WEST VILLAGE — Dozens of bags of heroin as well as a host of prescription drugs and paraphernalia were found in the Philip Seymour Hoffman's Bethune Street apartment, where the Oscar-winning actor was found dead Sunday, a law enforcement official said.
Investigators also found medications for anxiety, high blood pressure, ADHD and addiction treatment in the fourth-floor apartment, though they did not appear to have been prescribed for Hoffman, the official said.
In addition to the 49 bags of suspected heroin, police found an over-the-counter muscle relaxer and several used and unused syringes and empty glassine envelopes, among other drug paraphernalia.
Police are treating the "Capote" star's death as an overdose, but the medical examiner will determine the cause of death. An autopsy was scheduled for Monday.
Hoffman's former girlfriend, Mimi O'Donnell, told police she had seen Hoffman about 2 p.m. on Saturday on the street near his apartment, and he appeared to be high, the official said. He also sounded high when she spoke to him on the phone around 8 p.m., she told police.
Hoffman, 46, who struggled with addiction over the years and recently spent 10 days in rehab for heroin use, was discovered in his bathroom with a needle in his arm by a screenwriter friend, David Bar Katz, and Hoffman's assistant Isabella Wing-Davey, according to a law enforcement official and reports.
The pair came to check on Hoffman after he failed to pick up his three children at 9 a.m. Sunday, the official said.
Neighbors and store owners around the Village described Hoffman as a doting father, often seen with his three kids with O'Donnell, Cooper Alexander, Tallulah and Willa.
A bartender at Automatic Slim's on Washington Street said Hoffman had been in for dinner on Saturday about 7 or 7:30 p.m. with two other men. The bartender said Hoffman was a regular and the dinner appeared to be a business meeting.
According to the bartender, Hoffman drank only cranberry juice and soda. He said Hoffman seemed so normal, he was shocked to hear of his death the next morning.
"He was always such a good guy — really cool and very easy to approach," the bartender said. "Even people who approached him to compliment on his career, he was always very kind. He had a way to thank them and appreciate them, and go back to whatever he was doing."
