Matthew Perry’s sisters submitted deeply emotional victim impact statements to the court ahead of Wednesday’s sentencing of the late actor’s personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, one of five people convicted of crimes linked to Perry’s October 2023 death.
In court filings filed May 20, Caitlin and Madeline Morrison described Iwamasa as a man who betrayed their brother beyond belief, injecting him with ketamine and leaving him in a hot tub while misleading the grieving family about what really happened.Perry was found in his hot tub in October 2023, and the cause was determined to be the acute effects of ketamine. He was 54 years old. According to the Department of Justice, Iwamasa repeatedly injected Perry with ketamine without any medical training, including on the day of his death.
What Matthew Perry’s sisters said in their victim impact statements
“It’s hard to put into words the sense of betrayal I felt when I found out what Kenny had done,” Madeleine Morrison testified to US District Judge Sherrilyn Garnett. “In many ways, it felt like my brother was dead again. Everything I believed about the day he died, and everything Kenny told us, was a lie.”She went on to describe a particularly disturbing memory from the days following Perry’s death.
“A few days after Matthew died, my sister and I went to choose the clothes he would be buried in, one of the most surreal and heartbreaking experiences of my life,” she wrote. “I remember how Kenny seemed manic and unstable. He repeatedly volunteered his version of events without being asked, as if he were giving an interview rather than mourning a friend.
“In reality, he was trying to distract us from the truth: that he had injected my brother with a fatal dose of ketamine and left him in a hot tub to die.”Madeleine also described the pain of knowing Iwamasa spoke at Perry’s funeral. “Kenny even spoke at Matthew’s funeral. The person responsible for my brother’s death stood up and addressed the people who loved him dearly. This is like a cruel joke that I still struggle with. Not only did he kill my brother, he distorted our final memories of saying goodbye.”
Caitlin Morrison And their mother’s statements
In a separate statement, Sister Caitlin wrote that she had “no sympathy” for Iwamasa.
“I can’t read Kenny’s mind. I will never know if the lethal dose of ketamine was fatal just by accident. But I do know that when Kenny left the house, he was doing one of two things. He was either running away from something he knew he had done or he was intentionally abandoning a vulnerable person in a dangerous situation.”She also accused him of trying to manipulate the consequences. “What I will not do is haunt the grieving family she left behind.
I won’t spin a story to cover my tracks. “I will not try to extort money from a mother who lost her eldest son’s life at my hands.”Perry’s mother, Susan Morrison, 82, also provided a statement, writing: “Kenny’s most important job, by far, is to be my son’s companion and guardian in his battle against addiction. His first responsibility was to ensure that Matthew remained as he wanted to be: drug-free.”
When my son was killed, he was watching me closely.”
The broader case and Wednesday’s ruling
According to the Department of Justice, Iwamasa conspired with Jasvin Sangha, Eric Fleming, and Dr. Salvador Plascencia to illegally obtain and distribute ketamine to Perry. In April, Sangha, known as the “Ketamine Queen,” was sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to several charges, including distributing ketamine resulting in serious bodily injury.
Dr. Mark Chavez and others connected to the case also pleaded guilty to various charges.Iwamasa is scheduled to be sentenced on Wednesday, May 27, where he faces up to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to a charge of conspiracy to distribute ketamine with fatal consequences.Prosecutors recommended a 41-month prison sentence plus three years of supervised release, according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE.“For the past two and a half years, my family has been living our own kind of rule,” Madeleine wrote in conclusion. “When I think of Matthew, I want to smile again. I want to remember his laugh, his great sense of humor, the game nights, and the movie marathons.”Berry, best known for his role as Chandler Bing on the beloved sitcom Friends, which ran for ten seasons from 1994 to 2004, remains one of the most beloved characters in television history. As Wednesday’s sentencing approaches, his family continues to demand accountability for the loss that has left an irreparable void in their lives and in the hearts of millions of fans around the world.
