Court documents reveal more information about the hours before Matthew Perry’s death
New documents have revealed more information about the hours leading up to Matthew Perry’s death.
On Aug. 15, law enforcement revealed that five people were arrested in connection to the “Friends” star’s death. On Oct. 28, 2023, Perry died of a ketamine overdose.
While Perry’s death was ruled by the medical examiner to be accidental, the investigation into Perry’s death has revealed that he struggled with an addiction to ketamine.
Perry began taking the drug under the supervision of doctors treating him for depression and anxiety. Those doctors, Dr. Mark Chavez and Dr. Salvador Plasencia, alongside Perry’s live-in assistant Kenneth Iwamasa and a woman known as the “Ketamine Queen,” Jasveen Sangha have all since been arrested in connection with Perry’s death, USA Today reported.
A man by the name of Eric Fleming was the fifth person arrested in this case, Deadline reported.
As Deadline reports, U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said the five arrested “were part of a ‘broad underground criminal network’ that supplied ketamine to Perry and others. He said the suspects ‘took advantage of Mr. Perry’s addiction issues to enrich themselves.’”
Court documents have now revealed that Perry’s assistant was the last to see Perry alive. Iwamasa administered Perry a dose of ketamine shortly before his death, The New York Times reported, citing a plea agreement signed by Iwamasa. The documents also revealed some of Perry’s final words to his assistant.
Perry told Iwamasa to “shoot me up with a big one” before he administered that final dose of ketamine, according to Fox News.
Perry would be later found face down in his jacuzzi.
As Deadline reports, Iwamasa, Fleming and Dr. Chavez have all agreed to plead guilty. Sangha and Dr. Plasencia have pleaded not guilty.
Following the arrests, Perry’s stepfather, journalist Keith Morrison shared a statement, saying, “We were and still are heartbroken by Matthew’s death,” the family noted, “but it has helped to know law enforcement has taken his case very seriously. We look forward to justice taking its course.”
It was revealed in the medical examiner’s report that the amount of ketamine discovered in Perry system were equivalent to the amount used for general anesthesia during surgery.
Drowning, coronary artery disease, and buprenorphine effects were listed as contributing factors in his death.