Matthew Perry death investigation: Everything we know about possible charges and who could be held responsible

When the criminal investigation Matthew PerryThe death of Mr. B. continues, and even almost a year after the death of Mr. BB, many questions remain unanswered. Friends Star was found dead in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home.

It was reported that a comprehensive investigation involving local and federal authorities is looking into “multiple individuals” who may have supplied the ketamine that ultimately led to Perry’s death. This is the latest information in the case since ET confirmed last month that the Los Angeles Police Department’s investigation – with assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) – is still ongoing.

But fans of the beloved late actor remain curious about why the investigation is taking so long, what charges could arise from the investigation and who could be charged. ET spoke with entertainment attorney Tre Lovell, who is in no way affiliated with Perry or the investigation, to get some answers.

The investigation into Perry’s death will take about eight months. Perry, who is best known for his role as popular character Chandler Bing in 10 seasons of Friends, died on October 28, 2023He was 54. An autopsy report stated that Perry died as a result of “acute effects of ketamine.” According to Perry’s first autopsy report Friends The star was receiving ketamine infusion therapy for depression and anxiety. His last known treatment was more than a week before his death, but the ketamine in his body could not have come from that treatment because the drug’s half-life is less than four hours. Since then, investigators have been looking into who may have supplied Perry with ketamine, and that is just one of the many complexities of the investigation.

“There’s a lot of investigation to be done. They’re trying to figure out who gave him the ketamine that ultimately caused his death,” Lovell tells ET. “And there could be a number of different ways it got to him. It could have been through his doctors, his physicians. It could have been through acquaintances.”

The bottom line is that investigators want to know how the drugs got to Perry and whether this constitutes a crime. As for possible charges, Lovell concludes that manslaughter is the possible scenario and the likely charge, but it’s not that clear-cut.

“I think manslaughter is probably the most likely scenario. Manslaughter is the unintentional killing by someone who is acting recklessly or with a conscious disregard for the life of another person. So it’s going to be someone who didn’t mean to kill him, but was aware that Matthew Perry might have been deceased if they supplied ketamine or other drugs to him,” Lovell explains. So I think the most likely charge would be manslaughter. If it’s really egregious – if a crime is committed – that could go all the way up to premeditated murder. But that would be an extremely difficult case, so I would assume that if they want to bring charges, they’re probably targeting manslaughter.”

The criminal investigation into Perry’s death is a massive undertaking, involving not only the LAPD, DEA and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, but also the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), an agency that enforces over 200 federal laws related to crimes involving the postal system, its employees and its customers. These crimes include identity theft, mail fraud, money laundering, child abuse, cybercrime and, yes, illegal drugs.

“The government has made a big effort to curb drug trafficking. The situation with fentanyl and other narcotics has been a big problem, so a lot of the government is getting involved,” Lovell explains. “The U.S. Postal Service gets involved primarily through the distribution of narcotics, potentially through the Postal Service and other channels that fall under its jurisdiction.”

It remains to be seen whether devoting extensive resources to this criminal investigation will produce results that lead to an indictment or conviction in Perry’s death. There is ample evidence to suggest it could go either way.

Heath Ledger, Whitney Houston and Prince all died tragically from overdoses, but none of their deaths were prosecuted. Then there are cases where death investigations led to convictions and subsequent sentences, as in the case of the late Pop star Michael Jackson (his cardiologist was sentenced to four years in prison), Rapper Mac Miller (his supplier was sentenced up to 17 years behind bars) and Boardwalk Empire star Michael K. Williams (his supplier was sentenced up to 10 years in prison), to name just a few.

“It’s not unusual to prosecute people who give drugs to someone who ultimately dies,” Lovell said. “But I think the most likely scenario would be a situation where either a doctor gave Matthew Perry drugs or another drug dealer or acquaintance who may have known about his condition beforehand. We don’t know for sure right now.”

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