LOS ANGELES—Ed Buck told investigators he waited 15 minutes to call 911 for a man who died of a fatal drug overdose inside his apartment, according to a coroner's report released Thursday.
Timothy Dean died in January and is the second black gay man to die at the home of Buck, a 64-year-old wealthy Democratic donor, in less than two years. In 2017, Gemmel Moore also died of a meth overdose in Buck’s apartment. Moore’s case was reopened this year after the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office previously declined to press charges. The sheriff’s department said the investigation into Dean’s death is ongoing.
Buck told the sheriff’s department that Dean began to exhibit “bizarre behavior” before he died on the night of Jan. 7.
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“The witness [Buck] observed him using a piece of clothing to make a noose and tied it around his neck,” according to the coroner’s report. “The witness relays that he removed the ‘noose’ and the decedent then stood up and began throwing clothes up in the air.”
Buck then went on to tell investigators he left to shower and came back to find Dean, a 55-year-old fashion designer and athlete, unresponsive.
“The witness reported that he did not see the decedent taking any drugs and they did not have sex,” according to the report.
Dean died on a living room floor on a mattress littered with drug paraphernalia and sex toys, according to the coroner’s report.
A sheriff's deputy reported he did not find clothing fashioned like a noose. Buck told the deputy he attempted CPR on Dean for approximately 15 minutes before calling 911, according to the coroner's report.
Buck waited to call for help because he was performing CPR, according to his attorney, Seymour Amster. “Some time also elapsed before Mr. Buck returned to the room where Mr. Dean was and noticed the state he was in,” Amster told The Daily Beast via email.
Investigators reported they recovered two short pieces of plastic tubing near Dean and collected three syringes, two glass pipes, and a drug used to reverse the effects of overdose, among other medications. Methamphetamine was found in one of the pipes.
Amster has previously claimed that Dean arrived at Buck’s already under the influence of drugs and the autopsy report suggests that Dean administered his own injection. “It was posed a possibility that someone else had injected Mr. Dean with drugs,” wrote Deputy Medical Examiner Matthew J. Miller. “There were no signs of physical restraint or incapacitation.” The report also cited alcohol poisoning as a cause of death.
Dean’s death has roiled West Hollywood, home to a nearly 40 percent LGBTQ population. For years, Buck has faced allegations of drugging young black men for sexual pleasure. Activists claim he is impervious to prosecution because he funnels money the coffers of state politicians.
Months months before his death, Dean warned friends not to go to Buck’s and called him the “fucking devil.”
