Man Linked to O’Connor’s Son Charged

A felony drug count was filed Tuesday against the man actor Carroll O’Connor accused of selling drugs to his addicted son before Hugh Edward O’Connor committed suicide.

Less than 12 hours after the March 28 death of Hugh O’Connor, and acting on information provided by his famous father, police raided the Brentwood home of Harry Perzigian and arrested him on suspicion of possessing cocaine for sale.

The officers said they confiscated drugs, drug paraphernalia and cash during the raid but were unable to prove that Perzigian, 39, had sold drugs to Hugh O’Connor or that Perzigian was connected to the suicide.

To the victim’s father, however, the connection was clear.

“These dealers, they kill people,” Carroll O’Connor told a battery of cameras arrayed last month in front of the Pacific Palisades home where his 32-year-old, adopted son had shot himself to death. Perzigian, he said, “has been as responsible for for Hugh’s death as anyone on earth.”

It was Carroll O’Connor, in the days before his son’s death, who had gone to police to report that Perzigian was selling Hugh O’Connor cocaine. And it was Carroll O’Connor whom Hugh had called March 28 to say he could not endure the prospect of another attempt to beat his addition.

When Hugh O’Connor told his father he was going to shoot himself, Carroll O’Connor alerted police. But it was too late. By the time officers forced their way into the Pacific Palisades home, Hugh O’Connor lay dead of a gunshot wound to the head. A .45-caliber pistol and a suicide note were found beside him.

One count of purchase and possession of cocaine with intent to sell was filed against Perzigian in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday by Deputy Dist. Atty. Steven M. Barshop. The district attorney’s office said that if convicted, Perzigian could serve up to four years in prison.

Perzigian’s arraignment is scheduled for 9 a.m. today in West Los Angeles Municipal Court.