Scandalous Gay German Aristocrat Dies

LONDON, UK -- Count Gottfried von Bismarck, descendant of Germany's great statesman Otto von Bismarck, was found dead Monday afternoon by ambulance men who broke into his London apartment, apparently from a drug overdose.

The scandalous aristocrat achieved lifelong notoriety as a student, when he in 1986 hosted a drug-fuelled party in his rooms at Christ Church College, Oxford, which resulted in the death from a heroin overdose of Olivia Channon, 22-year-old daughter of the millionaire Tory minister Paul Channon.

Following the tragedy, police found amphetamine on von Bismarck and he was later fined for possession. He denied, however, to have known that Miss Channon had been taking heroin at his party.

The tragedy set it's mark on von Bismarck, and he later said, "This whole thing has changed my life totally. I have learned a lot about addiction and I intend to change."

In the 1990's, von Bismarck appeared to have settled down to a successful career in telecommunications. He worked for a firm that helped restructure businesses in East Germany after the collapse of communism, and for hedge funds.

He later came out as gay, and was back in the news last August, when he again hosted a party that ended in tragedy.

Anthony Casey, who was participating in a gay sex orgy at von Bismarck's apartment, fell 60 feet to his death from Bismarck's roof terrace after taking cocaine.

Von Bismarck was found Monday after the estate agent who was selling his apartment was contacted by members of his family who had been unable to reach him for days.

It is expected that von Bismarck's death will be investigated.