Book of the day: A Beautiful Family by Jennifer Trevelyan
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Otago Daily Times
a day ago
- Otago Daily Times
Matthew Perry death: 'Ketamine queen' to plead guilty
The accused drug dealer known as the "ketamine queen" will plead guilty to charges that she supplied the dose of the prescription anaesthetic that killed Friends star Matthew Perry, prosecutors say. Jasveen Sangha, 42, who authorities said ran an illegal narcotics "stash house" in the North Hollywood district of Los Angeles and was due to stand trial in September, will plead guilty to five charges under a deal with federal prosecutors, according to the United States Justice Department. Four other co-defendants in the case - two physicians, Perry's personal assistant and another man who admitted acting as an intermediary in selling ketamine to the actor - have already pleaded guilty to various charges, though none has yet been sentenced. All five were charged in the case one year ago. Prosecutors said Sangha agreed to plead guilty to one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises, three counts of illegal distribution of ketamine, and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death. Sangha, a dual US-British citizen, is expected to formally enter her plea in the coming weeks, the Justice Department said in a statement. The charge of maintaining a drug den carries a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Sangha faces up to 15 years in jail for ketamine distribution that killed Perry, and 10 years for each of the three other distribution counts. Medical examiners concluded that Perry died from acute effects of ketamine that combined with other factors to cause the actor to lose consciousness and drown in his hot tub on October 28 in 2023. He was 54 years old. FAME AND ADDICTION Perry had publicly acknowledged decades of substance abuse, including periods that overlapped with the height of his fame playing the sardonic but charming Chandler Bing on the 1990s hit NBC television comedy Friends . Perry's death came a year after publication of his memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing , which chronicled bouts with addiction to prescription painkillers and alcohol that he wrote had come close to ending his life more than once. His autopsy cited interviews with associates who said Perry had been sober for 19 months prior to his death with no known substance abuse relapses. Ketamine, a short-acting anaesthetic with hallucinogenic properties, is sometimes prescribed to treat depression and anxiety but also is abused by recreational users. According to Sangha's plea agreement as outlined by the Justice Department, Sangha had supplied 51 vials of ketamine from her stash house to a go-between dealer, Erik Fleming, 55, who in turn sold the doses to Perry through his live-in personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, 60. It was Iwamasa, prosecutors said, who later injected Perry with at least three shots of ketamine from the vials Sangha supplied, resulting in the actor's death, and who subsequently found him lifeless in the hot tub. In her plea agreement, prosecutors said, Sangha also admitted selling ketamine to an individual in August 2019 who died hours later from a drug overdose. Known to her customers on the street as the "ketamine queen," according to prosecutors, Sangha had used her North Hollywood home to store, package and distribute various narcotics, including ketamine and methamphetamine, dating back to at least June 2019. After learning of news reports of Perry's death, prosecutors said, Sangha tried to scrub her Signal app of all her communications with Fleming and urged him to do likewise, instructing him to "Delete all our messages." Her plea deal came three weeks after a doctor who ran an urgent care clinic, Salvador Plasencia, 43, pleaded guilty to four counts of ketamine distribution and admitted to having injected Perry with the drug at the actor's home and in the back seat of a parked car. Another physician, Mark Chavez, 55, of San Diego, accused of illegally supplying ketamine to Plasencia, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute the drug. According to court filings, Plasencia had once texted Chavez about Perry, writing, "I wonder how much this moron will pay."
