How Did Sid Vicious Die and Did He Kill Nancy Spungen?

Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen's tragic love story is one that has fascinated the public ever since their deaths, to the point where they've almost become a romanticized real-life version of Romeo and Juliet.

Their doomed romance has made them iconic figures in their own right, and their story has been told onscreen before in the film Sid and Nancy, starring Gary Oldman and Chloe Webb in the lead roles.

Now, the couple are thrust into the spotlight once more in FX's Sex Pistols biopic Pistol where they are played by Louis Partridge and Emma Appleton.

How Did Sid Vicious Die and Did He Kill Nancy Spungen?

Sid and Nancy first met in London in 1977 after Sid had replaced Glen Matlock as the Sex Pistols' bass guitarist. Nancy was a groupie who had traveled from New York to follow Johnny Thunders and Jerry Nolan of the Heartbreakers, according to Rolling Stone.

The pair immediately became an item, fueling each other's drug addiction. The band's manager Malcolm McLaren said in an article for The Daily Beast that Nancy "taught Sid all about sex and drugs and the lifestyle of a New York rocker."

While Sid was enamored with Nancy, the other Sex Pistols did not like her and she was banned from coming on their U.S. tour in 1978. Spungen and Vicious later reunited and spent time in the U.K. and the U.S. together.

From August 1978, Sid and Nancy were staying in the Chelsea Hotel in New York City, and it was there they would party and go on drug binges together.

On October 11, Sid is said to have taken "30 tablets of Tuinal" that author Sherill Tippins said in her book Inside The Dream Palace: The Life And Times of New York's Legendary Chelsea Hotel left him comatose.

At 10 a.m. Sid called down to reception asking for help after finding Nancy on the bathroom floor. The 20-year-old had died after being stabbed in the stomach.

Sid was the prime suspect in Nancy's murder and although he initially said he had killed her he retracted his statement and said he'd been passed out on the bed when the incident had occurred.

The musician was arrested and charged with her murder. He was set to stand trial but after being released on bail he died of a heroin overdose in February 1979 aged 21.

McLaren has protested Sid's innocence, saying he "was capable of a wide range of self-destructive acts, but I didn't think that he could kill someone, especially his girlfriend, unless it was a botched double suicide.

"No! I don't believe Sid killed Nancy. She was his first and only love of his life."

Phil Strongman wrote in his book Pretty Vacant: A History of UK Punk that Nancy could have been killed by Rockets Redglare, a bodyguard and drug dealer who he claimed may have stabbed her after she'd confronted him about stealing.

Strongman said in his book that Redglare was even heard boasting about committing the murder at CBGB, a punk bar in New York.

Redglare died in 2007 and the true story of Nancy's death has never been discovered.

Pistol is available to watch in full on Hulu now.