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Murder Charge In Overdose Death Dismissed

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(credit: CBS)

DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — A murder charge in a Minnesota overdose death has been dismissed because of insufficient evidence.

Twenty-eight-year-old Jason Karl Laubach had been charged with third-degree murder when prosecutors accused him of providing methadone to Joe DeRusha in September 2009. An autopsy by the St. Louis County medical examiner concluded DeRusha died of an overdose of three drugs, including methadone.

Carlton County Attorney Thom Petier told the Duluth News Tribune Wednesday that upon further discussion with the medical examiner and other experts, he could not prove it was the methadone alone that caused DeRusha’s death.

Laubach denies supplying methadone or any other drug to DeRusha.

(© Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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  • JamieinMN

    Good. You cannot blame someone else for someone else’s mistake. DeRusha made the mistake by overdosing and since he is deceased, there is no on else to blame. Just like someone getting fat off of McDonald’s…THEY made the choice to eat it, McDonald’s just supplied it.

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