated mostly through email. What we know for sure is that when he was arrested at Holy Cross Hospital, he did not have a cell phone with him. During the body camera footage, a complete inventory of what was on him was taken. The police literally empty his pockets and turn them inside out. No cell phone exists. So I don’t know how to square these two circles. But it is an interesting piece of information.
November 26, 2025 @ 6:42 pm
My bet is that “Esther” is a lawyer for Holy Cross Hospital or maybe even for the for the Diocese.of Salt Lake City. Deep pockets regardless. I predict a 50 million dollar settlement to make this go away.
November 26, 2025 @ 7:27 pm
I wish. Just a two-decade level one trauma center ER nurse, lacking naïveté, in a different state, who can see pretty clearly what happened here.
November 26, 2025 @ 7:29 pm
Yeah, I’m guessing that Esther is also a lawyer or some kind of reputation management person. Trying to get ahead of any potential lawsuits here.
November 27, 2025 @ 11:24 am
Ester (what a weird coincidence with Project Ester in the news)
has not been trained per normal protocol.
Medical staff are usually trained to recognize injury and illness can
commonly cause a person to present like a crazy person.
When it was already known he had staples from a head injury, it would be obvious he also had a concussion.
The very least they could have done is allowed him to stay in the hospital for observation.
November 27, 2025 @ 12:52 pm
Better a lawyer than a nurse. Honestly with every post I feel worse about her and worried for the people that encounter her seeking care. She sounds like Nurse Ratched. Yikes, don’t get sick in SLC.
November 29, 2025 @ 11:04 am
Amazingly Ester underwent sex change and is now named Scott, making the exact same arguments in the exact same language..
November 26, 2025 @ 8:23 pm
Esther, YOU don’t have the records either. Yet you are so definitively declarative. Like Trigger said-the opposite of what you decry. Did they do CAT scan did they do a chest x-ray? These are basic and legitimate questions which none of us know. I had pneumonia two years ago. It did not present with breathing issues. I want to multiple doctors appointment ms across a week or so until one decided to do a chest x-ray and only THEN did I get the proper treatment I needed.
November 27, 2025 @ 1:56 pm
Years ago a friend of mine got stabbed and was in a coma for 6 weeks before dying. During that time, the wealthy family of the person who did the stabbing, put up flyers looking for witnesses. In all of the horrible confusion, we were all assuming that it was somebody from the victim’s family doing it. Instead, the family was trying to get ahead of the story before a trial. I suspect that some of what’s going on in Esther is very prolific posts. Is some attempt at managing the conversation, after the story made it into Nationwide press. It’s weird for a health professional to care this much about something that they were not involved in- everybody I know in healthcare generally is conservative about their speculations and this person seems really hell-bent on proving that the hospital did nothing wrong and that Todd died due to his own actions. It’s a really strange way for a nurse from a completely different to behave.
November 27, 2025 @ 2:29 am
Esther, the bodycam footage shows Snider showing clear signs of cognitive impairment–he had 20 staples in the back of his head…he said he didn’t have his medicin. so…very possibly: head trauma + withdrawals from baclofen and klonopin + the sudden onset of PNEUMONIA. the head trauma + withdrawals from x y or z…could very well speed the onset and progression of PNEUMONIA. that is what appears to be happening in the bodycam footage. it is highly probable he had pneumonia then and it is clear that he was incapable of properly advocating for himself. he knew enough to ask for help and he was turned away and then arrested. the hospital and the police failed him. if he was dx’d with pneumonia Nov 2…and treated in hospital…he almost certainly would be alive today.
November 27, 2025 @ 9:15 am
cm–I’ve been a nurse for 30 years. Todd is not showing signs of cognitive impairment in the video. What are you seeing that seems like a sign of cognitive impairment?
November 27, 2025 @ 4:44 pm
Esther is clearly not a career nurse. Cognitive impairment can’t be ruled out by looking at a video, let alone without knowing a subject’s baseline. Esther is just a bullshit pr hack hired by Holy Cross to dissuade the estate from filing appropriate lawsuits. Scott S, the same. These seedy individuals lie and misdirect to protect City, County, Church or Corporation from having to pay for the rampant wrongful death and malpractice that routinely results from their culture of hubris and incompetence.
November 26, 2025 @ 6:27 pm
CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE IS WHAT THE HOSPITAL STAFF IS GUILTY OF. The Hippocratic Oath proclaims one shall:
1. DO NO HARM.
They are culpable. They failed Todd Snider.
November 27, 2025 @ 12:34 am
Todd Snider failed himself.