1News
2 days ago
- 1News
Wairarapa rail issues likened to Fawlty Towers
Wairarapa's regional councillor has likened issues on the Wairarapa Line to British sitcom Fawlty Towers. The Wairarapa Line has been plagued with reliability and punctuality issues due to insufficient staffing and maintenance work, but commuters have been told there is hope on the horizon. It comes as a satisfaction survey showed less than 60% of commuters were satisfied with the Wairarapa Line. Staffing on the Wairarapa Line was now meeting the required levels for service and four train managers were currently progressing through training. Of these one would finish in late August, two in early September, and one in mid-October. Recruitment was also under way for the next training intake. ADVERTISEMENT At Greater Wellington Regional Council's Transport Committee meeting on Thursday, Wairarapa councillor Adrienne Staples asked for assurance that the Wairarapa Line would remain top of mind as the service was "obviously our problem child". "I know the staffing issues are all but fixed, but we're still getting breakdowns that I just find hard to believe," she said. "It sort of feels like Fawlty Towers when I get a call to say something broke because it had ice on it." Staples said she wanted assurance that the locomotives were properly maintained and properly checked before they were connected to their carriages "I just don't feel quite convinced yet that we have a size 9 up its backside, to put it crudely. "That's a rural expression." Council staff at the Transport Committee meeting told Staples that issues on the Wairarapa Line were being kept top of mind and that locomotive checks were being done before they reached the platform. The Wairarapa Line was also undergoing a major upgrade as part of the $800 million Lower North Island Rail Integrated Mobility Programme. It included the purchase of 18 new four-car train units, infrastructure improvements, and the construction of a maintenance depot in Masterton. A report to the committee said contracts for the upgrade were expected to be awarded in August or September. It was expected that the new trains would double peak-time services between Masterton and Wellington on the Wairarapa Line. The new trains were scheduled to enter service in 2029, and improvements to service to start in 2030. Rail reliability for June was 77% for the Wairarapa Line and punctuality was 47%. ADVERTISEMENT LDR is local body journalism funded by RNZ and NZ on Air
1News
3 days ago
- 1News
Terence Stamp, who played Superman villain General Zod, dies aged 87
Terence Stamp, the British actor who often played the role of a complex villain, including that of General Zod in the early Superman films, has died. He was 87. His death on Sunday was disclosed in a death notice published online. The London-born Stamp started his film career with 1962's seafaring Billy Budd, for which he earned an Oscar nomination. Stamp's six decades in the business were peppered with highlights, including his touching portrayal of the transsexual Bernadette in 1994's The Adventure of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Stamp also was widely praised for his lead in director Steven Soderbergh's 1999 crime drama The Limey. But it will be his portrayal of the bearded Zod in 1978's Superman and its sequel Superman II two years later that most people associate with Stamp. As the Kryptonian arch enemy to Christopher Reeve's Man of Steel, Stamp introduced a darker and charming — more human — element to the franchise, one that's been replicated in countless superhero movies ever since. ADVERTISEMENT Stamp started his acting career on stage in the late 1950s, where he acted in repertory theatre and met Michael Caine, who was five years older than himself. The pair lived together in a flat in central London while looking for their big break. He got his break with Billy Budd and Stamp embarked on a career that would see him in the early 1960s be part of the "angry young men" movement that was introducing an element of social realism into British moviemaking. Cast member Terence Stamp arrives at the premiere of Valkyrie in Los Angeles in 2008. (Source: Associated Press) That was perhaps most notable in the 1965 adaptation of John Fowles' creepy debut novel The Collector, where he played the awkward and lonely Freddie Clegg, who kidnapped Samantha Eggar's Miranda Grey in a warped attempt to win her love. It was a performance that would earn the young Stamp, fresh off his Oscar nomination, the best actor award at 1965's Cannes Film Festival. While part of that 1960s British movement, Stamp learned from some of the most seasoned actors from the classical era, including Laurence Olivier. "I worked with Olivier briefly on my second movie (1962's Term of Trial), Stamp recalled in an interview with the AP in 2013. And he said to me, 'You should always study your voice'." Stamp then segued into a spot-on Olivier impersonation, continuing, "'Because, as you get older, your looks go, but your voice will become empowered'." The morning's headlines in 90 seconds, including our first ever espionage trial, the end of an era for Cook Strait crossings, and a surprising survival story. (Source: 1News) ADVERTISEMENT His career took a bit of a hiatus from the late 1960s after he missed out on the role of James Bond to replace Sean Connery. His comeback took the best part of a decade, and it was the unexpected role of General Zod that brought him back to the limelight. His career, which also saw him play the role of Finis Valoru, the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic, in 1999's first Star Wars prequel The Phantom Menace, ended with the 2021 psychological thriller Last Night In Soho. Born in London's East End on July 22, 1938, Stamp lived a colourful life, particularly during the 1960s when he had a string of romances, including with actress Julie Christie and model Jean Shrimpton. He married 29-year-old Elizabeth O'Rourke in 2002 at the age of 64 but the couple divorced six years later. Stamp did not have any children. Stamp retained his looks as the years ticked by, his natural handsomeness hardened by a more grizzled look. He generally sought to keep his standards high, but up to a point. "I don't do crappy movies, unless I haven't got the rent," he said.
