Scott Ruffalo: Traces of Coke, Morphine and Alcohol
Monday, Feb. 2 2009 @ 12:40PM
The County of Los Angeles, Department of Coroner reports today that Scott Ruffalo, who died last December from a single gunshot wound to the top of his head, had very slight traces of cocaine, alcohol and morphine in his system.
"Basically he wasn't under the influence," said Assistant Chief Ed Winter.
The 39-year-old hairstylist and brother of actor Mark Ruffalo was found unconscious in his home December 1. At the time, there were questions whether Ruffalo was mortally wounded from a self-inflicted gun shot or if he had been murdered. Shaha Mishaal Adham, 26, was taken into custody on a warrant of attempted murder by the Beverly Hills Police Department in connection with the shooting, but was released December 8 -- the same night that Ruffalo was taken off life support at Cedars Sinai Hospital.
According to news reports, Adham claimed that Ruffalo shot himself during a game of Russian Roulette. The coroner later ruled that his death was determined to be a homicide, but toxicology results were pending.
"Injuries to the brain, although not immediately fatal, were irreversible and subsequently caused death," opined deputy medical examiner Juan Carrillo. "The injury appears inconsistent with the history provided by witnesses and further police investigation has failed to clear up these inconsistencies. Therefore the manner of death is homicide until proven otherwise."
According to the autopsy report, detectives also recovered a .38 caliber revolver with one round fired from the weapon.
Older brother Mark Ruffalo, 41, is best known for his roles in Zodiac, Collateral and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Because of his personal tragedy, Ruffalo has been replaced by actor Ben Stiller in the upcoming feature Greenburg.
1 comment(s) / Post a Comment
