Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - CELEBS NIGHTMARE: ‘KETAMINE QUEEN’ SELLS MATTHEW PERRY DEADLY DOSE, MAKING DEAL?

Episode Date: August 28, 2024

Prosecutors have already implicated Jasveen Sangha, known as the "Ketamine Queen," who sold the drug involved in Matthew Perry's death. She is also connected to other customer deaths, and prosecutors believe there are likely more victims given the volume of drugs Sangha sold. Sangha remains in custody without bond in connection with Perry's death. Drug dealer Eric Fleming, who reportedly served as a program director at the Bel-Air rehab Red Door, also had a resident die of an overdose while under his watch. Additionally, Brooke Mueller’s close connections to suspects Fleming and Sangha have emerged. Mueller spent time with Sangha during one of her rehab stints, and Fleming is reportedly a godfather to one of Mueller’s children. Mueller is said to have pressured her then-boyfriend William Cooney to join Fleming’s rehab program, where Cooney overdosed and died. Mueller may have introduced Fleming and Sangha to Perry as a means to facilitate his addiction. Federal prosecutors report that Mueller is cooperating with the investigation and is not facing any charges. Court documents reveal the close ties between Sangha, Fleming, and assistant Kenneth Iwamasa. Iwamasa told Fleming he "cleaned up the scene" by disposing of ketamine vials and syringes and "deleted everything." Fleming then informed Sangha that he believed they were protected since he never dealt with Perry directly, only through Iwamasa, who would be considered Perry's "enabler." In their communications, Sangha and Fleming refer to Perry using the code name "Chandler." The doctor directly implicated in Matthew Perry’s ketamine overdose, Dr. Salvador Plasencia, continues to practice at his Calabasas urgent care clinic. The clinic remains open but must post details of Plasencia’s felony case at the front door. While Plasencia still holds an active medical license, he has surrendered his DEA registration number and is not permitted to prescribe controlled substances. Dr. Mark Chavez faces similar restrictions. Joining Nancy Grace Today: Rowena Chiu - Activist and Former Assistant to Harvey Weinstein;  New York Times Guest Essay Author: “I Was A Celebrity Assistant. The Power Imbalance Is Very Real.”  Dr. Bethany Marshall – Psychoanalyst; Instagram & TikTok: @drbethanymarshall, X: @DrBethanyLive, Appearing in the latest season of “Paris in Love” on Peacock – BOOK: “Deal Breaker: When to work on a relationship and when to walk away”, Xr:@DrBethanyLive  Mike McCormick – Owner and Lead Investigator of M.C.M. Investigations (Los Angeles); Former LAPD Detective for over 25 years (worked Gangs for 5 years); Facebook: MCM Investigations Dr.Todd Barr - Board-Certified Anatomic/Clinical/Forensic Pathologist, Testified in Shawn Grate serial killer case; Featured in "Thin Places: Essays From In Between" by Jordan Kisner  Kayla Brantley  –  Reporter-At-Large for DailyMail.com, X: @_KaylaBrantley, Instagram: @KaylaBrantley See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. It's a celebrity's nightmare. The so-called ketamine queen who sells Friends star Matthew Perry that deadly dose of ketamine. Is she making a deal? In exchange for what? Is she talking to the feds, naming names? This as a so-called new Dr. Death, the doctor who was, quote, overseeing Matthew Perry's treatment, is back in his office. What? He's not behind bars. He's in his office treating other patients,

AKA victims. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. Did the drug dealer dubbed the Ketamine Queen refer to Matthew Perry by his friend's character name? And that would be his affinity, Matthew Perry's affinity with Batman. And he would call himself Mattman. But according to sources, the so-called ketamine queen, Jasveen Songha referred to him as Chandler in their texts and emails when they would talk about

drugs and drug deliveries. Codename Chandler. Wow, that was a toughie. A lot going down in the Matthew Perry case. With me, an all-star panel, but let's just go back to reality. Listen. Federal prosecutors allege that Perry first obtains ketamine from an unscrupulous doctor aiming to take advantage of the actor's addiction issues. Dr. Salvador Placentia teaches Perry's live-in assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, how to administer the drug and provides ketamine to both Perry and Iwamasa at exorbitant prices. When the drugs become too expensive, Perry and Iwamasa turn to street dealers, including Jasveen Sangha,

dubbed the Ketamine Queen. What? There's a doctor who, by the way, is back in his office under one condition. He's got to tell his patients, aka victims, that he can no longer supply them with DEA controlled substances.

