Since superstar Prince’s death in 2016, an investigation was launched to further examine the discrepencies from the case, but after two years, it’s been concluded that no one will be charged.
On April 21, 2016, Prince overdosed on a fentanyl drug at 57-years-old. He had been using fentanyl drugs to manage hip pain, and just days before his death, his jet had to make an emergency landing due to an opioid overdose. According to The New York Times, Prince was dealing with an opioid addiction – even hiding these narcotic painkillers in bottles of aspirin and other over-the-counter drug containers. A friend of Prince reportedly reached out to a specialist to help the singer with his addiction, but the appointment was not scheduled until the day after he was found dead, on April 22.
Since he didn’t have a prescription for the drug, police launched an investigation, which involved speaking to the singer’s doctors and employees at his Paisley Park Estate. Carver County attorney Mark Metz explained in a news conference that Prince unknowingly was taking counterfeit Vicodin that contained fentanyl, the Times reports.
“We have no direct evidence that a specific person provided the fentanyl to Prince,” he said, adding that the investigation found “no sinister motive, intent or conspiracy to murder Prince.”
Michael Schulenberg, one of Prince’s doctors, agreed to pay $30,000 to settle a federal civil violation, although he was not charged. He had prescribed painkillers to the singer, disguised with someone else’s name to protect his privacy, but investigators stated that the pills prescribed by the doctor were not the ones that led to Prince’s death. A toxicology report obtained by The Associated Press last month revealed high concentrations of fentanyl in his blood – which is used to create counterfeit pills, often sold on the black market.
Prince’s family still awaits definite answers regarding the singer’s “accidental” death, but for now, a major part of the investigation – regarding around the possibility that someone else would be held responsible – is closed, bringing some clarity to the case.
