Massachusetts Celebrity’s Death Now Under A Criminal Investigation

This is a sad fact, Massachusetts friends and neighbors. The only thing worse than finding out one of your favorite local celebrities has passed away is finding out months afterward (after you've accepted and come to terms with it) that it happened under mysterious circumstances.

As many of you already know, in what was initially seen as an accident with no signs of foul play, "Friends" star Matthew Perry died from the effects of ketamine, an anesthetic used to help treat depression, chronic pain, drug and alcohol problems and more on October 18, 2023.

(Perry and the rest of the cast on the set for the filming of the episode, "The One That Could Have Been, Part One".)

Now, according to CBS News, the Los Angeles Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Agency are investigating further into Perry's death due to the findings of the autopsy.

(Perry attending a benefit for the Lili Claire Foundation in October of 2006.)

According to the autopsy report:

Perry's cause of death was not from his prior infusion therapy as the drug's half-life is just 3 to 4 hours, but rather the ketamine was taken in another manner.

The LAPD, DEA, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service are now looking into how Perry had so much ketamine in his system at the time of his death and how he came to possess it in general.

(Courtney Cox Arquette, Jennifer Aniston, and Matthew Perry on the set of "Friends".)

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Matthew Langford Perry, a native of Williamstown, was only 54 years old when he passed away in October of last year. Sadly, for a good portion of his life, Perry suffered from drug and alcohol addiction.

(Perry in January of 2017 as part of the press tour for "The Kennedys - After Camelot".)

Perry gained worldwide fame for the popular TV show, "Friends" on which he played the role of Chandler Bing. He appeared in numerous other TV shows such as "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip", a remake of "The Odd Couple", "The Good Wife", and "The West Wing" (for which he received an Emmy nomination).

(The entire cast of "Friends" for the episode, "The One Where They All Turn Thirty".)

Perry also starred or appeared in several feature films including 1996's "Fools Rush In" with Salma Hayek, 2000's "The Whole Nine Yards" and its sequel 2004's "The Whole 10 Yards" (both with Bruce Willis), and 2009's "17 Again".

(Perry attending a film premiere in Los Angeles in September of 2009.)

(Perry and special guest star Julia Roberts during the filming of the episode "The One After the Superbowl" which, indeed, aired after the Superbowl in 1996.)

(Perry attending Game 5 between the Los Angeles Kings and the New Jersey Devils during the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals.)

(Perry with castmates David Schwimmer and Matt LeBlanc during the filming of an episode from the seventh season of "Friends".)

(Perry with Bruce Willis at the after-party for "The Whole 10 Yards" in Los Angeles in April of 2004.)

For more on the story, please visit CBS News' website here. We'll forever miss you, Matthew.