Tag: ed buck

Jury goes inside Democratic donor Ed Buck’s ‘Gates of Hell’

Ed Buck called his apartment “The Gates of Hell,” and for two men who died there, wallpaper with red flames and skulls was likely their last vision on Earth.

On one living room wall in the lair of the Democratic donor, a mural with a huge black spiderweb across a dark purple background seemed to foretell what was to come.

This was where Gemmel Moore, 26, and Timothy Dean, 55, overdosed on methamphetamine while lying on a white mattress, witnesses testified Thursday at the trial in which Buck is charged with providing fatal doses of the drug. If convicted in either of the overdose deaths, Buck faces a minimum of 20 years in prison.

Both men were dead by the time paramedics arrived, victims of a deadly “party and play” game. A photo of Moore’s corpse was displayed on a large-screen television, his eyes staring blankly into space. A plastic tube was inserted into one nostril where a stream of blood ran out and coated the side of his head. A cross was tattooed on one shoulder and the words “Misunderstood” were on his chest.

Federal prosecutors displayed a series of photographs to jurors Thursday, showing a nightmarish sanctum in which Buck allegedly paid a stream of gay black men to participate in S&M activities. This involved shooting up methamphetamine and GHB with painful sexual activities, such as lighting genitals on fire, according to testimony.

Jurors on the third day of the trial over the two-drug deaths were able to hear the 66-year-old Buck speak for the first time in a 911 call placed for Moore in 2017.

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Grand Jury Charges Ed Buck with Four Additional Felonies, Including that He Enticed Victims to Travel Interstate to Engage in Prostitution

A federal grand jury today returned a superseding indictment charging Edward Buck with four additional felonies, including that he allegedly enticed victims – including a man who died at his West Hollywood apartment after he administered drugs to him – to travel interstate to engage in prostitution.

          Buck, 65, was arrested in September 2019 after being charged in United States District Court with providing methamphetamine to a man who died after receiving the drug intravenously. Since that time, federal authorities have continued to investigate Buck for additional crimes.

          The four additional counts charged today – bringing the total number of charges in this case to nine counts – include one count alleging that Buck knowingly enticed 26-year-old Gemmel Moore to travel to the Los Angeles area to engage in prostitution. Buck allegedly provided methamphetamine to Moore, who overdosed on the drug and died on July 27, 2017.

          Buck also is charged with another count of enticing another man to travel with the intent of engaging in prostitution.

          The superseding indictment also charges Buck with one count of knowingly and intentionally distributing methamphetamine, and one count of using his residence for the purpose of distributing narcotics such as methamphetamine, and the sedatives gamma hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) and clonazepam.

          Last year, a federal grand jury returned a five-count indictment charging that Buck “engaged in a pattern of soliciting men to consume drugs that Buck provided and perform sexual acts at Buck’s apartment,” which is a practice described as “party and play.” Buck allegedly solicited victims on social media platforms, including a gay dating website, and used a recruiter to scout and proposition men.

          Once the men were at his apartment, Buck allegedly prepared syringes containing methamphetamine, sometimes personally injecting the victims with or without their consent, according to the indictment. Buck also allegedly injected victims with more narcotics than they expected and sometimes injected victims while they were unconscious.

          Another victim, Timothy Dean also suffered a fatal overdose in Buck’s apartment, on January 7, 2019, the indictment alleges.

          Buck is scheduled to go to trial in this matter on January 19, 2021. His arraignment on the first superseding indictment is expected in the coming weeks.

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