For more information into the ongoing investigation about the death of Todd Snider, also see:
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More questions than answers persist about what happened to songwriter and performer Todd Snider while he was in Salt Lake City in early November, ultimately leading up to Snider’s death in a Nashville hospital on November 14th. But more details continue to be filled in as the investigation continues, or in this instance, the Salt Lake City Police Department closes out their investigation after coming to some conclusive determinations.
After reviewing surveillance footage from Todd Snider’s hotel and doing further investigating, the Salt Lake City Police Department has determined that the alleged assault on Todd Snider on October 31st was likely a self-induced injury suffered when Snider was alone on his tour bus and fell, hitting his head.
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Todd Snider was scheduled to perform a show at The Commonwealth Room in South Salt Lake on November 1st, but the show never happened. Snider claimed he was assaulted the night before (Oct. 31st), though no evidence of an assault or further explanation about the assault had been given publicly either by Snider’s team, or the police in the area.
What can be confirmed is Todd Snider received multiple staples in the back of his head at a local LDS Intermountain hospital. Due to the injury, Snider’s November 1st Salt Lake show was cancelled, as was the entire Todd Snider tour.
Snider’s label/management Aimless Inc. said in a statement on November 3rd, “Todd sustained severe injuries as the victim of a violent assault outside of his hotel. Todd will be unable to perform for an undetermined amount of time.”
However, as Saving Country Music reported on November 18th, arguments over jurisdiction, and the lack of an investigation by local police left unanswered questions about the nature of the alleged assault against Todd Snider, whether there were any suspects being sought, whether any video surveillance was being reviewed, and what exactly happened.
What further confused the situation was how Todd Snider’s road manager initially called police about the alleged assault while at the music venue The Commonwealth Room that is in South Salt Lake, just over the dividing line with Salt Lake City proper where Snider’s hotel room was, and the assault allegedly happened. The two cities have two separate police departments, and both were unsure whose jurisdiction the alleged assault occurred in.
Saving Country Music has since been able to confirm that Todd Snider was staying at the Springhill Suites at 625 S 300 W, about 2.5 miles north of The Commonwealth Room in Salt Lake City proper. This is where the alleged assault was said to have occurred on Todd Snider’s tour bus parked in the hotel parking lot.
Also hindering the investigation, Todd Snider and his manager refused to work with police as they attempted to investigate the alleged assault. As South Salt Lake patrol officer Tanner Doria said in a police report from November 1st,
“After not being able to contact the manager by phone, I began to head to the hospital to gather victim information and gain more information about the incident. While en route to the hospital, the manager returned my phone call. I identified myself over the phone and was inquiring for more information about the incident. [The Manager] expressed that he didn’t know why I was calling and he said he only requested an ambulance and did not request police.
“I asked [The Manager] if he wanted to make a report further about the incident and he declined. This concluded my conversation with [The Manger]. He never provided me with the information of the party that was actually involved and insisted they did not want to speak to law enforcement.”
After Saving Country Music’s November 18th report about the confusion between the two Salt Lake police jurisdictions, the case was given another look by the Salt Lake City Police Department who discovered that a second manager for Todd Snider also called about the alleged assault. This second manager was not in Salt Lake City at the time, but contacted police after becoming concerned about Snider. Subsequently, Salt Lake City Police then pulled surveillance video from the hotel to see if any assault had been caught on tape.
After reviewing the surveillance video of the entire time Todd Snider was at the hotel, The Salt Lake City Police Department determined there was no assault on Todd Snider. Snider can be seen on the video footage going to and from the hotel to the tour bus, but is never accosted by anyone, and nobody enters the bus at the time the alleged assault would have occurred. According to police, at times in the video, Snider looks like he might be intoxicated and stumbling.
It’s the Salt Lake City Police Department’s determination that at some point while in the tour bus, Snider likely fell, and the injury to the back of the head was a self-induced accident. Snider might have believed he was assaulted after going unconscious, and waking up with blood from the head injury around him. This is likely the explanation for the assault characterization.
A report from the Salt Lake City Police Department reads,
“Video Surveillance was obtained from the hotel (both interior and exterior video). Todd snider was observed walking from the tour bus to the hotel at approximately 6:50 PM on 10/31/25 and returning to the tour bus at approximately 7:46 PM on 10/31/25. Upon his return to the tour bus, Todd did not appear to have any injuries. A witness (hotel staff) had a brief interaction with Todd as he passed through the lobby and also reported that Todd was not injured at that time.
“After Todd was observed entering the tour bus, he did not leave the bus and had no person entered or exited the bus until approximately 8:46 PM where band members were observed making contact with Todd at the door of the bus (see log below). After the brief interaction with the band members, the door is closed and Todd remained on the tour bus for the duration of the night with no other persons entering or exiting the tour bus.
