INDIANAPOLIS – The FBI is investigating the death of Jim Irsay, the former owner of the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts, and the recovery doctor who provided him with prescription painkillers and ketamine in his final months, according to documents reviewed by The Washington Post and two people familiar with the matter.
A federal grand jury subpoena reviewed by The Washington Post says the agency is seeking records and information about Irsay’s death, his “substance use (illegal and prescription)” and his “relationship with Dr. Harry Harutunian, a noted addiction expert in California.”
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The subpoena was issued earlier this month by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles. Federal agents visited Indianapolis for several days this month and interviewed multiple people close to Irsay in the final years of his life, according to two people familiar with the investigation. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the findings publicly.
A spokesman for the FBI’s Los Angeles field office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. A spokesman for the Beverly Hills Police Department said the FBI has not yet contacted the Beverly Hills Police Department, which originally investigated Irsay’s death.
Colts chief legal officer Dan Emerson said in a phone interview Thursday that the team is aware of the findings but has not yet received a subpoena or been contacted by the FBI.
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“I do know that some subpoenas were issued, but not to me, the Colts or any of our current employees,” said Emerson, who declined to comment further.
Rehabilitation doctor Harutunian did not respond to messages seeking comment this week.
Irsay died in May at the age of 65 while on vacation at a Beverly Hills hotel in California. Harutunian was staying at the hotel and overseeing Irsay’s treatment. He signed a death certificate stating the cause of death was cardiac arrest due to pneumonia and heart disease. No autopsy was performed, and Beverly Hills police closed their investigation into the death days later.
But in August, a Washington Post investigation revealed that Irsay, who had publicly claimed to be over his addiction to painkillers, had secretly relapsed and, in his final months, received doses of opioids and ketamine administered by Harutunian in amounts that alarmed several people close to the Colts’ longtime owner.
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The Post reviewed pictures of pill bottles that showed Harutunian prescribed more than 200 opioid pills to Isay in the days before he overdosed twice within 12 days in December 2023. Harutunian later added ketamine to Isay’s treatment regimen, according to four people who witnessed the Colts owner receive the injection.
“I spent 18 months taking care of him … as a brother,” Harutunian told The Washington Post in a brief interview this summer. “We did everything we could to make him as comfortable as possible.”
Experts say the use of ketamine in people with substance abuse is controversial, with actor Matthew Perry’s highly publicized case proving the drug’s potential for abuse. Perry died in 2023, Federal law enforcement in Southern California also investigated, leading to criminal charges against five people involved in procuring the drug from him, including two doctors.
Irsay is one of the most charismatic and influential NFL owners of his generation, known for his colorful personality and the Colts’ success on the field, culminating in a Super Bowl victory in 2007. But he has struggled with drug addiction throughout his life, which periodically caused public unrest surrounding the Colts, including in 2014 when police found dozens of pills and thousands of dollars in cash in his car. He was convicted of driving while intoxicated.
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After the 2014 incident, Irsay prided herself on being candid about her battle with addiction and launched a nonprofit initiative related to mental health issues, including substance use disorders, called “Breaking the Stigma.” But by December 2023, signs of a relapse appeared.
Police and paramedics were called to Irsay’s home outside Indianapolis after he was found unconscious. Police recorded the incident as a “suspected drug overdose”, but Irsay later claimed that the drugs had no effect and that he had only suffered a leg injury.
The Washington Post later reported that the incident was indeed a drug overdose, followed by another overdose 12 days later at a hotel outside Miami. A second overdose resulted in Irsay being hospitalized for several months. The Colts claimed at the time that he was being treated for a “severe respiratory illness.” Irsay later offered a different explanation, claiming he had been recovering from back surgery.
Irsay’s primary physician during this time was Haroutunian, better known to the Colts and his patients as “Dr. Harry.” Harutunian, the former physician director and spokesperson for the famed Betty Ford Center in Southern California, has treated many celebrities for substance abuse disorders over the years, including Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler.
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Razzan Nakhlawi contributed to this report.
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