There's no doubt about the death spiral financing. It's in the 10K and the 10Qs. And death spiral converts don't show up as short, nor do they pay $2 a share or anything to the MMs. They simply let them know that they'll sell at X and cover before settlement by converting their debt - at a huge discount to the selling price.
There's almost always weak buying in a death spiral situation. Why would anyone want to hand a profit to another investor and then think they could compete while they pay market price and the other guy pays 45% less - or even less?