Yes, he's back at work. Matthew Perry is dead and he is not in a jail cell. He is back at work. Um, let me understand exactly what's happening, but first there's no doubt about it. In the last hours, a very dear and intimate friend of Matthew Perry says she doesn't think that ketamine is the cause of death. Why? And what would be the cause of death? And what leads her to say that? This is what the medical examiner has to say. The Los Angeles medical examiner determined that 54-year-old Matthew Perry died from the acute effects of ketamine. Other contributing factors listed were drowning, coronary artery disease, and the effects of buprenorphine. Buprenorphine is used to treat opioid use disorder. The manner of death has been ruled an accident.

Joining us, an all-star panel to make sense of what we're learning right now. But with me, a special guest, Rowena Chu, activist and former assistant to Harvey Weinstein. His name tastes like dirt in my mouth. Convicted on multiple rapes. And she has just written a New York Times guest essay. I was a celebrity assistant. The power imbalance is very real. Rowena Chu, thank you for being with us. I enjoyed your article. I read it several times over and I try to compare what you're saying and your situation with Harvey Weinstein. May he rot in hell, to Matthew Perry's assistant. Number one, Matthew Perry was not a criminal and was not a rapist. Number one.

But you point out assistants often do things that are, let me just say, legally and ethically questionable. In your case, what does that mean? In my case, I worked for Harvey for only a couple of months, and so I didn't have the opportunity to do things that were ethically and legally immoral. But I was making the point that the power imbalance is so huge that assistants don't get the chance to say no. You also pointed out a quote that compared assistants that may do illegal acts or unethical acts to the guards at Auschwitz, that they knew what was happening was wrong. And you make a very subtle yet important distinction. Explain. The comparison was really with ordinary folks that lived in Nazi Germany, whether or not

you can hold them accountable for the events that happened in the country. So I'm really making a point about bystanders that don't have any real power themselves. And they have they are essentially invisible or they don't have an identity of their own and they don't have the autonomy to make decisions. And so I feel that celebrity assistants, I also call them butlers. I constantly felt that I was invisible. I had no autonomy. I frequently didn't really have a name of my own. I would call people up and say, I'm calling from Harvey Weinstein's office, but I wouldn't mention my own name because I was that insignificant. So when you're in a power balance where you're that insignificant, I think it is incredibly

difficult to be then thrust into the spotlight and held responsible for something as serious as somebody's death. I think that I am attempting to shed light on the fact that Kenneth Iwamasa may have had absolutely zero choice in a way that the ordinary person can't understand. He was a living assistant. The power imbalance would have been enormous. At the end of your article, I noted that you stated it is often too easy to turn the butler into the scapegoat. Do you believe that Matthew Perry's assistant who injected him with that deadly dose is a scapegoat. I think he might have been put in an incredibly difficult situation. Not only was his employment on the line, but likely his involvement in the industry as a whole. It could have been that he did not have another residence.

And so as a live-in assistant, you know, really, there's a power dynamic on many different levels. I also think in the Weinstein case, at least, that there were many circles of power, enablement, and entitlement that were far more deserving of perhaps the legal system going after them than assistants. You know, for example, Harvey Weinstein had accountants and board members that certainly knew of what was happening. So I think the assistants, I'm merely making the point that the assistants, I suppose, are the lowest rung on the ladder. And I think to hold them accountable and responsible for the actions taken by a celebrity doesn't take into account the enormous power difference

between a celebrity and his assistant. Rowena Chu is joining us, activist, former assistant to Harvey Weinstein, who has just written a guest essay for The Times titled, I Was a Celebrity Assistant, The Power Imbalance Is Very Real. Miss Chu, I deeply respect you and what you have to say and your viewpoint, and I highly, highly disagree with you. In your case or some other assistants, not necessarily Weinstein's other assistants, comparing that to what Irwin Massa did in Perry's case, knowing that he had had seizures just 16 days where he was unable to move or speak after a ketamine injection. Knowing that I consider this much, much more serious.