November 27, 2025 @ 2:43 pm
Both can be true my dear. and there are other entities to blame all the way up to the backwards American medical system. imagining Tood did all this to himself while ignoring every other person & entity that played a part is like putting your head in the sand. maybe thts how you cope with uncomfortable truths, I’m don’t know you, but the inability to look at a big picture should probably lead to some self-awareness about how incomplete some of your online comments may be. good luck with working on being able to confront uncomfortable truths.
November 27, 2025 @ 10:45 am
Esther is correct on all points. If you want medical care, you need to follow the doctor’s orders. The doctor can’t make you fill a prescription, take medication, follow medical advice or follow up on a treatment plan, it is your responsibility. It looks like he received a lot of medical evaluations and likely a lot of treatment advice. This is not a person ‘falling through the cracks’, it is a person who does not, for some reason, follow medical advice. Now, it seems as if Todd was a person with a substance use disorder. That is not a character failing, it is a disease. A disease that can be fatal due to the consequences of being intoxicated – like falling and hitting your head. Anyone can check themselves into medically supervised detox and rehab. They will be evaluated for medical issues and these will be treated prior to or during the rehab. To characterize the medical community as ‘failing’ Todd, puts the responsibility on the medical system. He was seen by 3 Emergency Departments. I’m sure he was given treatment advice. But apparently he didn’t follow the advice. As a medical professional for 25 years, I’ve seen many people refuse care. It is their right. But it is not the fault of the medical professional if the patient does not follow through on their recommendations. Caveat, I know next to nothing about this man and have not looked at his medical chart. This is sad and a tragedy. I’m sorry we lost this good man.
November 27, 2025 @ 1:59 pm
Again, with the fucking talking points that sound like they’re coming from a PR department trying to get ahead of the story. I really doubt all of these supposed medical professionals who somehow found this website are actually who they say they are.
Trigger, you can see people’s IPs, right? Have you seen these folks here before?
November 27, 2025 @ 3:00 pm
IPs these days are most all garbled, but I don’t mind people coming here and offering dissenting viewpoints. I agree that Todd was clearly being difficult to deal with. But I also think it’s fair to scrutinize what happened due to the eventual outcome.
November 28, 2025 @ 8:09 am
Trigger can see that my email address is from a renown level one trauma center. The fact that you all have decided I must be a lawyer or hospital PR is…telling.
November 29, 2025 @ 11:09 am
The emails on this blog are not vetted In the slightest. What’s more important is whether you’ve ever posted here before coming and spending hours. Arguing this kind of disingenuous shit that you’re doing right now. Also reappearing under another name or two in this exact thread. It’s disgusting and you should be ashamed of yourself. I hope your grandchildren know what you did and you are ashamed of it on your deathbed.
November 27, 2025 @ 3:18 pm
I’ve worked in the ER as a provider , and in every single case patients who present with a medical complaint are not just ” screened” by a nurse . They are seen by a licensed provider ( MD or other ) evaluated etc
Even if it’s just for a paper cut.
ERs all have social workers assigned to them as well .
Todd got off a plane to seek more care .
November 28, 2025 @ 8:12 am
Yes. Like I said, he almost certainly had an MSE.
November 27, 2025 @ 5:05 pm
Jerry is not a medical professional of 25 years. Nor is Esther one of 30 years.
From their absurd pronouncements it is easy to tell they are not even in the medical field. How they attempt to use an appeal to their own authority is dead giveaway they are imposters. Anyone actually in the medical field can spot this easily.
November 27, 2025 @ 10:48 pm
“He was seen by 3 Emergency Departments. I’m sure he was given treatment advice. But apparently he didn’t follow the advice. As a medical professional for 25 years, I’ve seen many people refuse care.”
I just don’t understand how someone can watch the 40-minute body camera footage and in any way with a straight face characterize that Todd Snider is “refusing care.” His is literally BEGGING for care.
“The doctor can’t make you fill a prescription, take medication, follow medical advice or follow up on a treatment plan, it is your responsibility.”
100% true, but it’s impossible to fill a prescription if you’re handcuffed in the back of a squad car or in jail. And that’s assuming someone wrote those prescriptions for Snider, which at no point has been substantiated.
During the three visits to hospitals, did they do a thorough enough medical check where they would have caught walking pneumonia? Maybe they did. But so far, we’ve been unable to answer that question.
November 27, 2025 @ 12:00 pm
I talked to hospital security and even they are trained in recognizing when someone ill or injured presents like a crazy person.
I was told that even if they KNOW the person is drug seeking, they invite them in
to have a free meal at the hospital kitchen and allow them to sit there a few hours
under observation to make sure they are okay to leave.
