Cecil Hotel: What happened to Morbid? Here's where Pablo Vergara is now

12 February 2021, 17:45

Watch the trailer for Netflix's true crime doc about the Cecil Hotel

By Katie Louise Smith

Pablo Vergara, also known as Morbid, received thousands of messages from web sleuths asking if he killed Elisa Lam.

Netflix's Crime Scene: The Vanishing in the Cecil Hotel series details the dark history of the infamous LA hotel and the tragic 2013 death of Elisa Lam that occurred there. It also tells the story of how the internet pinned the blame on one man who was actually innocent.

Crime Scene explains how web sleuths went on a "virtual man hunt" to try and connect the guests staying at the hotel to Elisa's death. In episode 3, the black metal musician Morbid is introduced as a "suspect" in the death of Elisa Lam. However, in episode 4, viewers quickly realise that Morbid (real name Pablo Vergara) was innocent after he explains what it was like to be at the centre of the accusations made by thousands of people on the internet.

His appearance in the docu-series is the first time he's spoken about what happened in seven years. Here's what happened to him, and what he's up to today.

What is Morbid from Netflix's Cecil Hotel series doing now? Picture: Netflix

Why was Morbid accused of Elisa Lam's death?

Morbid's name was brought up after videos surfaced of him staying at the Cecil Hotel. Sleuths then started reading into his music and found references to death and murder, as well as a new music video that appeared online a few days after Elisa's death.

Sleuths went digging further and found another video from Morbid that featured a picture of serial killer Ted Bundy in the background, as well as an image of Elizabeth Short, also known as the Black Dahlia, who allegedly used to spend time in the Cecil Hotel bar.

The sleuthing then snowballed and people began finding other coincidences, including a song about a girl dying in water.

Six days after Elisa's body was found, Vergara found out he was a suspect after a friend sent him a link to his picture on a Taiwanese TV channel. People began sending him messages asking if he killed Elisa, and the PGR (the Mexican FBI) later showed up at his house.

Vergara later explains that he stayed at the Hotel Cecil for three days in February 2012, one year before Elisa Lam checked in. At the time of her death, he was in Mexico working on his album. He had recording studio contracts and stamps on his passport to prove his whereabouts.

He was never charged. He had nothing to do with Elisa's death.

Cecil Hotel Manager describes what it's like to run the hotel

Where is Pablo Vergara now?

Pablo Vergara sits down for an interview in episode 4 of the docu-series. He explains that he hasn't spoken about the situation in seven years.

Following the virtual manhunt, his YouTube, Facebook and email were all suspended following constant reports from web sleuths. The heavy death threats and messages he received caused him to have a breakdown, and he tried to take his own life. He tells the interviewer that he ended up in a psychiatric hospital. He also stopped making music for a while after the ordeal.

In an interview with Metro.co.uk, director Joe Berlinger revealed that he and Vergara still keep in touch, and that he has now started working on new music: "He keeps me updated on his activities and I’m really happy to report that he’s recording again and he found the whole experience of participating, and kind of getting it out there [good], even though he’s nervous about the show coming out and what people will think and reliving the nightmare."

Vergara also enrolled at the New York Film Academy in 2016. In an interview with the NYFA, he revealed that he became a father and made the decision to move away from music and into film. Bustle reports he later won the Award for Best International Fictional Film at 2019's International Film and Metal Festival for his short film Necromurder.

He now works as a screenwriter and production assistant in Hollywood.