Former Anal Cunt guitarist Josh Martin has died at the age of 45 after falling off an escalator at a mall in Providence, Rhode Island.
Martin joined Anal Cunt in 1996 and played consistently with the band until 2011, when it was dissolved following the death of frontman Seth Putnam. Martin also played in Adolf Satan, Fukk, Impaled Northern Moonforest, and Failure Clinic.
Local news station WPRI reports that a 45-year-old man died from severe head trauma after falling off an escalator in a food court at 10:45pm local time on May 29, quoting a police report that described him as having been “clowning around and riding the rail of the escalator“.
While WPRI didn’t identify the man by name as the family hadn’t been notified at the time of writing, magazine Vanyaland received confirmation from Martin’s friends that he was the man involved in the accident.
WPRI also notes that a woman died falling off the same escalator in 2004 and another man was injured but survived in 2009. The Boston Globe says there have been “a handful of deaths at the mall since it opened in 1999“.
Martin made headlines in November last year after heckling Gene Simmons at a mid-show presentation in which Simmons was being presented the key to the city by a local city councilman:
After enduring the heckling for several moments, Simmons grabbed the microphone and asked that the house lights be turned on so that he could identify the heckler. Simmons then left the stage and proceeded to seek out Martin before returning a few minutes later. . . Simmons did seemingly confront Martin and a near-scuffle was defused by security.
Officials have said that they believe the death to be accidental and do not suspect foul play at this stage.