The hospital KNEW Todd had a head injury.
They have absolutely no excuse for the lack of compassion they showed him.
If hospital staff aren’t aware that someone with a concussion would appear confused, in pain and
need help, they need to be fired. At the very least the higher ups should be held accountable for
lack of proper training.
November 27, 2025 @ 12:34 pm
Esther,
Your description of his behavior sounds like someone in crisis, and no one at the hospital bothered to look for the cause. You write him off as a junkie who uses the ER too much. Even if both of those things are true does that mean you think he should die, vs. get help. Because that is what happened. He is dead! Isn’t that enough evidence for you that he needed help. We only know about this because Todd was famous. How many people do you turn away each week, who then quietly die. You don’t know, but you think you have them pegged. Your duty to care seems to be limited to people you deem worthy. I hope this event leads you to do some soul searching, but I have my doubts.
November 28, 2025 @ 8:14 am
Nothing I said demonstrates lack of empathy. You don’t know me. You don’t like what I said so you insulted me. I don’t take it personally. I’m an ER nurse. I’m used to it.
November 27, 2025 @ 7:20 pm
This hospital has quite the reputation
“Holy Cross has the worst Emergency Rooms I have ever experienced in my lifetime. I hope if Todd has family or an estate that they sue Holy Cross
for all they are worth.
When asking one of their ER doctors how he expected my friend to sleep with unresolved and unexplained severe involuntary tremors, they told my friend to “count sheep”. They refused to perform a necessary MRI to assess a cyst that they found with other tests. They are more interested in their profit margins than actually taking care of patients.
Holy Cross is a growing parasite in Utah healthcare, driving down our care quality across the board, and their utter negligence and malpractice is leading to people like Todd dying.”
https://www.reddit.com/r/Utah/comments/1oxxzin/comment/np0fopm/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
November 26, 2025 @ 2:44 pm
I don’t think there is any doubt that his death could have been prevented, or even should have been prevented. I’m sure there will be some people living with guilt in that regard.
The real question is if anyone is culpable or legally responsible, taken in tandem with Snider’s own actions and behavior at the time and previously. What we know about those actions and behaviors seem to make others’ actions and non-actions understandable — at least to me.
That we can’t expect more and better from a for-profit hospital (corporation) and above and beyond from those touring with him speaks to where we are as a society. It certainly makes the situation all the more sad, and foreboding.
I still appreciate your determination to reveal whatever relevant details you can. Bearing witness might be all that is left to do.
November 26, 2025 @ 3:42 pm
Did you all see Turnpike Troubadors’s new cover of “Just Like Old Times?” Quite good, as someone new to Snyder.
November 26, 2025 @ 6:53 pm
Thank you again for the dedicated job of reporting, Trigger. The story is so sad. The intersection of widespread addiction and over-stressed medical and police services seems tailor-made for preventable death. The focus here is all on Utah, but Todd did make it back to Nashville. With the exception of Otis Gibbs, was he alone? Again, very sad. I wonder if the hospital and police personnel recognized who Todd was. If one of them had been a fan of his music, maybe he would have gotten more medical attention. I’m sure a lot of addicts who look and act as ragged as Todd did that day have died, too.
November 27, 2025 @ 12:14 pm
Otis should have taken Todd to the hospital and stayed with him. People need an advocate to protect them, talk to the staff about his care and provide love and comfort which is incredibly important. Someone should have played music for him which is well known to promote healing.
I also question the hospital in Nashville. Todd was ill but alive and talking before he went in there.
It became known during Covid that ventilators did more harm than good. People need to be awake and sitting up to get crap out of their lungs. I have gone to the hospital in need of surgery, completely passed out with worse sepsis than he appeared to have, but massive amounts of antibiotics saved my life. Putting Todd in a coma on a ventilator didn’t seem to help at all. He might have been better off staying home.
Yes, I am mad at everyone that failed Todd, but why shouldn’t we be. He was out there performing for us, cheering us up during difficult times, fighting for the working man, standing up against social injustice..the least we can do is fight for the truth about what happened to him.
WE should use what happened to him to demand better from our health care system and public servants.
November 27, 2025 @ 2:13 pm
Otis should have taken Todd to the hospital, but Todd “might have been better off staying home?”
Otis was a good and supportive friend. He and his wife went to see Todd in Nashville, and they tried to take him to the hospital. He wouldn’t go with them.
November 27, 2025 @ 10:52 pm
Todd Snider ended up going to the hospital later the same night that Otis Gibbs visited him, I believe on November 8th. So no, they did not take him to the hospital, but the interaction very likely resulted in Snider going to the hospital.
