Where is Morbid now? What happened to Pablo Vergara after Cecil Hotel Netflix doc

Internet sleuths accused him of killing Elisa Lam

3 years ago

One of the stand out interviews from Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel on Netflix is the one with musician and actor Pablo Vergara, aka Morbid.

The four-part series looks at the troubled and dark history of the Cecil Hotel, focusing on the 2013 death of 21-year-old student Elisa Lam. Elisa was missing for over two weeks before being found dead in a water tank on the roof of the hotel.

Morbid was accused by internet sleuths as being responsible for the death of Elisa Lam, even though he was in a completely different country at the time. People based their accusations on him having visited the Cecil Hotel previously, and having dark themes including murder and death in his music videos. In the Netflix documentary he says that the accusations made against him caused him to attempt to take his own life, and that he wasn’t able to make music anymore.

But who is Pablo Vergara, aka Morbid, and what happened to him after the Cecil Hotel documentary was filmed for Netflix? Here’s everything we know.

Morbid, Cecil Hotel, now, Pablo Vergara, Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel, Netflix, documentary, musician, film, video, Elisa Lam, case

via Netflix

Who is Pablo Vergara, known as Morbid?

Pablo Camilo Vergara was born in Mexico on August 31st 1982. He is a death metal musician and took the stage name “Morbid” to reflect the “monster within”. He has created films including one called Necromurder: A Black Metal Story, which is based on a real murder case, where he wrote, directed, produced, starred in and composed the music.

And yes, according to reports he is related to Columbian actress Sofia Vergara. They are apparently first cousins once removed. You might recognise Sofia from Modern Family, Hot Pursuit, Chef or her modelling and presenting roles.

During the time of the Elisa Lam case, Morbid was accused of being involved in her death. He had stayed at the Cecil Hotel in 2012 (a year before Elisa was there) and had uploaded videos of himself there. Just days after Elisa went missing, Morbid released a music video which included the murder of a young woman and a song which described someone drowning. Internet sleuths decided this was enough evidence that he was a killer. He was soon inundated with messages asking him if he did it, people saying they were going to come and find him and he had countless death threats. His social media accounts were also suspended.

This was all despite him not even being in the same country as Elisa Lam at the time she went missing. Pablo Vergara had evidence of him actually being in a recording studio in Mexico.

via Netflix

Where is Morbid from the Cecil Hotel documentary now?

In the Netflix documentary Morbid describes how he had a breakdown after the allegations were made against him. He attempted to take his own life, and stopped making music. “There was no escape. I tried to take my life and I woke up in a psychiatric hospital”, he says. He adds that he lost his freedom of expression.

Since the case, Morbid has focused on more film making projects, and has moved away from music. He now works as a screenwriter and production assistant in Hollywood. And in an interview, he added that he has became a father.

In 2016, three years after the Elisa Lam case, Morbid received a scholarship to the New York Film Academy (NYFA). His film, Necromurder: A Black Metal Story, went on to win the award for Best International Fictional Film at a film festival in 2019.

In a further interview with the Metro, director Joe Berlinger said he and Vergara have kept in touch, and that he has now started working on some 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.”

Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news, drops, quizzes and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook.