Her view of that behavior was not sentimental. It was devastatingly clear.
Suzanne wrote that Iwamasa “kept a sharp eye on” her after, in her words, he “killed” her son. That allegation reflects her victim impact statement, not a separate legal finding. The criminal case concerns Iwamasa’s admitted role in supplying and administering ketamine.
The family says trust was central to the betrayal
Suzanne wrote that the family had known Iwamasa, whom she called Kenny, for 25 years. That long history, she said, was part of what made the case so painful.
“We trusted a man without a conscience,” she wrote, adding that Matthew “paid the price.”
She continued: “Matthew trusted Kenny. We trusted Kenny. Kenny’s most important job - by far - was to be my son’s companion and guardian in his fight against addiction.”
According to Suzanne, Matthew’s loved ones believed Iwamasa’s main responsibility was helping him stay drug-free. She wrote that if he had felt pressured or overwhelmed, he could have contacted people in Matthew’s circle and received help quickly.
“Kenny knew, should he feel unduly pressured, that with one phone call to any number of the people in Matthew’s orbit, reinforcements would be on the way, and his job would be safe,” she wrote.
Instead, Suzanne alleged in the statement, Iwamasa “aided and abetted” Matthew’s addiction. She claimed he “arranged for one source of supply, then another” and “shot the drugs into Matthew’s body, though he was not in the least qualified.”
How Matthew Perry died
Matthew Perry was found dead in his jacuzzi on October 28, 2023. He was 54.
A coroner later determined that the “Friends” actor died from the “acute effects of ketamine.” His death certificate also listed drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine as contributing factors.
Matthew had spoken publicly for years about his struggles with addiction, including in interviews and his 2022 memoir. In her statement, Suzanne described the night of his death in intensely personal terms.
“He was, in spite of all we went through, my heart and soul,” she wrote. “And then one night he was just a body, lying all but naked on the cold, damp grass of his backyard.”
She also recalled the public chaos around the scene, writing that helicopters circled above while she stood outside in the cold asking for a blanket to cover him.
“Impossible, of course,” she wrote.
Suzanne said she saw Matthew the next day at a mortuary and that he “looked almost beautiful and somehow relieved.” She ended the statement by writing, “Nothing takes this pain away, nor will it, I am sure, for as long as I live.”
Who has pleaded guilty in the ketamine case
In 2024, federal prosecutors charged five people with conspiracy and distribution of ketamine in connection with Matthew’s death. The case has since produced multiple guilty pleas, because apparently even celebrity tragedy still has paperwork.
The defendants named in the case include:
- Kenneth Iwamasa, Matthew Perry’s longtime assistant
- Erik Fleming, described as a drug counselor
- Dr. Mark Chavez
- Dr. Salvador Plasencia
- Jasveen Sangha, referred to by prosecutors as the “Ketamine Queen”
Iwamasa, Fleming and Chavez agreed to plead guilty first. Plasencia and Sangha later also entered guilty pleas.
According to the reported outcomes, Sangha was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for running a drug trafficking business and supplying the ketamine that killed Matthew. Chavez was sentenced to eight months of house arrest. Plasencia received 30 months in federal prison. Fleming received two years in prison followed by three years of supervised release.
Iwamasa is scheduled to be sentenced on May 27.
Matthew Perry’s family background
Suzanne Perry shared Matthew with her former husband, actor John Bennett Perry. After marrying journalist Keith Morrison in 1981, she had four more children: Caitlin, Emily, Will and Madeline.
Her statement, as reported through the court filing, does not ask the public to solve the case through speculation. It does something more direct. It describes what the family says was lost, who they believed was responsible for protecting Matthew in a vulnerable period and how that trust, in Suzanne’s view, was broken.
