Alexandra Wyman/Invision for Lionsgate / AP
Philip Seymour Hoffman seen at Lionsgate’s ‘The Hunger Games: Catching Fire’ Los Angeles Premiere, on Monday, Nov, 18, 2013 in Los Angeles.
Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2014 | 4:23 p.m.
NEW YORK — Heroin recovered at Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman's apartment after he was found there dead with a syringe in his arm has tested negative for the powerful additive fentanyl, a police official said Tuesday.
Samples taken from Hoffman's Manhattan apartment didn't contain the potent synthetic morphine, which is added to intensify the high and has been linked to 22 suspected overdose deaths in western Pennsylvania, said the official, who wasn't authorized to talk about the evidence and insisted on anonymity.
Investigators have determined that the "Capote" star made six ATM transactions for a total of $1,200 inside a supermarket near his home the day before his death, law enforcement officials said Tuesday.
The 46-year-old actor was found dead in the bathroom of his apartment Sunday.
Investigators have been piecing together the final hours before Hoffman's death, using video surveillance to determine his whereabouts.
Besides the bank records, the law enforcement officials said, investigators had discovered buprenorphine, a drug used to treat heroin addiction, at Hoffman's apartment and are examining a computer and two iPads found at the scene for clues.
A spokeswoman for the medical examiner's office said Tuesday there has been no official determination made on what killed Hoffman. Police have said the medical examiner's ruling on his cause of death will determine whether there is any criminality but they suspect it was an overdose.
The New York Police Department's intensive effort to determine the source of the drugs in an apparent accidental overdose is unusual. Courts have found in past rulings that under state law drug dealers can't be held liable for a customer's death.
More than 50 small plastic envelopes of heroin were recovered in Hoffman's apartment, along with syringes, a charred spoon and various prescription medications, including a blood pressure drug and a muscle relaxant, law enforcement officials have said.
Associated Press writer Tom Hays contributed to this report.
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