But I'll circle back to you, Ms. Chu, in just one moment. And again, I do appreciate what you're saying, but I find it vastly, vastly different than the case of Matthew Perry's assistant. Speaking of the facts, let's go to Kayla Brantley joining us, investigative reporter with the Daily Mail, who's been on this case from the very, very beginning. What I find very interesting right now is that it's all business as usual. Matthew Perry dies in the hot tub with a fatal overdose. The doctor is already back at work taking patients like nothing happened. He had to put up like a hundred thousand dollar bond. Really? That's $10,000. And regular people talk, you put up 10%. He's gone. He's out. The so-called ketamine queen has not been sentenced. The assistant Kenneth Iwamasa has not been sentenced. Why? I think that the feds, have you ever seen a cat with a little

mouse just back and forth and back and forth until it bites its head off? I think that's what the feds are doing right now. They're playing, toying with the various defendants in order to get them to talk, to name other celebrity doctors and other pill mills headed by doctors in LA and other celebrities. I think that's what's happening. But to you, Kayla Brantley, Daily Mail, tell me the latest. We've got the doctor back to work. A lot of people haven't been sentenced. The other celebrity doctors, including one that just got shot in the last day, a celebrity doctor. He was assassinated in his parking lot following all of the drama surrounding Matthew Perry's death and what's being uncovered.

Hamid Mirchoje was shot in his parking lot. He was a celeb doctor focusing on addiction. But I bet a lot of celebrities and A-list doctors are quaking in their boots right now, Keala. What's happening? Yeah, Nancy. So what we know so far, at least when it comes to Matthew Perry, is that Dr. Salvador Plasencia, he is back practicing. He is forbidden by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the DEA, of prescribing controlled substances.

He turned over his license that would let him prescribe, but he can still practice medicine under certain conditions. He works at an urgent care in Malibu. And the only difference now is that his patients have to sign a written consent form for treatment that basically acknowledges and discloses that he is under investigation. It lets them know what's going on. But his patients can still see him. He can still practice. The only difference is that he cannot provide lethal doses of ketamine as he is alleged to have done to Matthew Perry. And the same goes for Dr. Mark Chavez, who has also surrendered his DEA license and therefore cannot prescribe controlled substances. However, these men are

out able to practice, able to continue living their daily lives. As you said, Dr. Plasencia put up a hundred thousand dollar bond and he's out, but they will have to await sentencing and, you know, see if they can continue to live their life or if they'll play some music. Continue to live their life. Kayla Brantley, Daily Mail, Matthew Perry can't live his life and he's not the only one. We now have identified two potential suspects, but two potential victims, other victims of the ketamine queen, both dead. Um, but right now to Mike McCormick, owner lead investigator, MCM investigations, former LAPD over 25 years. You can find him at MCMMother, C Corpus,

mmotherinvestigations.com. Mike, really? Boo hoo. He can't prescribe control substances. That's his punishment. He's back in his fancy sports car and his fancy condo and his fancy office to the stars

making money hand over fist. He can't prescribe DEA controlled substances. I guess not. But you know what he can do? He can illicitly get another doctor, a straw doctor, as it were, as it were, to write those prescriptions for him. Um, let me think of an example. Okay. Psychologists cannot prescribe certain medications, right? They can't. They work in tandem with a psychiatrist and they get the psychiatrist to write the prescription. See what I mean? So he can be doing that. He can have a straw doc actually write the prescriptions.

This is such BS. Why is he not in a jail cell? Perry is dead. And you know what? Everybody's talking about his net worth. In fact, his home is being remodeled near the hot tub. Man, that's going right on the market. It's like it never happened. Exactly. Exactly. This is a this is a outcome of a lenient justice system, along with the fact that they're going to squeeze this doctor for additional doctors that are doing this or sources. You only die when you use needles. Matthew Perry's ex makes a shocking claim about his needle phobia, casting doubt on his ketamine death. The doctor directly implicated in Matthew Perry's ketamine overdose death is still practicing at his Calabasas Urgent Care Clinic. Dr. Salvador Placentia's clinic is open, but must advertise the details of Placentia's current felony case at the front door. Placentia still has an active medical license. However, the doctor has had to

surrender his DEA registration number and is not allowed to prescribe controlled substances. Dr. Mark Chavez has been subjected to the same restrictions. Boo hoo. As I said, this doc is back at his luxury practice and his luxury condo and his sports car living the life. Matthew Perry is dead. How can that be? Joining me, psychoanalyst to the stars, Dr. Bethany Marshall, author of Deal Breaker. And you can also see her on Peacock and find her at Drbethanymarshall.com. Dr. Bethany, I want to circle back with you about how this doctor can continue treating celebrity patients with the use of a straw doctor, how easy

