Matthew Perry’s “street dealer” Erik Fleming, the former film director who pleaded guilty to two charges in the ‘Friends’ actor death probe, managed an upscale rehabilitation facility where a patient died due to “overdose”.
According to the Department of Justice, Fleming supplied multiple ketamine vials to the actor’s live-in personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, in the days preceding his death in October 2023.
In an exclusive report, The Hollywood Reporter revealed Fleming worked as the sober living manager and program director of Red Door, a posh treatment facility in Bel-Air. In January 2021, the centre witnessed the death of William Cooney, a 36-year-old patient, due to an overdose.
Red Door attorney shares crucial details
While Fleming was employed by the clinic at the time of Cooney’s demise, Red Door attorney Michael J. Plonsker told THR that he “was not in the facility on the day” of his death.
Plonsker, citing federal health confidentiality regulations, declined to speak further on Cooney’s passing.
He, however, mentioned that the centre runs at “the highest levels of client care” and that “Red Door and its founders bear no responsibility for his death.”
In contrast to his statement, the staff members and former patients, who talked with THR for a previous probe into Red Door’s carelessness and negligence, stated Cooney was able to get supply of the drugs that claimed his life because the medical facility wasn’t adequately evaluating him or keeping an eye out for any potential relapses.
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Actor Brooke Mueller’s link with Cooney
Actor Brooke Mueller, who is reportedly assisting the investigation team with the probe into Perry’s overdose, was seeing Cooney at the time of his demise. She is claimed to have known Fleming for a long time.
According to Sarah Morse, Cooney’s ex-wife, his bond with Mueller was a crucial turning point in her ex-spouse’s addiction.
She told THR, “When I look back at when things truly began to unravel, it all started when he met Brooke Mueller, who also struggled with addiction.”
Despite the fact that Red Door was known for its “bad reputation,” Mueller and her friend Fleming, “insisted” that Cooney enroll into the facility, Morse claimed.
According to people close to Cooney, relatives and close friends kept pressuring law enforcement to investigate Red Door and its affiliates after the Los Angeles Police Department wrapped up its investigation into his death.
