According to The Hollywood Reporter, two celebrities who are connected to the death of Matthew Perry (Friends) were allegedly connected to a separate lethal Los Angeles County overdose three years prior. The Perry family confirmed these details. Film director and TV producer Erik Fleming and actress Brooke Mueller were both linked to the alleged overdose death of William Cooney.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, thirty-six year old was found unconscious in the bathroom of Red Door on Jan. 4, 2021. The Red Door was rehab center that Fleming was a program director at the time. Fleming was recently named an alleged “street dealer” by the Department of Justice, in his position for allegedly dispensing small bottles of ketamine to Perry’s assistant days before the actor’s death.

The Hollywood Reporter details how Fleming provided Cooney’s substance abuse consultant, Amara Durham, with updates on his condition during his time at Red Door. However, Durham alleges that Cooney was admitted to the facility without her advice, and was allegedly persuaded by then-girlfriend, Mueller, to enter the program. Mueller, who has been public with her substance misuse struggles, reportedly assisted investigators in Perry’s case because of her connection with Fleming and time spent in rehab with Jasveen Sangha, another assistant charged in Perry’s death, seemingly known as the “Ketamine Queen.”

Staff members and patients at the Red Door informed The Hollywood Reporter that Cooney allegedly received drugs from another client, due to the facility’s lax client monitoring. In a separate investigation, THR discovered the facility was under scrutiny for alleged low quality care and was found to have been operating under an alleged expired state license.

Durham conveyed anger because the details behind Cooney’s death hadn’t set foot into law enforcement as a rightful case and investigation.

“My repeated efforts to engage the police to pursue the information I discovered led nowhere,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. “I had names and phone numbers and provided those to the responding officer. There was no inquiry. In fact, the matter was assigned to the ‘cold case’ department because they ‘had more time available.’ I asked for DEA support and was told that the case would go nowhere. I now wonder if Matthew Perry would be alive if William’s case had been given the attention that it deserved.”

Cooney’s former wife and mother of his son, Sarah Morse, detailed how things in Cooney’s life turned for the worse.

“When I look back at when things truly began to unravel, it all started when he met Brooke Mueller, who also struggled with addiction,” she stated via The Hollywood Reporter. “She introduced him to shortcuts and connections that only fueled their disease further. Through her, he was drawn into a circle of people who masked their greed behind labels like ‘addiction specialists.’ These were sober companions who would drive them to buy drugs, doctors who would prescribe anything, and enablers who would stay silent as long as they were paid. William was vulnerable, as addicts are, and they preyed on him.”

“After a relapse, Brooke and her associate Erik Fleming insisted he go to The Red Door rehab,” Morse continued according to THR. This was a place notorious for its bad reputation, marred by the disgraceful conduct of its owners, Alex Shohet and Bernadine Fried. Up until then, Erik had been introduced vaguely as an assistant, best friend, family acquaintance — apparently godfather to one of her children. He wasn’t known for having any real credentials in health services. But Erik was, in fact, the program director at The Red Door and had a financial stake in pushing William there. Despite his family’s objections, William was taken to the rehab by Erik, who personally drove him there.”

According to The Hollywood Reporter, neither Fleming nor Mueller have responded to appeals for remarks. Michael J. Plonsker, The Red Door’s attorney, admitted that Fleming was the program director at the rehab when Cooney stayed there, in addition to being the sober living manager. Nevertheless, Plonsker expressed that Fleming, “was not at the facility on the day of Mr. Cooney’s unfortunate death.” Plonsker also said that The Red Door failed to speak about Cooney’s death and how the facility functions at “the highest level of client care.”

Morse reflects that even though her ex husband was an addict, “he was also a human being…and a man whose life had immense value,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. “When this happened, we were told it was impossible to prosecute, that the paperwork rehabs make addicts sign is so airtight our only hope would be to push for new legislation — a process that could take years, cost a lot of money, and still offer no guarantees. It is devastating to know this should not have happened, yet it has not been investigated. I hope the Matthew Perry tragedy has spotlighted the deep flaws in our system and the way we approach addiction services, but this fight is bigger than one case. I want justice for William, for our son, for the entire Cooney family, and for every family that has been betrayed by these predatory practices. William’s life mattered.”

The Hollywood Reporter received no response in their request for comment from the Los Angeles Police Department regarding Cooney’s death investigation.

Perry, star of NBC’s hit sitcom Friends, was found unconscious in a hot tub last year. His cause of death was revealed to be an overdose of ketamine allegedly provided by Fleming and Sangha. They are two of five charged with Perry’s death.