that would be. But we now know this doctor, this doctor knew very well that Matthew Perry had actually seized up. In other words, he could not speak or move for an extended period of time, just 16 days before he died. Yet, everything was business as usual. Listen. Details of Perry's last days in a federal indictment reveal it was very clear to Dr. Placentia that Perry's ketamine injections were causing a total loss of awareness. The indictment documents three separate occasions

where Perry froze up after receiving the medication with Placentia commenting, let's not do that again. Defendant Placentia knew full well the danger of what he was doing. In fact, on one occasion, he injected Mr. Perry with ketamine and he saw Mr. Perry freeze up and his blood pressure spike. Despite that, he left additional vials of ketamine for defendant Iwamasa to administer to Mr. Perry. And he's free. If you or I caused the death of a superstar like Matthew Perry, we would be under the jail. So why is he free? And why is it very murky, very unclear as to the status of the other defendants? Because the feds are squeezing them to talk. That's why. Joining me, Todd Barr, Dr. Todd Barr, board certified anatomic clinical forensic pathologist. I'm very curious. Oh, yes. He's also

featured in Thin Places essays, essays from in between. Doctor, thank you for being with us. I've been researching and investigating what exactly happened to Matthew Perry when he, quote, froze up. That's hardly a medical description, but I've learned that there was apparently a significant spike in his systolic blood pressure. What does that mean? Hi, Nancy. Thank you. So a spike in his systolic blood blood pressure what does that mean hi nancy thank you uh so a spike in his systolic blood pressure just means that he is having a hypertensive crisis uh his blood pressure is elevated to a point okay right there right there what do you mean hypertensive crisis that means his blood pressure is at a high level, such a high level that it could cause death. I mean, people die from extreme fluctuations in their blood pressure.

Blood pressure is supposed to live in an average, in a normal range. If you get too high, it's hypertensive. If you get too low, it's hypotensive. And either of those, hyper or hypo, can cause death. So when he, quote, froze up, what does that indicate to you? Is that some sort of a stroke or a near stroke? What's a systolic spike in blood pressure? I would say the term froze up to me sounds more like a seizure-like activity, like a tonic-clonic seizure where the muscles contract and you get into this. Ketamine is actually known for its anti-convulsive properties. It's used to treat seizures, but in high doses, it can actually cause seizures. And as we know by the reports that are out there,

Mr. Perry was administered extremely high doses of this drug ketamine, which is an anesthetic drug. He was actually found with the levels that were compatible with surgery and anesthesia that you would need for surgical procedures. It reminds me a great deal of Conrad Murray injecting Michael Jackson with propofol. And it took, you know, hell and high water to get Conrad Murray charged and convicted. But even that conviction was not enough to send sufficient shockwaves through the celebrity doctor network in Hollywood. And now Matthew Perry is dead. You know, it's Kayla Brantley is joining me, investigative reporter with the Daily Mail. Kayla, I understand that the doctor who is now living alive, he's not in jail like everybody else would be connected to a death. He would provide the medication, the ketamine, along with ketamine queen for the assistant to make at home ketamine injections. Now I heard what Rowena Chu

said that the power balance is way off but shouldn't you know instinctively especially after Perry was having seizures just days before that you should not be injecting ketamine to Matthew Perry at home. I mean, this assistant needs to be in jail along with the doctor and the ketamine queen, the street supplier. They all need to be in jail and we need to know their sentences. So what's happening, Kayla? I don't understand. What's the holdup? Right. Well, Nancy, I also want to break down exactly how much ketamine was distributed to Matthew Perry. The doctors, Chavez and Plasencia, distributed 20 vials of ketamine to Perry for $55,000 in cash.

That's charging him $2,000 for a vial. And that vial cost Dr. Chavez just $12. So you can imagine how much money they were making off Perry. And that's the point that the prosecutors were making. Now the ketamine queen, Sangha, she sold about 50 vials of the drug to Perry with Fleming delivering the product that Eric Fleming, the Hollywood producer, and they sold it to him for $11,000. So these people were making a lot of money off of Perry's addiction. And they clearly knew, as you said, he was fusing up. And then you had the person who was injecting him, who was his trusted assistant. So you make a great point that, you know, these people should be held accountable. And that's exactly what the