“It is believed the incident occurred on the tour bus between the hours of 7:46 PM and 8:50 PM. There was no evidence of an assault occurring in the hotel parking lot and no persons entering the tour bus after Todd entered the bus at 7:46 PM. There was confirmed to be no video surveillance on the tour bus (interior or exterior) which could have captured the incident.“
Below are the notes from the review of the video surveillance footage from the hotel.
The report also includes an account from a female member of Todd’s band, saying “…she had left the night of the incident (10/31) for dinner with the group at approximately 6:45 PM from the tour bus. According to [band member], when they all left for dinner, they saw Todd Snider on the bust and he was fine. Todd opted to stay back and did not attend dinner with the group.”
“According to [band member], she returned to the hotel just before 9:00 PM where she brought food out to Todd on the bus. She opened the bus door and took only one step inside the bus where she observed Todd without any clothing on below the waist. Todd was yelling out (she believes in pain but she did not observe any injuries) and appeared to be in some sort of distress. Upon seeing this, she immediately reported what she had seen to [redacted].”
A second report from a female band member states, “She walked over to the bus and stood at the door as she opened it. According to [her], she stated Todd was inside the bus asleep/passed out and was unclothed from the waist down and his pants were lying on the top of the bus steps. She described she observed soap and paper towels in a pile on a lower step (below his pants). She stated she did not see any blood or injuries on Todd at that time, but she only observed this from the outside of the bus. According to [her], she immediately went to speak with [tour manager] to report what she had seen.”
The Salt Lake City Police report goes on to say,
“Upon completing numerous interviews with witnesses (band members, tour manager, nephew, hotel employees), it was discovered that Todd Snider may have been under the influence of both drugs and alcohol on the night of the incident (unconfirmed what substances). The video surveillance of Todd walking through the parking lot showed him staggering and swaying before entering the door of the tour bus.
“Numerous attempts were made to contact Todd directly, but due to his medical condition he was unable to provide a statement directly to police. The only statements received by police were provided through a 3rd party who relayed information given to them by Todd.”
“Todd Snider passed away in Nashville, TN on 11/14 from reported complications due to pneumonia and also sepsis. In speaking with family members, it was determined an autopsy would not be completed on Todd. At this time, the cause of death reported by his family was pneumonia/sepsis. It does not appear the injuries sustained by Todd in Salt Lake City on 10/31/25 were related to his death.”
The report concludes, “At this time, we are unable to confirm that an assault occurred on the tour bus. Due to all the reported actions above, it is likely that Todd may have fallen on the tour bus and struck his head causing the injury. A warrant was obtained for medical records from LDS which detail the reported injuries.”
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The report from the Salt Lake City Police Department also describes the interaction between the Salt Lake City Police, and the out-of-town manager for Todd Snider who called Salt Lake City police about the alleged assault, and led to the investigation. It fills in further gaps in the timeline of October 31st leading up to Todd Snider’s injury.
“[Manager #2] said Todd was supposedly injured by a glass bottle, having heard that the physician at the hospital had removed broken glass from Todd’s scalp. [Manager #2] also said Todd received a concussion due to the injury to his head. [Manager #2] believed Todd had been at dinner with his band-mates and speculates he may have left them after dinner and had been assaulted during that time.”
The report continues, “[Manager #2] said Todd somehow boarded the band’s tour bus which had been parked in the hotel parking lot and slept there overnight (since he was located on the bus the following morning). At that time, it was discovered that Todd had been assaulted, his head bloodied, and EMS responded to the location of the bus where Todd was attended to, and subsequently transported to LDS [Intermountain] Hospital. At LDS hospital he had received several staples in his head and was released later that day.”
The second look investigation and determinations by the Salt Lake City Police Department seem to explain the head injury that Todd Snider suffered on October 31st, and dispel the idea that he was the victim of an assault, at least in their estimation.
However, many question remain about what happened afterwards when the tour was cancelled. Snider ended up interacting with police again on November 2nd 245 S. State Street at about 3:40 pm. This is when he was likely transported via ambulance to the Holy Cross hospital where Snider was ultimately arrested while attempting to seek treatment.
Saving Country Music has also learned from multiple sources that Todd Snider was supposed to return to Nashville shortly after the cancellation of the show at The Commonwealth Room on November 1st and secured a plane ticket. However, after boarding the plane and before the plane departed, Snider left the plane and his road manager behind. This is when he ended up on the streets of Salt Lake City, and ultimately at the Holy Cross hospital where he was arrested. Snider was released from the jail on November 3rd. It is currently unclear when he returned to Nashville.
Saving Country Music has reached out to representatives of the Todd Snider estate looking for information and clarification on what happened to Todd Snider in key moments, but those emails have yet to be returned. With the family determining to not conduct an autopsy, key clues of what happened to Todd Snider in his final days might not ever be known.
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Saving Country Music’s investigation into the death of Todd Snider is ongoing. Anyone with further information can reach out via Saving Country Music’s Contact Page.
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Editor’s note: The accounts from the female band members were added to this story after initial publication.
