Local News in Brief : Man Pleads Guilty in Fatal Overdose
A Canoga Park man, originally charged with murder for helping a friend inject himself with a fatal dose of heroin, pleaded guilty Monday to a reduced charge of involuntary manslaughter.
In exchange for his guilty plea, Peter Demidow, 35, was guaranteed a sentence of no more than 3 years in prison, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Lea D’Agostino.
Demidow was arrested July 17 after his friend, Alden Cass Warder, 37, was found dead of an apparent drug overdose in his Encino home in the 4200 block of Mooncrest Place.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Stephen A. Baron said Demidow held Warder’s arm while a third man injected Warder with heroin.
Baron said the injection was at Warder’s request. Warder had been drinking and was unable to inject himself, Baron said.
Investigators were unable to get sufficient evidence to charge the other man, but Demidow confessed to his role in the death, authorities said.
Aiding and abetting in a fatal drug overdose is considered murder under California law, Baron said. However, D’Agostino said there was no evidence of the malice required for a second-degree murder conviction.
Van Nuys Superior Court Judge David P. Yaffe scheduled sentencing for Jan. 13.
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