Harboring the remains of Li Tobler

leading from

Alien

Li II

a) Rumours about a skeleton
There were horrible stories being handed around where it was made know that HR Giger kept a skeleton of his late wife or fiancée who had committed suicide. In his past, his girlfriend Li Tobler fell into a state of depression and took her life with a gun. More than one person had heard the rumour about the skeleton during the Alien production but HR Giger himself was kept unaware of the matter entirely. David Giler was told that the skull swinging in Giger's doorway belonged to his deceased wife, Briang Johnson, Sigourney Weaver and Ron Shusett also heard the rumour about Giger keeping the skeleton of his dead fiancée and but when Dennis Lowe talked to Giger about it in 2009, Giger didn't seem to be very surprised about the rumour.

b) Blood and bullet holes
However Bill Malone who had worked with Giger on concepts for film that were never made noticed that while he was at HR Giger's cottage when his paintings were stacked about four or five feet deep against the walls,  and one of them had little holes in it

Bill said to him "Giger, someone damaged your painting here"

Giger's response was "No, that's where my girlfriend blew her brains out."

Giger had left bullet holes with the blood on the painting as part of the art.

Li Tobler

Source Quotes

1. Ron Shusett There was always these horrible stories, we heard he kept the skeleton from his fiancée which had committed suicide. (Alien: Behind the scenes documentary,  1:08:12 approx)
2. David Giler: We walk into Giger's house which is floor to ceiling with all of Giger's drawings and you know, candles everywhere and what I'm told is the skull of his deceased wife swinging at the doorway.  (as reported from the Alien Evolution documentary interview)
3. William Malone (film maker): His flat was painted all black. All of the walls and his paintings were stacked about four or five feet deep against the wall. They're huge paintings. And one of them, as I was walking around, had little holes in it. I said, "Giger, someone damaged your painting here." He said, "No, that's where my girlfriend blew her brains out." Turned out to be true and he left the bullet holes with the blood on the painting as part of the art. (from Masters of Horror Explore the Art Hidden in the Nightmare By:stacilayne, Updated: 02-20-2010 http://www.horror.com)
4. Interviewer: tell us a little bit about your perception of GigerSigourney Weaver: Well I met Geiger when we were making the movie and he…his work is, you know, extremely powerful and bizarre and…but he himself is a delight, you know, he’s very funny, very charming, very mischevious. And, he always wore black, his girlfriend always wore black. And I had dinner with him a couple of times and they were so much fun. That’s what I would remember. And then you would hear these stories about how he has his wife’s skull or some sort of, kind of, you know morbid stuff in his house. And I think he has, you know, he has one persona as an artist and his persona as an artist is obviously not something I got to have dinner with. I just had dinner with a great, very charming, mischevious guy. (report from interview for Alien Evolution documentary)
5. Dennis Lowe: Brian Johnson told me that you have your bones from your first wife
   Giger: What my...?
   Dennis Lowe: The bones from your first wife
   Giger: No
   Dennis Lowe: No?
   Giger: No no!
   Dennis Lowe: Not anymore?
   Giger: Ah, you mean Li! no.
   Dennis Lowe: Was it Li?
   Giger :No. no-, no no
   Dennis Lowe:  So it's a myth
   Giger: Yus,
   Dennis Lowe: It is not true
   Giger: No-no, no, Shit. I'm not mad you know
   Dennis Lowe: No, no I know that
   (Giger laughs)
   Dennis Lowe: No, no,  because I have to ask that because it's good to have this recorded
   Giger: No, that's no true
   Dennis Lowe: Yes, yes.
   Giger: It's Shit (giggle)
   Dennis Lowe: No no
   Giger: Yah, they are tell, they are telling that, oh my god
   Dennis Lowe:  You know, so, it's, it, the thing is, what I'm trying to do you see  with this film is is to get,  you know there's nothing but people talking
   Giger: yuh yuh
   Dennis Lowe: It's to get the truth
   Giger: At least, I can tell you that's not true (giggle)
   Dennis Lowe:  'cause that's the idea of somebody's film trying to get the truth and not the myths. (outtake from Dennis Lowe's Alien Makers 3 documentary interview with HR Giger)