Matthew Perry’s “street dealer” Eric Fleming, the former film director who pleaded guilty to two charges in the investigation into the ‘Friends’ actor’s death, managed a high-end rehab facility where a patient died of an “overdose.”
According to the Justice Department, Fleming supplied several ketamine vials to the actor’s personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, in the days before his death in October 2023.
The Hollywood Reporter revealed in an exclusive report that Fleming worked as the sober living manager and program director of Red Door, a posh treatment facility in Bel-Air. In January 2021, a 36-year-old patient at the center, William Cooney, died of an overdose.
Red Door lawyer shares important details
Though Fleming was working at the clinic at the time of Connie’s death, Red Door attorney Michael J. Plonsker tells THR that he “was not at the center” on the day of her death.
Plonsker declined to comment further on Connie’s death, citing federal health privacy rules.
However, he pointed out that the centre operates at the “highest level of customer care” and that “Red Door and its founders are not responsible for his death.”
Contrary to his statement, staff members and former patients who spoke to THR for a previous investigation into Red Door’s negligence and neglect said Connie was able to receive the drugs that killed her because the medical facility did not adequately evaluate her or monitor for any potential recurrence.
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Actor Brooke Mueller’s relationship with Connie
Actress Brooke Mueller, who is reportedly assisting the investigation into Perry’s overdose, was meeting Cooney at the time of his death. She is said to have known Fleming for a long time.
According to Cooney’s ex-wife Sarah Morse, his relationship with Mueller was a turning point in her ex-husband’s drug addiction.
“When I look back at when things really started, it all started when he met Brooke Mueller, who was also struggling with addiction,” she told THR.
Morse claimed that despite the fact that the Red Door was known for its “bad reputation,” Mueller and his friend Fleming “insisted” that Connie should enroll in the facility.
According to those close to Connie, even after the Los Angeles Police Department completed its investigation into her death, relatives and close friends continued to pressure law enforcement to investigate Red Door and its associates.
