No Charges Filed In Prince’s Death
• Two years after the sudden and tragic death of Prince by accidental fentanyl overdose, one of the lingering mysteries surrounding his passing was how and where he obtained the powerful synthetic opioid that killed him and whether anyone would be held responsible. As The New York Times reports, law enforcement authorities in Minnesota today have now closed a major part of their investigation, announcing that no one would be criminally charged in the case.
In a Thursday news conference, Carver County attorney Mark Metz said Prince died after unknowingly taking counterfeit Vicodin that contained fentanyl, but that there was “no reliable evidence of how Prince obtained” the fatal drug. “Prince had no idea he was taking a counterfeit pill that could kill him,” Metz said, adding, “We have no direct evidence that a specific person provided the fentanyl to Prince. Metz also noted that the investigation had uncovered “no sinister motive, intent or conspiracy to murder Prince.”
A Minnesota doctor, Michael Schulenberg, who had treated Prince twice not long before his death, has agreed to pay $30,000 to settle a federal civil violation for an illegal prescription, according to his lawyer, Amy Conners. In a search warrant served last year, investigators said Dr. Schulenberg told them he had prescribed an opiate painkiller to the singer under the name of Kirk Johnson, Prince’s longtime friend, bodyguard and sometime drummer — in order to protect the singer’s privacy. Dr. Schulenberg admitted no liability as part of the settlement and has maintained he did not prescribe drugs to anyone with the intention they be redirected to Prince. In a statement, Schulenberg’s attorney said her client “is not a target in any criminal inquiry and there have been no allegations made by the government that Dr. Schulenberg had any role in Prince’s death.”
Metz said the pills prescribed by Dr. Schulenberg did not lead to Prince’s death. “The bottom line is we simply do not have sufficient evidence to charge anyone with a crime in relation to Prince’s death,” he said.
