A mother-of-four was allegedly "fed" heroin by her boyfriend who reportedly bragged he got away with killing her.
Kirsha Leader was taking morphine for back pain when she was given heroin, an inquest heard.
The steward of Premiership football club Cardiff City was found dead in her flat in Ely, Cardiff, by former boyfriend Christopher Raisis, who denied giving her the drug.
Her close friend Bernard Carlton, 65, told the hearing: "Kirsha would never take heroin, before she met Chris she wouldn't touch it.
"But Chris was feeding her heroin. She would be off her head and being sick all the time."
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Mr Carlton explained to the inquest that he received a text saying: "There's a rumour that Chris is bragging that he had got away with killing his missus."
The hearing was told Kirsha was "self-medicating" for severe back pain.
An almost empty bottle of the morphine was found near her body.
The 27-year-old was "struggling" emotionally after her mother died, her sister Emma killed herself and her children were taken into care.
In the weeks before her death Kirsha sent a text message to a friend saying: "I just want to go to sleep and not wake up."
Detective Constable Geraint Higgins said there was no sign that Kirsha had injected heroin and no one had been charged in connection with her death.
Post mortem tests found Kirsha had 234 milligrams of morphine in her blood along with heroin and a small amount of cocaine.
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Assistant Glamorgan Central Coroner Rachel Knight said the circumstances surrounding the tragedy were "unclear".
She said: "I have doubts about the credibility of Christopher Raisis but there is insufficient evidence for a verdict of unlawful killing.
"Kirsha was struggling to cope with life but I don't find she wanted to die.
"She was also struggling with pain and may have taken too many tablets."
Recording a narrative conclusion she said: "Kirsha was known to take illicit drugs and was self medicating with Oramorph and tablets.
"She was found dead in circumstances that remain unclear."
