Man Indicted In Tuinei Death
A grand jury Friday indicted a man arrested at the apartment where former Dallas Cowboy Mark Tuinei went to get heroin the night he died from an overdose.
Keelan Charles Murray, 20, was arrested May 6 at the apartment on charges of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. Cowboys backup fullback Nicky Sualua, who was with Tuinei on the morning he died, led Dallas and Plano police to the apartment.
Sualua told police he believed the 39-year-old former offensive lineman took an ecstasy tablet before they left Tuinei's Plano home May 5 in search of heroin. Ecstasy is a stimulant chemically related to amphetamine and mescaline. When mixed with heroin, ecstasy can be fatal, experts say.
Sualua told police that after they left Tuinei's home, they drove to the apartment, where Tuinei told him he was going to take heroin.
According to an affidavit filed to support a search warrant, Tuinei went into a bedroom and came out later on the verge of unconsciousness and eventually stopped breathing.
Sualua said Tuinei began breathing again after he performed CPR on him. But Sualua said Tuinei remained unconscious, and he had to drag the 314-pound Tuinei to the lineman's customized 1933 Ford. Sualua told police he drove back to Tuinei's home and fell asleep in the car after hearing Tuinei snoring loudly.
Sualua said he awoke the next morning and discovered Tuinei wasn't breathing and had no pulse.
During a search of Tuinei's home, Plano police reportedly fetched marijuana pipes, a marijuana cigarette, a white tablet believed to be ecstasy and a cell phone.
Mike Carnes, an assistant district attorney, said Murray is not a suspect in Tuinei's death.
"My understanding is it's unrelated," Carnes said.
Murray was released from jail May 10 on $2,500 bond. He was unavailable for comment with no answer at his home telephone.
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