Heath Ledger Drug Probe Dropped, Mary-Kate Off The Hook

NEW YORK — Federal prosecutors have decided not to pursue a criminal case into how Heath Ledger obtained the powerful painkillers that contributed to his overdose death this year, a law enforcement official said Wednesday.

Prosecutors in the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan had been overseeing a Drug Enforcement Administration probe into whether the painkillers found in Ledger's system were obtained illegally. But the prosecutors have bowed out "because they don't believe there's a viable target," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because no charges have been filed.

The decision comes after recent reports that actress Mary-Kate Olsen was demanding immunity before answering questions about the startling death of her close friend and his drug use. Authorities say she was the first person called by a masseuse who found the 28-year-old "Dark Knight" actor's lifeless body in his Manhattan apartment.

The DEA had obtained a subpoena that could have forced Olsen if she continued to hold out. But the subpoena, issued in April, is no longer valid because it was contingent upon prosecutors pursuing the case, the official said Wednesday. The official added that the case could still be revived if evidence of a crime emerges.

Rebekah Carmichael, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office, said it's the office's policy to "neither confirm nor deny the existance of an investigation." There was no immediate response to a message left for Olsen's attorney, Michael C. Miller.

DEA investigators suspect the painkillers found in Ledger's system, oxycodone and hydrocodone, were obtained with phony prescriptions or other illegal means. Oxycodone is sold as OxyContin and hydrocodone as Vicodin.

Miller insisted this week that Olsen, a former child star on the sitcom "Full House," had already told the government she "does not know the source of the drugs Mr. Ledger consumed."

Other potential witnesses apparently answered questions voluntarily, including doctors, Ledger's ex-girlfriend Michelle Williams and people in his apartment around the time of his death.

Other drugs taken by Ledger, including anti-anxiety medication and sleeping pills, were prescribed legally by doctors in California and Texas.

The medical examiner's office wouldn't say what concentrations of each drug were found but made clear he was killed by the combination _ not an excess of any one drug in particular. It's common for the DEA to investigate an overdose death with so many different drugs involved, a DEA spokesman said last month.

The masseuse discovered Ledger's body on Jan. 22. Police say she spent nine minutes making three calls to Olsen before dialing 911 for help, then called the actress a fourth time after paramedics arrived. At some point during the flurry of frantic calls, Olsen, who was in California, summoned her personal security guards to the apartment to help, police said.

Ledger died after filming "The Dark Night," the latest movie in the "Batman" series, in which he has earned rave reviews for playing a maniacal Joker. The film had taken in more than $400 million domestically as of Monday.

Comments

[lisakaz2]

Of course they dropped it. They don't want to go after any biz, esp. a drug company. They protect the companies. They'd rather block me from getting 30 Xanax pills and scare me that they're "dangerious" (despite the fact they had no problem IDing 'em). I bet someone gave money to McB---'s campaign and it went away.

[Womanvoter4Obama]

Someone got paid. Plain and simple. You can't tell me if you check the bank accounts of those involved in this case, they aren't thousands of dollars richer for dropping this case. I smell a HUGE payoff. People with money in this country can make things go away. And since when do normal folks say I'm not testifying unless I get immunity and actually GET immunity. We don't dictate the law to the judiciary. Not us normies..but apparently if you have billions its easy to get your way.

[MsLiz]

Who got immunity? Olsen stood on her fifth amendment rights, that's all. The cops were looking for someone to blame.

Pretty sad when we Americans are so cynical about our government. Pretty sad that the government deserves it.

[jsinclair]

They were looking for how Ledger got the Vicodin and Oxycontin he didn't have a prescription for.

The answer was apparently "Mary-Kate Olsen" illegally gave it to him (and may have illegally possessed and used it herself).

They were also investigating WHY the masseuse wasted 9 minutes (talking with Olsen three different times) before calling 911.

Was evidence tampered with? Could 9 minutes have saved his life? Who supplied Ledger...and Olsen...with the Oxycontin they apparently abused?

One day...Mary-Kate requests immunity from prosecution and the court issues a supoena.

The next day..."No testimony required. Case dropped".

This has "corruption" and "payoff" written all over it.