The Mysterious Death of Shalimar Seiuli

Shalimar Seiuli was born on July 6, 1976 in American Samoa. Shalimar, a pageant competitor, won Miss Island Queen in 1993 and relocated to Los Angeles, California to translate a stage career over into a position as a fashion designer. This didn't work out, so Seiuli, a young transsexual went to the streets of Santa Monica Boulevard to work as a prostitute. It was one fateful night out on the streets, that Shalimar, known well to Los Angeles police as a sex worker, would step into the SUV of a very famous actor all the while being watched by the cops. The story that follows after launched Shalimar into infamy and off the streets, as her fellow famous driver became tabloid fodder and the punchline of jokes for late-night comics.

On May 2, 1997 at 4:55 AM Shalimar was out working the streets of Santa Monica Boulevard, a slow night, until she was approached by a Toyota Land Cruiser with actor Eddie Murphy in the driver's seat. A well-known and wealthy actor, Seiuli jumped right in to service Eddie who had then recently completed filming a family friendly movie, The Nutty Professor, to re-launch a more appropriate image after some scandals in which he was embroiled in.

The SUV was quickly pulled over by police. Murphy was let go; fooling cops into thinking he was just "being a good samaritan" by "offering Shalimar a ride". Seiuli however was arrested for an outstanding warrant on prostitution charges. By morning the story made international headlines; allowing Shalimar to have her bail paid for by a tabloid looking to gain an "inside scoop" on her "wild ride" with Eddie.

Through her rising infamy, Seiuli was able to leave prostitution successfully; opting to work as a house madame for nightclub, 7969 in which she performed S&M-related shows with live snakes. Actors Charlie Sheen and Demi Moore reportedly attended her shows.

Sadly on April 22, 1998 barely one year after her rise to public attention, Shalimar's dead body, clad only in lingerie was found on the pavement outside of her apartment building by her neighbor. The police investigation hypothesized that Seiuli suffered an accidental fall from the fifth story of her building, after accidentally locking herself out of her apartment. Through access to the roof, she attempted to use her robe as a rope to swing from the roof to an open window but was unsuccessful; falling five floors to her death.

The unusual nature of her death led to many believing that Shalimar was a hit by Eddie Murphy to stop the release of a tell-all book that she was writing on her experience with Eddie. This could never be proven despite Seiuli receiving death threats from fans of Murphy who thought she was tarnishing his image for her own personal gain. Family and friends later disclosed that Shalimar was left emotionally distraught after this; traveling in isolation under various pseudonyms as a result.

Seiuli's life story was turned into a play in 2015 by Victor Rodger which premiered at the Auckland Fringe Festival with Amanaki Prescott as the role of Shalimar Seiuli.