Cops Found Something Really Strange In Heath Ledger's Apartment The Day He Died

Batman is only as good as his villain and in this movie he had to grapple with the Joker.

The Clown Prince of Crime himself, who's been a staple of comic lore for decades.

When Heath Hedger was cast I REMEMBER the backlash was HUGE. People didn't think that the star could pull it off...

"How can the dude who was in 10 Things I Hate About You and Brokeback Mountain be the JOKER??"

But then he did this...

And basically was solidified as the single greatest interpretation of the Joker.

But there was a dark backstory about Heath Ledger that got him to the emotional place to play the role so perfectly.

And now that backstory is coming back in a weird way...

Before he died by accidental overdose, Ledger was having trouble sleeping and was likely related to the dark subject matter of the character.

He had immersed himself in the comic book reading material that was pivotal to understanding the character.

Page Six said that Ledger’s official cause of accidental death was the abuse of prescription drugs.

"We have concluded that the manner of death is accidental, resulting from the abuse of prescription medications," including sleeping pills, painkillers and anti-anxiety drugs, the report said.

He was only 28 at the time of his death on January 22, 2008. The full description says it was due to "acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam, and doxylamine."

But what we're finding out now is that police officers discovered that Heath Ledger's New York apartment was actually a SHRINE to the Joker.

Inside his apartment was a red and blue bound journal that had "The Joker" written on it.

It was filled with ominous, unsettling photographs, comic book strips and drawings of the character.

It also had clowns, hyenas, and a photo of Malcolm McDowell's sadistic character in A Clockwork Orange. The back pages of the book had the words, "Bye, Bye" scrawled across it.

A law enforcement source said:

"He was trying to make his role different from the roles of the other actors. He was even studying how to make his voice different from theirs."

"He was a perfectionist who clearly had a lot of respect for the character. All of that stuff was very tidy. He cared a lot about it," the source said.

But stranger still was the fact that Detectives found Ledger's place at 421 Broome St. “immaculately clean.”

All the research and everything to do with the Joker was neatly stacked.

When he was interviewed by Empire Magazine, he basically confirmed the toll it took on him:

"I sat around in a hotel room in London for about a month, locked myself away, formed a little diary and experimented with voices."

"I ended up landing more in the realm of a psychopath someone with very little to no conscience towards his acts," Ledger said.

“He’s just an absolute sociopath, a cold-blooded, mass-murdering clown … Nothing intimidates him, and everything is a big joke.”

So the question is: did the role accidentally do too much damage to his mental state?

COMMENT and tell us what you think! R.I.P. Heath.