Matthew Perry’s stepfather Keith Morrison breaks silence on arrests

Matthew Perry‘s stepfather Keith Morrison has spoken out after multiple people were arrested  in connection with the actor’s death on Thursday.

The Friends star died in October 2023, aged 54, from the acute effects of ketamine, and five defendants were charged with offenses related to the death. 

‘We were and still are heartbroken by Matthew’s death, but it has helped to know law enforcement has taken his case very seriously,’ the Dateline correspondent, 77, said in a statement. 

‘We look forward to justice taking its course and we’re grateful for the exceptional work of the multiple agencies whose agents investigated Matthew’s death.’

Morrison concluded: ‘We’re hoping unscrupulous suppliers of dangerous drugs will get the message.’

Perry’s mother Suzanne Perry married Morrison in 1981 and the actor has credited his stepfather with bringing his family back together after his parents rocky separation.  

Suzanne and Matthew’s father John Perry were married from 1968 to 1970.

Following the arrests, sources told USWeekly that Perry’s family friends were ‘blindsided’ and ‘saddened’ by the arrest of his personal assistant Kenneth. 

‘When Matthew’s [previous] assistant left they didn’t hire a new one for a while,’ the insider added. ‘Matthew wasn’t acting at the time so someone was needed only to handle his life and around the house.

‘Kenny presented himself to be a decent person.’

Perry’s autopsy report in December revealed that he died from acute effects of ketamine, with his death officially ruled as accidental.

On Thursday, U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada announced charges against Jasveen Sangha, dubbed ‘The Ketamine Queen,’ and licensed physician Dr. Salvador Plascencia. 

Kenneth Iwamasa, Perry’s personal assistant, had earlier pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ketamine resulting in death. 

Additionally, Erik Fleming and Dr. Mark Chavez face separate charges for their roles in the ketamine distribution conspiracy, as revealed by the Department of Justice. 

Officials accuse the five individuals of deliberately supplying Perry with ketamine, taking advantage of his addiction, and trying to hide their involvement after his death. 

U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada noted that Perry had relapsed into addiction in the fall of 2023, just before his death. 

‘These defendants took advantage of Mr. Perry’s addiction issues to enrich themselves,’ Estrada said during a press conference.

Los Angeles police said in May that they were working with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service with a probe.

It previously emerged that Charlie Sheen’s ex-wife Brooke Mueller was among those who had been interviewed ‘multiple times’  by LAPD in relation to the death.

However, she has not been named as one of those arrested, per TMZ.

Mueller and Perry reportedly bonded during a stint in rehab. She has remained adamant that she had nothing to do with her friend’s death. 

The outlet also reports the search warrant uncovered text messages discussing Perry and the ketamine he wanted, including how much he would pay for it. 

The investigation additionally is said to have revealed other celebrities connected to the drug scene. 

Local police and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents interviewed some ‘key people in Hollywood’ who are known drug users. 

Beloved actor Perry had been receiving prescribed ketamine therapy to treat his anxiety and depression.

But he had not had one of those treatments for a week-and-a-half prior to his death.

That means the ketamine found in his system after he drowned in a hot tub at his LA home had not been prescribed.

Perry’s at the age of 54 shocked the world. An autopsy attributed his death to the ‘acute effects of ketamine.’

The amount in his blood was in the range used for general anesthesia during surgery.

It was listed as the primary cause of death, which was ruled an accident with no foul play suspected, the report said.

The actor had been open about his struggles with substance abuse. 

In 2022, he said he estimated he had that spent $9 million battling his addictions across 15 rehab stays.

In a tell-all memoir, Perry claimed that he was finally sober after multiple failed attempts to get clean.

Later, sources told DailyMail.com that the ‘reclusive’ star would have younger hook-ups from the dating app Raya to deliver drugs to his house even while he was under the 24/7 care of a nursing team.

Despite having a nursing team at his $6 million Pacific Palisades home as well as a live-in sober companion, Perry managed to have casual hook-ups sneak him illicit drugs without detection, sources explained in December 2023.

‘He would meet girls on dating apps and have them come over,’ insiders claimed.

‘There was a slew of 21 to 25-year-olds that he would meet on Raya. They would bring drugs with them. It was mostly Oxycontin [a powerful opioid pain killer]. 

‘He would also get illicit drugs from old girlfriends, there was a kind of network,’ a source said.

The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner ruled that Perry died from an accidental ketamine overdose on October 28, 2023.

He drowned in ‘the heated end of his pool,’ the autopsy report said, but that it was a secondary factor in his death.

The examiner’s report does not specify how or when Perry had consumed the fatal dose of ketamine. 

But it found that trace amounts were detected in his stomach, and that prescription medications and loose pills were present at his home.

No alcohol was detected in his system by the autopsy report. Nor were there any traces of other drugs such as cocaine, heroin or fentanyl.

Perry’s ex-girlfriend Kayti Edwards who dated Perry in 2006 and worked as his assistant in 2011 at the height of his drug addiction has previously called for cops to investigate medical staff, ‘to see if he had a deal with any of them to give him some ketamine on the side‘.

The arrest are not the first to be brought in the case of a celebrity’s fatal overdose.

Following Michael Jackson’s 2009 death, his physician Dr Conrad Murray was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter after providing him with a lethal dose of propofol. 

In 2021, prosecutors in New York brought charges against four men who supplied The Wire actor Michael K Williams with fentanyl-laced heroin.