MAGNESS PLANNED TO ENTER REHAB

Friend: Cable Heir May Have Died Of Heart Problem

Kim Magness, heir to a billion-dollar cable television fortune, was trying
to turn his life around after a longtime battle with drugs, a family friend
said. Magness, 50, was found dead Saturday on the bathroom floor of a
Denver Tech Center hotel room.

His family believes he died of a heart problem. He had been "run down" and
in poor health recently, said Jack Levine, his personal attorney and family
friend.

"Our best guess is that it was a heart problem," Levine said Sunday.

Police called the death "suspicious" but did not confirm the cause of
death. Investigators hope to receive an autopsy report this morning, said
Denver police spokesman John White.

The family was told that no note was found at the scene, Levine said.

Magness' death came just two weeks after he resigned from the board of
Liberty Media Corp., the Douglas County-based company spun off from his
father's cable giant, Tele-Communications Inc., in the wake of a drug
arrest earlier this month.

He was scheduled to enter a rehab facility in Arizona over the weekend but
never made it, Levine said.

"It was to get his health back in shape. That was the plan," he said. "It
didn't work."

Magness was arrested in Glenwood Springs in 1973 on suspicion of possession
of heroin with intent to sell, according to Colorado Bureau of
Investigation records. And on March 7 he was arrested on suspicion of drug
possession after police said they found him with cocaine, marijuana,
prescription pain killers and drug paraphernalia in a Greenwood Village
hotel. That case was turned over to the district attorney last week, said
Lt. Lynn Spears, commander of the South Metro Drug Task Force.

Police found a rented Ford Explorer running while parked outside the
Woodfield Suites, 9009 E. Arapahoe Road. A check of rental records led
officers to Magness.

They found him in a room with an open door. A mirror was broken on the
floor, and drugs were in plain sight, police said.

Magness was taken to Swedish Medical Center after officers became concerned
about his high blood pressure and poor health. He was later released and
arrested.

After he was freed, Levine said, Magness called and said he wanted help.
"He wanted to straighten out his life."

Magness was voluntarily hospitalized for a week this month as he underwent
tests to see whether he was fit for rehab, Levine said.

He was supposed to enter a Tucson drug-treatment center on Friday but
pushed that off to Sunday. On Friday night, he ate dinner with friends at
Morton's of Chicago in downtown Denver and complained of nausea, Levine said.

Despite his failing health, Magness' death was a shock, Levine said,
"especially after he made such a strong commitment to get himself
straightened out."

Magness, who was going through a divorce from his wife, RaNae, has two
teenage children. He was living in hotels while his home was being
renovated, Levine said.

He spent Friday night at the Denver Marriott Tech Center, 4900 S. Syracuse St.

Hotel staff found his body on Saturday and called police. Magness was
declared dead at 1:54 p.m., according to a police report.

Police said they found items near the body that were suspicious, but did
not elaborate.

Family members did not return calls seeking comment.

Kim Magness and his brother, Gary, inherited the bulk of the fortune of
their father, Bob Magness, who died in 1996.

In the 1960s, Bob Magness founded cable giant TCI. Liberty Media was spun
off in the early '90s. Kim Magness joined the Liberty board of directors in
October.

In recent years, the brothers invested in the Mardi Gras casino in Black Hawk.

In 2000, Kim and Gary Magness were each worth $2.3 billion, according to
Forbes Magazine's annual listing of billionaires. Kim Magness was the 113th
richest person in the U.S. that year, Forbes said.

They were dropped from the list last year, when they were each estimated to
be worth $750 million.

Yet Kim Magness had no financial troubles and really didn't care about his
"ranking" among the world's billionaires, Levine said.

"That kind of publicity is not well-sought by most people."

Marilyn Robinson of The Denver Post contributed to this report.