It is also a fair question to ask why Snider didn’t go to the hospital between the 3rd and the 8th when he was back home in Nashville. Maybe his experience at Holy Cross Hospital in Salt Lake City contributed to that reticence.
November 26, 2025 @ 6:53 pm
JFK died 62 years ago and people are still studying the Zapruder film. The facts around the deaths of Jim Morrison and Kurt Cobain are debated. There’s no reason Todd Snider would be exempt from this kind of attention. I’d rather get the truth than a Gram Parsons-like mythology.
Further, we know Tom Petty and Prince died from fentanyl, and Michael Jackson OD’d on propofol. Hank, Sr., Janis Joplin, Keith Moon, there’s nothing uniquely shameful if Todd Snider died of drugs. It’s a music biz tradition.
I thought Todd Snider had the ideal life. Write some witty songs, roll around the country playing them, and have people tell you how great you are. Where do I sign up? Turns out I was better off in my pedestrian life!
Trigger, at the risk of sounding like a brown noser, as someone who knows at least a little about journalism and music writing, you’re knocking it out of the park here. This may be your finest hour.
Im closing, I’m betting “Esther” is the member of the Holy Cross PR or legal team who’s also a big Phish fan.
November 26, 2025 @ 6:55 pm
Perhaps we should all stop milking this tragedy for clickbait.
November 26, 2025 @ 7:01 pm
One thing we should all be doing when reporting or posting about stories like this is to include some of the musician specific mental health resources that are out there. There are several funds that help people get help. I know that perhaps that wouldn’t have helped in this case, but sometimes deaths are a wakeup call for somebody else who should not be on the road or perhaps needs to be aware of the downside of losing their benzo prescription or whatever else may have happened here. That wake up call is more useful if those folks are aware that there are resources available that are tailored to their specific situation as a musician.
November 26, 2025 @ 7:13 pm
You got it right. It’s the silence on what happened in SLC that makes this most suspicious. Feels awfully convenient to me that the cops have decided nobody but Todd is responsible for his injury. Meanwhile, the body cam mic got turned off a bunch in that video–but that’s just probably a technical glitch, right? Wink, wink.
I keep thinking about the bus–anyone else been on one before? Because they are kind of careful to round out and pad all the corners. The floors are usually rubber. So how exactly did he hurt himself in the stationary bus–enough to need staples in his head?
Those staff were not scared of him at all. Seemed like they were thrilled to get him arrested, especially if he was famous. Of course they will have zero remorse. It’ll be a story they all tell their friends about the dirty hippie they got arrested who turned out to have written that Beer Run song. He did not look homeless. He was well dressed. If any one of them had shown a bit of compassion, this might have ended differently. I hope they feel really guilty about their negligence, personally.
Remind me to NEVER go to SLC again. Their prejudice might kill me.
November 26, 2025 @ 7:39 pm
Why didn’t he have his medications? Were they in the bus that had left? Pain can make ppl not think clearly especially if they are run down/ tired and have an early respiratory infection, sleep deprived .
We do not know why he did not go to a doctor immediately when he returned home. It seems he did not realize he was that sick . Pneumonia can be subtle early on . He was probably at higher risk due to history of smoking
PS pneumonia vaccine is recommended over age 50
The friend who suggested the hospital really knew Todd and could tell he was not well .
With his addiction history I am surprised klonopin was prescribed at all.
November 26, 2025 @ 8:00 pm
The only person that seems to have any clue in the comments is Esther. Everyone else is flat earthing it. Gotta love the interwebs
November 26, 2025 @ 8:55 pm
Did we just find the other reputation management person in the comments?
November 27, 2025 @ 7:48 pm
By the amount of flak, one can tell when one is over the target.
Clearly the liable parties’ are desperate. This is an open and shut case and could very well lead to a class action lawsuit if other victims are given the chance to provide affidavits showing a similar pattern of conspiracy in the denial of care. No doubt there are hospital staff who will turn. A jury will be instructed to seek more in punitive damages the more the defendant’s lawyer hacks try to facetiously litigate this tragedy in the social media-journalism sphere. What a shit show it will become when the security guard is forced on the stand to admit Snider never threatened him and that he was directed to lie to the Police by hospital staff with a wink and a nod between the two. Let’s see the video of Tod committing the “crime” for which he was arrested. Let’s get the jail nurse on the stand to describe protocol under oath and show that hospitals cannot legally refuse appropriate medical treatment on account of hearsay that a patient said something when Murders are treated every day. It is illegal for Tod to be knocking on doors in the neighborhood? Why mention it, if the violent threat alone was enough to deny him service? The knocking on random doors was a cry for help and is indicative of a textbook mental crisis, with its customary 72 hours of admittance for observation. There are monsters at Holy Cross and in the Police department who will begotten rid of when this goes to trial. That is why there is all this flak. Lots of reversals of fortune are coming. Over the Target.
