Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland had been married to his wife for a little over two years before his death on December 3. He married photographer Jamie Wachtel, 37, in the summer of 2013 at the home the couple shared in Los Angeles. The singer had been married twice before tying the knot to Wachtel.
Here’s what you need to know about her:
1. She Said That at Her Wedding to Scott, Both of Them ‘Cried & Laughed’
(Facebook)
After the couple’s wedding, Wachtel told People Magazine, “We had the most beautiful, heartfelt ceremony. We all cried and laughed. Scott and I are over the moon!” The gossip mag reported at the time that her dress was vintage from Paper Bay Princess in Beverly Hills, with their rings coming from Pade Vavra.
She last posted a photo of the couple together on November 23 on her Facebook page.
2. They Met While Weiland Was Filming a Christmas Music Video
The couple met while she was photographing a music video, “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” that Weiland was making in 2011. He told Rolling Stone in November 2012, “I am incredibly happy. She is incredibly beautiful in every aspect of the word. Lovely, smart, passionate. And she loves my kids and I love her son. We’re getting married in the spring, and our families will be living together. … She’s the greatest thing that’s happened to me in a long, long time. … I just thought, ‘I have a feeling that I am going to fall in love with this woman.'”
3. She Has a Son From a Previous Relationship
Wachtel shot her husband for this March 2015 story on him in Rolling Stone. (Facebook)
According to her official website, Wachtel is a native of Canton, Ohio, and has been taking pictures since she was 12. At the age of 16, she went to work as a model in Los Angeles. She has a son from a previous relationship named Wolfgang.
She and Weiland lived in the Laurel Canyon neighborhood of L.A. with their pit bull rescues. She writes on her website that she’s worked “with a number of incredible photographers.” You can view some of her photography here.
Her mother, Karen, passed away in 2011. Her obituary mentions that she was married to Wachtel’s father, James, for 39 years. It also says that Wachtel goes by the nickname “Jimmy” in her family.
4. Weiland Previously Said That He Never Would Have Left His 2nd Wife if She Agreed to Counseling
Weiland pictured with former wife Mary Forsberg in 2007. (Getty)
Wachtel was Weiland’s third wife. In 1994, he married Janina Castaneda, and they divorced in 2000. Shortly after, he married model Mary Forsberg, also in 2000. A year later, Weiland was arrested on charges of domestic abuse against Forsberg. The couple reconciled immediately after he went to counseling. They had two children together, Noah, born in 2000, and Lucy, born in 2002.
Eventually, they divorced in 2007, with Weiland saying in 2010 that the marriage would have worked if she had agreed to counseling. Forsberg penned a memoir that included details of their shared heroin addiction, including showing up to a July 4 party at Leonardo DiCaprio’s house wearing long sleeves to hide their track marks.
5. Wachtel Insists Weiland Was Not Doing Drugs Before He Died
Weiland’s death was first announced by Jane’s Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro in a now-deleted tweet, which said:
Just learned our friend Scott Weiland has died. So gutted, I am thinking of his family tonight.
TMZ later reported that he was found dead on his tour bus prior to a concert in Minnesota with his new band, Scott Weiland & The Wildabouts. His battles with substance abuse over the years have been well documented, but Wachtel adamantly tells TMZ he was clean at the time of his death, despite the discovery of drugs on the bus.
