When a big-name celebrity passes away, the more tabloid-y sites will look for an angle so that they can continue to get exclusives from the cops and the coroner’s office. Sometimes there are legitimate journalistic reasons, like foul play or some kind of criminal activity is involved. I don’t think that’s the case with Matthew Perry’s passing though. I think TMZ is just hellbent on making his passing as scandalous as possible, when really, a former addict passed away suddenly after some physical exertion (Perry played pickleball for a few hours the day he died). In any case, TMZ is trying to make something completely normal sound like Perry’s death is being investigated as a murder.

Matthew Perry’s death was not the effect of a fentanyl or meth overdose, at least that’s what initial tests indicate … TMZ has learned. Law enforcement sources tell TMZ investigators ran a less-in-depth test on Perry which revealed he did not have fentanyl or meth in his system. However, it’s important to note, more in-depth tests are still being conducted as part of toxicology to analyze whether any other illegal drugs present in his blood — and if the levels of any prescription meds were at harmful doses.

Those results will likely take anywhere from 4-6 months to be returned, and once all that data is gathered, the coroner will determine the cause and manner of death. As we first reported, the prescription drugs found in Matthew’s house were all prescribed to the actor for his various ailments, and stored in proper bottles.

If something illicit were to come back in his autopsy results, LAPD’s Robbery Homicide Division would continue to investigate. RHD’s involvement initially had people scratching their heads, especially as there’s currently NO evidence of foul play … however, it’s common for detectives from that division to take the lead on high-profile cases because of its experience and dedicated manpower.

As TMZ first reported, Matthew was found unresponsive in his hot tub Saturday at his home in the Pacific Palisades after playing pickleball for a couple hours earlier that day at Riviera Country Club.

While it appears he died from drowning, the Coroner will have the official word, once all the testing is complete.

[From TMZ]

Granted, most of what I know about the LAPD comes from The Closer, but this kind of situation is pretty typical – of course Robbery Homicide is investigating, because they don’t want to get caught with their pants down if they just shrugged off Perry’s death and closed the case in a day. Robbery Homicide regularly investigates deaths in which there is no suspicion of foul play and they regularly investigate deaths of VIPs, regardless of the circumstances. The real scandal here is that in LA County, it takes four to six months to get toxicology and blood work results. Maybe instead of buying more armored tanks and weapons of war, LA County should properly fund their labs and their coroner’s office.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Instagram.