Matthew Perry’s sisters detail 'cruel joke' they struggle with after assistant 'repeatedly' injected him with ketamine
Matthew Perry's family have spoken out about the 'cruel joke' they still endure after Perry's assistant was found to have 'repeatedly' injected him with the drug, ketamine, prior to his death.
The actor was found unresponsive by his live-in assistant, Kenneth 'Kenny' Iwamasa, at his Los Angeles home on October 28 2023, with a coroner ruling he had died due to the 'acute effects of ketamine'.
Following Perry's death, five people have been convicted of playing a role.
Dr Salvador Plasencia was found to have obtained the drug for Perry illegally, meanwhile another doctor Mark Chavez charged with conspiracy to distribute ketamine and Perry's live-in assistant Kenneth Iwamasa was charged with conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death.
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Meanwhile, Erik Fleming admitted to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death, while a drug dealer dubbed the 'Ketamine Queen', Jasveen Sangha, admitted to five charges including one count of distributing ketamine resulting in death or bodily injury.
Ahead of Iwamasa's sentencing, Perry's family have spoken about what happened in a victim statement, obtained by Page Six.
Speaking of the assistant, Madeline Morrison - Perry's sister - said: “He had injected my brother with a lethal dose of ketamine and left him in a hot tub to die.
“It is difficult to put into words the sense of betrayal I felt when I found out what Kenny had done.
“Everything I believed about the day he died — everything Kenny told us — was a lie.
“The idea that someone my brother considered family could betray him in such an unimaginable way is something I never could have conceived.”
The Department of Justice determined that Iwamasa had 'repeatedly' injected Perry 'without medical training'.
Morrison also spoke about the moment that Iwamasa spoke at Perry's funeral, adding: “The person responsible for my brother’s death stood up and addressed the people who loved him most.
“That is like a cruel joke I still struggle with. He didn’t just take my brother’s life — he tainted our final memories of saying goodbye.”
Meanwhile, Perry's younger sister, Caitlin Morrison, added that she would 'never know if the lethal dose of ketamine was only lethal by accident.'
“But I know that when Kenny left the house, he was doing one of two things. He was either escaping from something he knew he had done or he was wilfully abandoning a vulnerable person in a dangerous situation," she said.
Iwamasa is due to be sentenced on Wednesday (May 27) by Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett, who also sentenced Plasencia, Chavez, Fleming and Sangha.
If you want friendly, confidential advice about drugs, you can call American Addiction Centers on (313) 209-9137 24/7, or contact them through their website.
Topics: Matthew Perry, Crime, US News, Drugs
Lucy Devine