prosecutors are trying to do. They distributed approximately 20 vials of ketamine to Mr. Perry in exchange for $55,000 in cash. Defendant Placentia saw this as an opportunity to profit off of Mr. Perry. He wrote in a text message in September 2023, quote, I wonder how much this moron will pay. He also stated in text messages that he wanted to be Mr. Perry's sole source of supply. He wrote in a text message that he wanted to be Mr. Perry's, quote found Perry in similar circumstances two times in the same week of his tragic death. Joining us, Rowena Chu, former assistant to Harvey Weinstein, who just wrote a New York Times guest essay. I was a celebrity assistant. The power imbalance is very real. You just heard other examples that

celebrity assistants have named. Do you believe that in this case, the assistant is being scapegoated or do you believe he is rightfully being prosecuted as it relates to Matthew Perry's death? I do believe he's being scapegoated. I mean, we just heard about how other players in this system are making insane amounts of money. And I ask you to think about what does the assistant stand to gain in that equation? What does the money have to do with it, Rowena? Would it make it okay if he was paid more money? Oh, no, absolutely not. I'm not saying that anybody was doing anything right. However, there's a big difference between the amounts of money the doctors and the drug dealers were making and what did the assistant stand to gain. I believe the assistant was just trying to survive. He wasn't making staggering amounts of money. And so

therefore his incentive to do what he did was very different from the doctors and the drug dealers. He wasn't out there trying to get something for himself. He was merely trying to survive his job. There's a big difference in that. So you believe the difference in whether he should be held criminally culpable is whether he was getting paid for shooting Matthew Perry up to his death? I don't think that there's a huge incentive for him to push this agenda. And therefore, I don't believe that he was pushing the agenda. He was merely doing what he was told to do under incredibly strenuous circumstances. So I'm merely saying that as a point of coercion, the assistant is not really this person who should be scapegoated,

that there are layers of privilege and abuse of power that are far greater than that. And, you know, we can easily point to doctors and drug dealers who were making vast amounts of money and had a huge incentive to push this kind of an agenda. And are actually still making vast amounts of money. Mike McCormick, joining me, lead investigator of MCM Investigations in Hollywood. Mike McCormick, all respect to Rowena Chu, but I think that's complete BS. I don't agree at all. Everybody in Hollywood is making money off celebs. Celebs are making money off the studios. The studios are making money off us and advertisers. That's how it works in Hollywood. It's like one blood sucker sucking on the next blood sucker, just like ticks, you know, stuck to the animal. But Mike McCormick,

why aren't they in jail, number one? And what do you make of what Rowena is saying, that the assistant is the scapegoat? I think they should all be put in the same pot to boil and all be tried together as it relates to Perry's death. Well, I don't think the assistant is being scapegoated. I just think he was being more loyal, just doing what the boss wanted him to do. It had nothing to do with money. It was job security and loyalty. Okay, hold on just a moment. Dr. Bethany Marshall, maybe I'm not articulating my point that well. The assistant lives in a mansion. He makes plenty of money. He rubs elbows with all of the stars.

He drives a beautiful luxury car. Maybe I'm not understanding his poor conditions. I don't see it. Nancy, I have a unique perspective on this because these assistants sometimes come to my office. One in particular was the major domo for one of the wealthiest men in the world and had to stand around serving Palomas to the family all day long, alcoholic beverages. And he became so disgusted because one of the family members was drunk all day long. He was traumatized. He came to therapy and said, I just cannot do this anymore. And he left the job. So yes, these assistants are vulnerable in the sense that they often do things they don't want to do, but they do have agency in the world. And I think in particular, when you are potentially committing homicide, that's a breach of duty.

That's lack of judgment that a 10-year-old knows not to do, right? We just know basically you don't kill somebody. If you administer a drug, they seize. You don't administer the drug again. I mean, I'm sorry, but this assistant could have gone and worked at a bar. I would prefer to scrub floors than to inject somebody with a substance that could kill them. It is just common sense. Of course, there's a power imbalance. Of course, there's a power imbalance.

Of course, there's a power imbalance in life for all of us. Exactly. You know, Kayla Brantley, I want to follow up on what Dr. Bethany is saying. Kayla Brantley joining us from Daily Mail. Kayla, we understand that Matthew Perry's mansion is being renovated, especially around the hot tub, the pool area where he died it seems as if for hollywood including the prosecutors it's just business as usual the doctor is back in his clinic treating patients making a ton of money there are no sentences on the people that have agreed to plead guilty. It just seems as if everyone's acting as though nothing happened. Matthew Perry is dead. These people, according to the feds, are responsible. Why aren't they behind bars, Kayla? And what, if anything, can you tell me about when these people are going to jail?

