Heath Ledger’s relationship with Michelle Williams wasn’t the only casualty of his addiction to heroin and cocaine; a celebrity assistant claiming to be a part of his inner circle claims his spiraling drug use was on the verge of costing him his only child as well. According to the Daily Mail

“[Heath said that Michelle thought] he was a bad influence on Matilda [and that] she was going for sole custody. She wanted nothing to do with him and… in the last couple of weeks that really pushed him over the edge. He was getting more reckless than ever with cocaine and heroin. His use of downers was also getting heavier because he needed them to sleep. By the time he started work last [month] on The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus, [co-star] Christopher Plummer said he assumed he had “walking pneumonia”.

Heath was not the type to have killed himself. The way I hear it, he went out the night before, he was doing cocaine, he wasn’t able to sleep, and the investigators think he woke up, didn’t remember taking sleeping pills and then took what accidentally was an overdose.”

It’s curious that a guy who lost his fiancee and faced losing his only child because he was so strung out on drugs had nary a pipe nor a syringe in the whole of his apartment. Not a thing to suggest he was an out-of-control addict. Just a wayward rolled-up twenty on a desk. It’s also curious that it took the masseuse almost thirty minutes after discovering his body to actually call the police. Maybe she was busy cross-stitching a sampler or making a soufflé. Of course, there are those who believe that she was busy scouring the place for baggies and paraphernalia. Not so, says TMZ:

[There are] reports that there may have been a sinister plot to remove illegal drugs from Ledger’s apartment before cops and firemen arrived… that the masseuse called Mary-Kate Olsen and a plot was hatched to have her bodyguard remove certain drugs. Authorities tell us that’s impossible, because the cops were there the entire time the bodyguard was present and there would have been no opportunity to carry out such a plan. They say it’s a made up story.

It sounds strange, but it’s possible the actor died of natural causes. It could have been a heart attack. Although it’s bizarre that a 28-year-old could die of natural causes, it happens.

They’re right — it does happen. Lots of perfectly healthy men die unexpectedly while still in their twenties. It’s called Bubonic Plague and it was all the rage in Europe in the 14th century. Maybe the cops should look into that, too.

Actor Heath Ledger died yesterday afternoon at the age of 28 from a suspected drug overdose. Although an autopsy has yet to be performed (it’s scheduled for this early this afternoon), Heath reportedly struggled with a heroin addiction for years and sleeping pills were discovered next to his bed. Us Weekly says

Heath Ledger was found “naked and unconscious on a bed, with sleeping pills — both prescription medication and nonprescription — on a night table.” A housekeeper and a masseuse opened the bedroom and found Ledger. They moved his body to the floor and attempted to revive him, but he did not respond.

Although his family is calling it an accident, it seems his passing was not a surprise to those closest to him. A friend of Ledger’s says

“To tell you the truth… we saw it coming. Heath has gone though a rough road of trying to get sober. Things were very dark… His one joy was Matilda [his 2-year-old daughter with Michelle Williams]. Everything else was misery for him. Unfortunately he was too late in getting help.”

This is all such sad, sad news. Even sadder? Now “Brokeback 2: Balls and Boot Leather” will never hit the big screen.

For the tasteless and the morbid: