Dec 07, 2007  |  By: LOU CHIBBARO J  | COMMENTS     

The deaths of two gay men whose bodies were found four days apart in an apartment in Washington in September died of “acute intoxication” from drugs or alcohol, but it could not be determined whether the deaths were accidental or due to suicide or murder, according to a report completed late last week by the D.C. Medical Examiner’s office.

The men, who did not know each other, traveled separately in September from New York City to stay with Steven Saleh, who lives in a one-bedroom apartment at the upscale Envoy Towers at 2400 16th St., N.W., a police affidavit used to obtain a search warrant for the apartment said.

Friends said the men were acquaintances of Saleh’s and that each might have met Saleh through their occasional work as escorts.

One of the two men, Dean Johnson, 46, has been described as a “legend” in New York’s gay community through his role as leader of the punk rock band Velvet Mafia and through his separate shows as a drag queen and performance poet.

The other victim, Jeremy Conklin, 26, had recently moved with his boyfriend from Provincetown, Mass., where he worked as a bar back in gay clubs, to New York City. The boyfriend, John Allen, said Conklin had not been using drugs at the time they were together.

Sharlene Williams, general counsel for the Medical Examiner’s office, said a report completed on Nov. 29 for Conklin lists the cause of his death as “acute intoxication due to the combined effects of oxycondone and alcohol.”

Williams said the report lists the “manner of death” as undetermined. She said the manner of death refers to whether a death is due to natural causes or other reasons, such as an accident, suicide or homicide.

She said the Medical Examiner’s report for Johnson lists the cause of death as “acute intoxication due to the combined effects of Amitriptyline, Clonazepam, Oxycondone, Ramelteon and Tramadol.” Similar to Conklin’s case, the report lists the manner of Johnson’s death as “undetermined.”

The manufacturers of the drugs found in Conklin and Johnson’s bodies list them as prescription medication. Amitriptyline is listed as an antidepressant; Clonazepan as an anticonvulsant and muscle relaxant; Oxycondone as a potent painkiller that is potentially addictive; Ramelteon as a sleep aid used for treating insomnia; and Tramadol as an analgesic used to treat moderate to severe pain.

Williams said the two Medical Examiner’s reports, which can only be released to Johnson and Conklin’s next of kin, will continue to list the manner of death for the two men as undetermined until police or other investigators obtain more information.

“It will remain undetermined unless or until something more comes in to change it,” she said. 

Friends said at the time of Conklin and Johnson’s deaths that they were stunned that two men, who appeared healthy at the time of their departure from New York, could turn up dead in the same apartment and in the same week due to unknown causes.

Allen said that he had never observed Conklin using drugs.

“We lived together since the summer, and I can definitely say that he never had Oxycondone,” Allen said.

Police on Sept. 16 found Conklin unconscious on the living room floor of Saleh’s apartment “with no signs of life,” the police affidavit says. The affidavit says he was rushed to Howard University Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Four days later, on Sept. 20, police found Johnson’s nude body lying on a mattress on the same floor of Saleh’s living room, the affidavit says. It says that similar to Conklin’s case, police responded to an emergency call from Saleh about an unconscious person.

In a brief statement released by his lawyer in October, Saleh said he considered Conklin and Johnson friends and was devastated by their deaths. The police affidavit says Saleh told investigators he gave Johnson a sleeping pill on the night before Johnson was found unconscious.

According to the affidavit, Saleh told police that Conklin “must have taken some pills,” which, Saleh told police, caused Conklin to lose consciousness.
At the time the two bodies were found, police said there were no signs of trauma or injuries on either body and no outward evidence of foul play.

Saleh could not be reached for comment. A published phone number listed for his 16th Street residence led to a recording saying it had been disconnected.