And one other question. Apparently, one of Perry's intimate friends states that he, Perry, was deathly afraid of needles. And she is questioning the real COD. Kayla, listen. One of Perry's former assistants and ex-girlfriend, Katie Edwards, says she does not believe Perry could have possibly been taking ketamine. Edwards describes Perry's intense fear of needles, saying he wouldn't even consider a tattoo due to the phobia. Edwards was no stranger to Perry's addiction and told him he would die in an argument over his drug use. Perry's response, quote,

You only die when you use needles, and I would never, ever do that. Kayla Brantley, what about it? This person, an intimate friend of Perry's, raising the specter of another COD cause of death. I understand that, Nancy, but it was Katie Edwards. She dated him back in 2006, worked as his assistant until like 2011. So while they were still friends, they hadn't dated in a while. And I understand that she said that he had a fear of this. But Matthew Perry himself had written in his book about these ketamine infusions that he was taking and how it felt and how it was helping him.

So I personally am not so sure of that theory. And you do have his assistant and everyone basically admitting to injecting him. And back to your point of why aren't these people, you know, behind bars and what's going on. I think right now it's just a waiting game. We have had plea deals, which have gotten us more information from the assistant,

from the friend, from one of the doctors. So I think we will be seeing more in due time. There will be a sentence. They will end up facing the consequences of their action. The feds say there are likely more victims of the infamous ketamine queen. Apparently celebrities and celebrity doctors alike across Hollywood are quaking in their boots, afraid that the so-called ketamine queen is going to rat them out in exchange for a sweetheart deal from the feds, the so-called ketamine queen, the one that supplied Matthew Perry with the deadly dose of ketamine that ended in his death. Are there other

victims? Yes. Listen. Jasveen Sangha sells Cody McLaury several vials of ketamine. Later that same day, McLaury's family finds him dead. A family member tells Songha her ketamine caused McLaury's overdose death, and Songha Googles, can ketamine be listed as a cause of death? There are likely more victims. Eric Fleming, who reportedly acted as a program director at the Bel Air Rehab Red Door, also had a resident die on his watch. William Cooney, 36, was found dead of a fentanyl overdose in his bathroom at the facility. So those are two alleged victims, two more victims of the Ketamine Queen. That makes three if those two victims are to be believed.

In fact, Cody's family is speaking out against the Ketamine Queen. And is she talking, is she making a deal with the feds to get a light sentence in exchange for ratting out other celebs and other doctors? Man, she needs a lot of money to support this lifestyle. So what is the connection between the ketamine queen and the other alleged victims all dead? Coming to light are Brooke Mueller's deep ties to suspects Fleming and Songha. Mueller spent time with Songha in one of her many rehab stints, and Fleming is reportedly a godfather to one of Mueller's children. Mueller reportedly pressured then-boyfriend William Cooney to join her at Powell Fleming's rehab program where Cooney overdosed and died.

Mueller may well have introduced Fleming and Songha to Perry as shortcuts to feed his addiction. Federal prosecutors report that Mueller is cooperating with the investigation and is not facing any charges. Let me understand. Joining us from DailyMail.com, the so-called ketamine queen, Songha, meets up with who in rehab? Now, let me see. It's Brooke Mueller, who apparently was very close to Matthew Perry. Now, how does that connect in to Songha, the dealer? Well, all roads are kind of leading back to Jasmin Sangha, the Ketamine Queen. She was a supplier of multiple people. And now we do find this connection between Brooke Mueller, who spent time with Matthew

Perry in rehab. They were close friends. And then we have Eric Fleming, who was a director at the rehab center where this man, William Cooney, had passed away so this all is a circular connection of going back to Sangha and I have been on the radar for a while back in March 2024 the feds raided her house and they called it a drug Emporium they these 79 bottles that some had tested positive for ketamine so this is no surprise that Jazmine Sponga is involved in this Matthew Perry case now. Two more alleged victims of this woman living the high life that supplied the deadly dose to Matthew Perry.

Now, would he be her third victim? Why is it taking that to bring her to justice? Are those investigations ongoing now? This by far is not the first time a celebrity has died with enablers circling them like vultures. Listen. Now an emergency. Hi, how you doing? This is security from Beverly Hilton.

