John Perry (left), pictured with his son Matthew Perry, has written to a US court criticising a doctor involved in the actor's death. Photo / Getty Images
John Perry (left), pictured with his son Matthew Perry, has written to a US court criticising a doctor involved in the actor's death. Photo / Getty Images
Matthew Perry’s parents have branded his doctor “among the most culpable of all” in their son’s death.
The late Friends actor died from accidental drowning caused by the acute effects of ketamine use in October 2023, aged 54, and Dr Salvador Placenscia was one of five people convicted of crimesrelating to his passing.
Before the medic’s sentencing in the United States on Thursday, Perry’s parents submitted victim impact letters to a court in which they discussed their grief over the loss of their son and their anger towards those who played a part in his death.
According to Rolling Stone, a letter from the 17 Again actor’s mother and stepfather, Suzanne and Keith Morrison, read: “How do you measure grief? Can you possibly provide any rational accounting? The bottom falling out? Yes, that. Here was a life so entwined with ours and held aloft sometimes with duct tape and bailing wire, with anything that might keep that big terrible thing from killing our first-born son, and our hearts with him.
“And then those greedy jackals come out of the dark, and all the effort is for naught; it all crashes down.”
The pair branded their grief a “deep well” and told how Suzanne had warned Keith when they got together that no man would come between her and her son. But they wrote that Perry’s addiction and the people he trusted had, with Placenscia, who has admitted to injecting the actor with ketamine and selling him the drug “without a legitimate medical purpose” before his death, “among the most culpable of all”.
Actor Matthew Perry (centre) with sister Emily (left) and mother Suzanne Morrison. Photo / Getty Images
They wrote: “His story moved so many people. And he wanted, needed, deserved… a third act. It was ... in the planning. And then, those jackals.
“No one alive and in touch with the world at all could have been unaware of Matthew’s struggles. But this doctor conspired to break his most important vows, repeatedly, sneaked through the night to meet his victim in secret.
“For what, a few thousand dollars? So he could feed on the vulnerability of our son… and crow, as he did so, with that revealing question: ‘I wonder how much this moron will pay? Let’s find out.’ Some things are very hard to understand.”
Meanwhile, Perry’s father and stepmother, John and Debby Perry, wrote that the 43-year-old doctor “didn’t deserve to hear” their feelings and criticised his actions.
“[Matthew was] a warm, loving man who was to be our rock as we aged,” they wrote. “An uncle to our grandchildren and the mountain his siblings could turn to. Our next patriarch.
“Matthew’s recovery counted on you saying no. Your motives? I can’t imagine. A doctor whose life is devoted to helping people? Whatever were you thinking? How long did you possibly see supplying Matthew countless doses without his death to eventually follow? Did you care? Did you think? How many more people have you harmed that we don’t know about? We ask the court to give you plenty of time to think about your actions by extending your sentence beyond the mandatory time.”
Plasencia pleaded guilty to four counts of distribution of ketamine in July and could face up to 40 years in federal prison.
Jasveen Sangha, a woman described by prosecutors as the “Ketamine Queen” of North Hollywood, is due to be sentenced on December 10, while Perry’s former assistant Kenneth Iwamasa will hear his fate on January 14.
Another doctor, Dr Mark Chavez, will be sentenced on December 17 and Erik Fleming, a local man who acted as a go-between for Sangha in her ketamine sales to Perry, will be sentenced on January 7.