November 26, 2025 @ 9:24 pm
Hi, Brad! See you back at work at the Holy Cross PR legal department office Monday!
(Y’all’s conspiracy is really something else.)
November 26, 2025 @ 11:05 pm
Our work caught the eye of the Taliban. I am flying to Kabul on Sunday for an interview. Fingers crossed as Taliban PR is top tier in the industry
November 27, 2025 @ 12:58 pm
I hope you are a lawyer and not a nurse.
November 27, 2025 @ 6:45 am
Big Bad Brad.Anyway,Snyder’s demise is a tragedy because of his relative youth and mental health issues.
November 27, 2025 @ 11:15 am
I’m still not convinced that Todd injured himself as there was glass embedded in his head and none on the bus.
Since the band originally said he was assaulted, it makes no sense that they drove off with the crime scene.
How were the police to examine the scene to determine what happened?
Why did they drive off with his bus and his stuff in the first place
when he hated flying and should not be flying after a head injury?
The band and team is still sus in my mind. They declared it an assault
to get the tour cancellation insurance? Then drove off with the bus so
no one could determine what really happened. The later description
of seeing him crying out in pain on the bus, but doing nothing to help…
WTF!
November 27, 2025 @ 11:43 am
in the U.K, there would likely be an autopsy whether the family wanted one or not. An autopsy might answer many questions in this instance. If I have not missed anything, there seems to be silence as to why his band and manager had left. All the circumstances lead to more questions and the more information there is, there seems to be more questions. Many of those questions might have been answered with an autopsy. All very sad.
November 29, 2025 @ 3:15 pm
This has nothing to do with more transparency if we’re talking about actual concern and not rubber necking, and it has everything to do with the facts as they stand. Therein lies more than enough information– Todd pleaded for help in being admitted to the hospital for total body pain, a symptom of walking pneumonia. The police and the hospital refused him admittance. He died mere days later as a 59 year old from walking pneumonia, hardly a life sentence and a condition readily controlled through treatment. The police and hospital 100% need held responsible for Todd Snider’s death and Todd deserves accountability here. He lost his life because hey judged him on appearances and treated him like garbage refusing him care and treatment. Period. Certainly, his friends, fans, management, should be up in arms and demanding accountability.
November 30, 2025 @ 1:01 am
“Todd Snider had a successful career, health insurance, and was a known individual in society. And even then it feels like Todd Snider fell through the cracks.”
Exactly while we will keep asking questions and probing this issue.
Todd deserved better.
December 1, 2025 @ 1:32 am
After many years of listening to Todd’s music, meeting him a couple times and being heavily influenced by what he did, one thing is clear, he is definitely an untrustworthy narrator. To me the most confusing/sad thing is that he didn’t have a body man to take care of all this stuff. Why not ride to bus back to Nashville instead of flying? He definitely could afford to have someone navigate these things for him and the fact that he ended up alone is the saddest part. I don’t have it in me to watch the video and I will wait for people with more expertise to figure out who is to blame. In the meantime I have stepped up my exercise routine and am trying to spend more time writing music and with my daughter. RIP.
December 2, 2025 @ 12:53 pm
I knew Todd back in the “Daily Planet/Step Right Up” days and he was always truthful/earnest. It seems like what happened is that on the morning of Nov 1, he presented his injury to band/road mgr, they weren’t sure what happened (assault/accident?), called EMS, they took Todd to LDS, he received staples and discharged from ER that day. Mgr sent the crew/band home with the bus. Probably very distressing for Todd to learn the tour was ending. Mgr booked Todd a plane trip back to N’ville on Nov 2. Todd checked in to SLC airport and didn’t feel well enough to fly, called EMS, they took him to Holy Cross for evaluation and he was discharged. Todd then was presumable alone in SLC if his mgr was already boarded to fly back to N’ville. Then Todd walked to another Holy Cross hospital to try to get admitted and then all hell broke lose. So sad. What a great guy. I miss him
December 2, 2025 @ 9:45 am
I’m taking a break from Reddit, so now when I want updates on Todd I just google “todd snider trigger.” Thanks for following this story.
December 5, 2025 @ 4:48 pm
https://toddsnider.net/2004/03/23/new-connection-an-interview-with-todd-snider/
Insightful
Especially when Todd describes his bipolar disorder
December 8, 2025 @ 9:15 am
Thanks for sharing this. Really nice interview.