Four charged as Hoffman autopsy ‘inconclusive’

Three men and one woman arrested in New York have been charged with drugs offences possibly connected to narcotics found at the home of film star Philip Seymour Hoffman following his death of an apparent heroin overdose, law enforcement officials said last night.

Although Hoffman was found with a syringe in his arm, the cause of his death remained undetermined and more tests were needed, said Julie Bolcer, a spokeswoman for New York City’s Chief Medical Examiner. She said there was no timetable for the postmortem to be finished. She declined to discuss the pending tests, but toxicology and tissue tests are typically done in such cases.

The four people were arrested on Tuesday during a raid on a building in lower Manhattan after police traced what they believed to have been the source of the heroin suspected of killing the Oscar-winning actor.

New York police Sergeant Thomas Antonetti, without linking the arrests to Hoffman's death, named the four as Robert Vineberg, 57; Thomas Cushman, 48; Max Rosenblum and Juliana Luchkiw, both 22.

Vineberg and Cushman were charged with felony drug possession and Rosenblum and Luchkiw with misdemeanour drug possession, he said.

Separate police sources said the raid was conducted in connection with Hoffman’s death and scores of bags of what appeared to be heroin were recovered.

A police spokesman told Reuters on Tuesday evening that heroin found in Hoffman’s apartment after his death was not cut or mixed with fentanyl, a synthetic narcotic believed by health authorities to be responsible for scores of overdose deaths in recent months.

“There was no fentanyl found in the drugs,” the spokesman said.

The 46-year-old actor was found unresponsive on the bathroom floor of his Manhattan apartment on Sunday by police responding to an emergency 911 call.

Police found Hoffman with a syringe in his arm and recovered plastic bags containing a substance believed to be heroin.

Law enforcement sources have told Reuters he died of an apparent drug overdose.

Dozens of small, glassine drug pouches were discovered in the apartment, many of them stamped with the words “Ace of Spades” in white lettering inside, according to a third law enforcement source involved in the Hoffman investigation.

Others were stamped with an ace of hearts playing card image.

Hoffman, who is survived by his partner, Mimi O'Donnell, and their three children, had detailed his struggles with substance abuse in the past.

The actor, who won an Oscar for his portrayal of Truman Capote in the 2006 drama Capote and was considered one of the most gifted film stars of his generation, had sought treatment last year after more than 20 years of sobriety.

Investigators have determined that the star made six ATM transactions for $1,200 in a supermarket near his home the day before his death

Hoffman will be buried after a private service tomorrow, with a public memorial planned for later this month.