Homicide Detectives Probing Man’s Overdose Death at Home of Prominent Dem Donor

[Swordsmyth]

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s homicide detectives are investigating the circumstances surrounding the fatal drug overdose of a 26-year-old man at the West Hollywood home of prominent Democratic donor Ed Buck.
Sheriff Jim McDonnell said Monday that while coroner’s officials ruled Gemmel Moore’s July 27 death an accident, homicide detectives will be conducting a follow-up investigation based on “additional information.” He declined to elaborate.
Initial investigations by deputies and the Los Angeles County Coroner’s office did not flag anything suspicious in Moore’s death, sheriff’s Capt. Chris Bergner said, but the new probe was being launched “out of abundance of caution.”

More at: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-democratic-donor-overdose-20170814-story.html

[timosman]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/02/13/justice-for-gemmel-moore-family-wants-answers-in-escorts-death-at-dem-donors-home.html


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Democratic donor Ed Buck is seen at left in the fall of 2015 with Hillary Clinton. Gemmel Moore, at right, was found dead inside Buck's apartment on July 27, 2017.

Family and friends of a male escort found dead in the West Hollywood home of a high-powered Democratic Party donor last year continue to press for answers—in a case that has eluded the national media spotlight on incidents of sexual misconduct and racial injustice.

Gemmel Moore, 26, was discovered by police on July 27 inside the apartment of Ed Buck, 63. Buck is a well-known Democratic contributor, and has given more than $500,000 to an array of Democrats including Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey and a variety of state and local organizations in California.

The Los Angeles County Coroner’s office initially ruled the death an accidental methamphetamine overdose. But the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office Homicide Bureau on Aug. 14 announced they would investigate if there is any criminal culpability, after Moore’s family and friends disputed the initial finding.

Investigators told Fox News they would like to have the inquiry wrapped up in the near future—but have had trouble interviewing certain witnesses.

“We should have all the information, so we can make a good evaluation of everything that transpired to see if there’s any criminal culpability,” Lt. Joe Mendoza, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office homicide bureau, told Fox News in a recent telephone interview.

Detectives have already interviewed “numerous” witnesses who have information to share about their interactions with Buck, according to Mendoza. But investigators are trying to schedule additional interviews with people who may have useful information.

According to the July 31 coroner’s report, Buck’s apartment was riddled with drug paraphernalia. Among the items found were 24 syringes containing brown residue, five glass pipes with white residue and burn marks, a plastic straw with possible white residue, clear plastic bags with white powdery residue and a clear plastic bag containing a piece of crystal-like substance.

The report also states coroner’s investigators spoke with a woman who said Moore told her someone whose name is redacted tied him up “over a year ago” and “held him against his will at the residence in West Hollywood.”

“We don’t want to move forward with anything else without every single piece of information,” said Mendoza, adding that investigators have worked with the district attorney’s office to give immunity to witnesses for unrelated minor crimes so they can speak freely. “We’re just in a holding pattern until we can get those people interviewed.”

Mendoza said investigators are “trying to leave no stone unturned.”

Buck's attorney, Seymour Amster, told Fox News that his client has done nothing wrong.

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