As theories… swirled over what caused Lisa Marie’s premature death, one author has blamed it on a genetic curse from the marriage of Elvis’s first-cousin grandparents.
Citing the King’s own early demise – also because of heart problems – writer Sally Hoedel believes the deaths were not mere coincidences.
Elvis’ death had already been compared to that of his mother, Gladys Smith Presley, 19 years earlier – also from heart failure and at the age of just 46.
Some of her siblings also died in their 40s.
Hoedel argues in her book ‘Destined to Die Young’ as Elvis’ maternal grandparents, Robert Lee “Bob” Smith and Octavia “Doll” Smith were first cousins, it has led to complications in the family.
“It was that union some 30-something years before Elvis’ birth that dictated his short life” as well as others in the family, the author said, blaming it on the family tree in which “branches got tangled.”
“Creating Elvis took a rare DNA combination that was not supposed to happen. It was not supposed to survive and the consequences of that have long been ignored,” she wrote.
According to Hoedel’s book, the deaths were the result of Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, a genetic condition passed through generations.
