Palauan woman named Metauie, who became his wife. His friends attempted to keep him from drinking, but by then, he had a coterie of native boys who would obtain his alcohol for him. He continued to drink excessively, and his health continued to deteriorate. On May 12, 1923, he was unable to obtain any alcoholic beverages as the result of his friends attempting to keep him sober, and he unsuccessfully looted the home of his friend William Gibbons in search of drink. Aware of Ellis's condition, the Japanese police had two bottles of whiskey delivered to him; he consumed them both, and died later the same day from the effects of excessive alcohol intake. Ellis' death In contemporary newspaper accounts and in later years, numerous conspiracy theorists alleged that Ellis was assassinated by Japanese military authorities, who may have poisoned the whiskey they sent him on his last day alive; however, detractors of such theories note that Ellis was known to have a severe drinking problem and likely died from an alcohol-related illness such as cirrhosis of the liver. Ellis' official medical records indicate that not long before his death, he was admitted to a naval hospital for treatment of delirium tremens and hallucinations. Ellis researcher and author Dirk Anthony Ballendorf noted that tremors and hallucinations like the ones Ellis experienced are often attributable to depression and alcoholism: That the Japanese would have placed poison in his whiskey is unlikely since, for Ellis whiskey itself was poison enough. Question also arose because the agent sent to investigate the circumstances of Ellis' death, who was the only one known to have seen Ellis's body and its condition before it was cremated, died before he could provide a report of his findings. Chief Pharmacist Lawrence Zembsch—who had treated Ellis during his hospitalization—traveled on a Japanese steamer to Palau, where he stayed at the Japanese officer's barracks. After talking to Japanese authorities who had dealings with Ellis (including the medical officer), Zembsch witnessed and photographed the exhumation of Ellis's body and its cremation, taking custody of the remains when this was completed. Zembsch became ill and suffered a nervous breakdown on the return voyage, and was admitted to a hospital in Yokohama, which was soon after buried by falling rubble in the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake. The urn containing Ellis's remains was found in the rubble, and returned to the United States. In