Hi, what's going on? I need a paramedic. Apparently, I got a 46-year-old female found in the bathroom. Now an emergency. West or anything else? Is room 434? Yeah. Okay. And you don't know if she's conscious of breathing at all? Apparently she wasn't breathing and she's 26 years old. She was not breathing? Yeah. Whitney Houston surrounded by enablers. Ultimately it cost her her life. Then there is John Belushi, one of the greatest comedians that ever lived. He was shot up with drugs at the Chateau Marmont and his assistant did hard jail time after shooting him up. Bobby Christina, Whitney's daughter, OD. It goes on and on and on. Of course, Michael Jackson, Aaron Carter, Chris Farley went to rehab 16 times. His younger brother finds him dead in his apartment. Of course, Prince died of a deadly opioid injection. It goes all the way back to Elvis. China, Amy Winehouse, Anna Nicole spiraled down a drug hole while everyone supported that and enabled her.

Kurt Cobain, River Phoenix. It goes on and on. And the enablers are never brought to justice. Straight out to Mike McCormick, MCM Investigations. Don't you know the ketetamine Queen and all of them, they're like rats on a sinking ship, are ready to deal, ready to name names, addresses, phone numbers, little black books to save their own skin. You don't think they're talking to the feds right now? Oh, absolutely. Yeah. They're going to tell them everything they want to know to stay out of jail. As we go to air, we learn that there are vultures circling Matthew Perry.

Yes. His clothing, his wardrobe, his sofa, and other memorabilia reportedly up for auction. Again, like vultures circling a carcass. This, as we learned, there's a hold on sentencing for some of the defendants that have already agreed to plead guilty. Why? Why? And why is his doctor the one that allowed the fatal dose that killed him? Why is he back at work as if nothing happened? Business as usual? Joining me, an all-star panel to make sense of what we know right now. Do you believe, Kayla Brantley, that this signals the beginning of a celebrity, a celebrity doctor crackdown? I think it's very possible, Nancy, especially now that we have people who are making plea deals. You could see them speak and tell, you know, their networks of people and connections.

And this could be the crackdown at the beginning of a bunch of doctors who are prescribing people deadly, deadly medications. We have, from the police so far, people admitting, including his assistant, to covering up and cleaning up the scene by getting rid of syringes and ketamine vials. That's according to the pre-agreement and telling each other to delete things. So we see an orchestrated system from these people who are trying to get away with clearly knowing that they did something wrong. To Todd Barr joining us, Dr. Barr, board certified anatomic clinical forensic pathologist. Dr. Barr, what do you notice about the death certificate? So Nancy, I have a lot of real issues with the way this case was decided. As a forensic expert, I have been involved in prosecutions of crimes that involved other people distributing or administering drugs to a victim. The very definition of a homicide is death at the hands of another, period, whether it's by omission or commission. In this case, commission.

They brought in drugs. They injected them into Matthew Perry's body. They should be charged with a homicide. They should be charged with murder straight up. Everyone that's involved. Now, the second part of this is the official cause of death was listed as the acute effects of ketamine. And then other conditions or contributing conditions included drowning. Now, there are certain stigmata of drowning that you see at autopsy. If those are present, then a drowning occurred. So Matthew Perry's death is literally because of drowning.

But then there's a part B or drowning due to the intoxicating effects of ketamine. So he was so dissociative and anesthetized that he slipped under the water. If they're going to list drowning as a contributing factor, then that means they had evidence that he drowned. So it should have been listed as a drowning number one due to the effects of ketamine. And the manner of death should have been listed as homicide. So I have a very strong opinion about the way this death certificate was worded. And I believe that sometimes when it's worded this way, defendants get off a lot easier. Now, I don't know if in L.A. they have something going where they word these death certificates in a way so people get off a little easier. But that's my take. To Rowena Chu joining us, former assistant to Harvey Weinstein, now activist, who has just

written a New York Times guest essay called I Was a Celebrity Assistant. The power imbalance is very real. Thought to you, Rowena, what do you make of it all? I think there are levels of power that we could go after that are much more intense than that of the assistant. I think the assistant being the lowest rung on the ladder probably is the last person that anyone should go after because he has very little autonomy. I'm not saying that no one should be held accountable. I'm saying that there are levels of power above him that should be accountable before he is. Guys, we wait as justice unfolds in Matthew Perry's case. Nancy Grace signing off. Goodbye, friend.

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