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New court documents reveal Matthew Perry‘s last words and how certain events led up to his untimely death. The Friends actor’s assistant Kenneth Iwamasa regularly administered ketamine to his client.
Matthew Perry’s cause of death was “the acute effects of ketamine,” according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office. Contributing factors in the Friends actor’s death included drowning, coronary artery disease, and the effects of buprenorphine (used to treat opioid use disorder). Iwamasa was the one who found Perry face down in his tub on Saturday, October 28, 2023.
Related: Take a Look at the Chilling Texts Matthew Perry’s Doctors Sent Right Before His Death
On August 15, 2024, it was revealed that five people had been charged with causing Perry’s death, including his longtime personal assistant, Kenneth “Kenny” Iwamasa. US District Attorney Martin Estrada said in a press conference that Perry relapsed from his substance abuse issues last fall and the five people charged with his death “took advantage to profit for themselves.”
Where is Kenneth Iwamasa now?
Kenneth Iwamasa faces up to 15 years in prison after he pleaded guilty on August 7, 2024, to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death. He was Perry’s assistant since 1994.
On the day of his death, Iwamasa injected three doses of ketamine to Perry, first at 8:30 a.m., and again at 12:30 p.m., according to Iwamasa’s plea agreement. Perry asked Iwamasa 40 minutes laterto get the hot tub ready for him, saying to him his last words, “Shoot me up with a big one,” according to the plea agreement. Iwamasa left to run errands to find his client in the hot tub face down. Iwamasa did not have any medical training or specific knowledge of how to administer controlled substances, prosecutors say.
Iwamasa administered at least 27 shots of ketamine to his boss during the final five days. The assistant turned to Dr. Salvador Plasencia and Dr. Mark Chavez allegedly supplied the actor with about 20 vials of ketamine in exchange for around $55,000 in cash.
In texts obtained by the court, Iwamasa texted Plasencia if he could obtain the vials with “something besides cash” because “[i]ts hard to get to the bank on the fly with all that’s going on which happens so fast now.” Dr. P. responds that he has two bottles of ketamine to sell, and to meet him immediately at Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade to do the deal.
Iwamasa tells Dr. P. that he sent $3,000 by electronic payment, and that “I’m bringing 3 more leaving now.” Dr. P. sells Iwamasa the two vials for $6,000 at 12:30 a.m. on the morning of October 8. Court documents reveal that Iwamasa paid $55,000 for about 20 vials of ketamine a month before Perry’s death. Iwamasa also contacted Mark Fleming who supplied at least 25 vials of ketamine weeks before Perry’s death. He obtained the vials from Jasveen Sangha, dubbed “The Ketamine Queen.” Chavez and Fleming pleaded guilty while Plasencia and Sangha pleaded not guilty.
Image: Flatiron Books.
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