Heath Ledger’s Death Investigation Dropped

Law enforcement officials state that Federal prosecutors have decided against pursuing a criminal case into how Heath Ledger obtained his drugs which eventually resulted in his death on January 22nd this year.

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 the end of this weekend.

The actor was found dead in a Lower Manhattan apartment. There has been a lot of speculation surrounding the baffling death of twenty- eight year old Academy- Award nominee.

Although, what was looked at as a possible overdose, considering him being found naked and unresponsive, face down on the floor, near the foot of his bed, nothing was confirmed. Prosecutors have been overseeing a Drug Enforcement Administration probe into whether the painkillers found in Ledger's system were obtained illegally, but decided to drop the case as they felt there was not a viable target.

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

The decision took place after actress Mary-Kate Olsen demanded immunity before answering questions about the startling death of her close friend and his drug use. She was the first person called by a masseuse who found the 28-year-old actor's lifeless body in the apartment.

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 them.

Olsen's attorney, Michael C. Miller, insisted that Olsen has already told the government she "does not know the source of the drugs Mr. Ledger consumed."
How did Heath Ledger die? There are a few immediate answers. The medical examiner's office didn’t disclose what concentrations of each drug were found but made clear he was killed by the combination and not an excess of any one drug in particular.

The police suggested that it could be a case of accidental overdose. His father denied that the death was suicide, calling it ‘tragic, untimely and accidental.
So, with nothing conclusive coming out of the eight month old investigation, the federal authorities have dropped the case.