Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/Kevin Winter
Topics: Matthew Perry, Friends, Crime, News, Documentaries, ITV
Niamh Shackleton
Topics: Matthew Perry, Friends, Crime, News, Documentaries, ITV
More details into the investigation into Matthew Perry's death have been revealed in a new documentary.
Perry died at the age of 54 in October 2023, something which shocked the world.
His cause of death was later ruled as an accident from the effects of ketamine. Other contributing factors in Perry’s death included 'drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine', per the examiner's report.
Five people have since been charged in connected to Perry's untimely passing, including Dr Salvador Plasencia.
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Plasencia has admitted guilt to four counts of distribution of ketamine which is believed to have contributed to Perry's death.
Dr Mark Chavez, Perry's assistant Kenneth Iwamasa, go-between Eric Fleming, and alleged drug dealer Jasveen Sangha have also all agreed to plead guilty to some charges in the case.
Damning evidence about Plasencia's involvement in supplying drugs to the Friends alumnus have been revealed, including a chilling eight-word text message he sent Chavez.
Reportedly Plasencia sold 20 vials of ketamine to Perry for $55,000. In a text to Chavez on this, he said: "I wonder how much this moron will pay."
Now, more details about these messages have been revealed in an new Peacock and ITV documentary titled Matthew Perry: A Hollywood Tragedy.
Martin Estrada, who was United States attorney for the Central District of California from September 2022 to January 2025, featured in the doc and shed light on the investigation.
Discussing the texts between Chavez and Plasencia, he said: "Dr. Pacentia was very clear in text messages and other messages in saying that he saw this as an opportunity to make a lot of money in a short amount of time.
"He allegedly did just that. The indictment contains evidence that he sold in a month 20 vials of ketamine to Mr. Perry in exchange for $55,000."
Estrada continued (via Mirror Online): "They even talked about the fact that this wasn’t the right way to administer ketamine yet this was a golden opportunity to make money. At one point, Dr. Plasencia writes to Dr. Chavez, 'I wonder how much this moron will pay.'"
Former LA police officer Greg Kading also featured in the documentary and revealed that Chavez and Plasencia were chatting via an encrypted app.
"Often times people think that because it’s an encrypted app, law enforcement can’t access it but that’s not the case," Kading explained. "Often times law enforcement is ahead of the game. Within the indictment, there's a whole plethora of criminal activity."
He added: "There was just such a degree of almost disdain for Mr. Perry and these are medical doctors."
Matthew Perry: A Hollywood Tragedy is available to watch on Peacock in the US and ITVX in the UK.