Ed Buck convicted in meth overdose deaths of Gemmel Moore and Timothy Dean - Los Angeles Times
Ed Buck, a longtime fixture of West Hollywood politics, was convicted Tuesday of charges that he supplied the methamphetamine that killed two men during “party-and-play†encounters at his apartment.
It was only in September 2019, after a third Black man nearly died of an overdose, that Buck was arrested — a delay that fueled angry protests by activists who accused law enforcement officials of failing to aggressively investigate a politically influential white man.Videos played at the trial showed Buck touching some of the men sexually when they were asleep or unconscious.More Times coverage of Ed Buck case:.LGBTQ ‘Black Lives Matter’ activists were watching Ed Buck, demanding justice.
It showed how the gay hookup site Adam4Adam allowed Buck to advertise openly in his profiles that he was soliciting men to “party and play,†a phrase well known to mean using crystal meth during sex encounters.
Some of the men who testified about using drugs in Buck’s apartment broke down in tears on the witness stand.Several testified that Buck injected meth into their arms without their consent when they were passed out.
For friends of the second man found dead in Ed Buck’s apartment, a false narrative of his life deepens the pain.
Los Angeles County coroner’s officials initially ruled Moore’s death was accidental, and an initial review by sheriff’s deputies found nothing suspiciousSheriff’s detectives did not launch a new investigation into Moore’s death for more than two weeks — after his mother, friends and activists questioned if the drugs were self-administered
Eight months after Dean’s death, Buck was arrested on SeptGet breaking news, investigations, analysis and more signature journalism from the Los Angeles Times in your inboxYou may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times
Michael Finnegan is a Los Angeles Times reporter covering federal courts and law enforcementHailey Branson-Potts is a Metro reporter for the Los Angeles Times who joined the newspaper in 2011