Matthew Perry’s Death Probe: What to Know About Possible Charges

As the criminal investigation into Matthew Perry‘s death continues, an abundance of questions remain unanswered nearly a year after the Friends star was found dead in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home.

It’s been reported that a wide-ranging probe involving agencies at the local and federal level is looking into “multiple people” who may have supplied the ketamine that ultimately led to Perry’s death. That’s 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) — remains open.

But fans of the beloved late actor remain curious as to 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 not in any way connected to Perry or the investigation, to get some answers.

The investigation into Perry’s death is going on roughly eight months. Perry, best known for playing the beloved character Chandler Bing for 10 seasons on Friends, died on Oct. 28, 2023. He was 54. An autopsy report indicated that Perry died from the “acute effects of ketamine.” According to Perry’s initial autopsy report, the Friends 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 system could not be from that treatment since the drug’s half-life is under four hours. Since then, investigators have been looking into who may have supplied Perry with ketamine, and therein lies just one of the many complexities in the investigation.

“There’s a lot to investigate. They’re trying to get at who supplied him with this ketamine that was ultimately responsible for his death,” Lovell tells ET. “And there could be a number of ways it got to him. It could have been through his physicians, his doctors. It could have been through acquaintances.”

The bottom line is, investigators want to know how those drugs came to Perry and whether carrying out such action constitutes a crime. As for possible charges, Lovell deduces involuntary manslaughter is the possible scenario and likely charge, but it’s not so cut and dry.

“I think involuntary manslaughter is probably the most likely scenario. Involuntary manslaughter is the unintentional killing by someone who acts recklessly or in conscious disregard of someone’s life. So, it’ll be someone that didn’t mean to kill him but may have been aware [of the fact] that had they supplied ketamine or drugs to Matthew Perry there was a likelihood of [a] possibility he could have passed away [or] he could have died,” Lovell explains. So, I think the most likely charge would be involuntary manslaughter. If it’s really egregious — if a felony is committed — that could rise up to second-degree murder. But that would be an extremely difficult case, so I would assume that they’re targeting, if they are intending to press charges, probably targeting involuntary manslaughter.”

The criminal investigation into Perry’s death is a gargantuan effort. Not only is the LAPD, DEA and U.S. Attorney’s Office involved, but so is the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), an agency that enforces over 200 federal statutes related to crimes that involve the postal system, its employees and its customers. Those crimes include identity theft, mail fraud, money laundering, child exploitation, cybercrime and, yes, illegal narcotics.

“The government has been on a big push to clamp down on drug distribution. The fentanyl situation and other narcotics have been a big problem, so much of the government is getting involved,” Lovell explains. “The U.S. Postal Services gets involved primarily through the distribution of narcotics, possibly through the mail service and other avenues that fall within the purview of their jurisdiction.”

It remains to be seen if the infusion of heavy resources into this criminal investigation yields any results that lead to charges or a conviction in Perry’s death, and there’s ample evidence suggesting it could go either way.

Heath Ledger, Whitney Houston and Prince all tragically died from an overdose, but no individuals were charged in any of their deaths. Then there’s instances where death investigations did lead to convictions and subsequent sentencing, like with the late pop star Michael Jackson (his cardiologist was sentenced to four years in prison), rapper Mac Miller (his supplier was sentenced to 17 years behind bars) and Boardwalk Empire star Michael K. Williams (his supplier was sentenced to 10 years in prison), to name a few.

“It’s not unheard of to charge people that are providing drugs to somebody that ultimately passes away,” Lovell says. “But I think that the most likely scenario would be a situation where either a physician is providing drugs to Matthew Perry or some other drug dealer or acquaintance that may have been aware of his condition ahead of time. We don’t know for sure now.”

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