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(At first, Paul J. Browne, the Police Department’s deputy commissioner for public information, said that the apartment was owned by the actress Mary-Kate Olsen, but later reversed himself and said that was not the case. In a phone interview, Annette Wolf, a representative of Ms. Olsen, said, “It is not her apartment,” adding, “She does not own the apartment. She has never owned the apartment. She and her sister have an apartment in New York City but they are not in this building.” An earlier version of this article reported the erroneous detail from the police.)

A masseuse arrived at the apartment at 421 Broome Street in SoHo for a scheduled appointment with Ledger at 3:31 p.m. Tuesday afternoon. The housekeeper let her in and then went to alert Mr. Ledger. She and the masseuse opened the actor's door when there was no responce. Ledger was naked and unconscious on the bed with pills scattered around his body. They called authorities immediately.

Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the office of the city’s chief medical examiner, Dr. Charles S. Hirsch stated that an autopsy would be conducted on Wednesday.


The offical police summary of death is as follows:

“ON TUESDAY, 01/22/08, AT APPROXIMATELY 1530 HOURS, IN THE CONFINES OF THE 5 PRECINCT, POLICE RESPONDED TO 421 BROOME STREET AND FOUND A M/W/28 UNCONSCIOUS. THE VICTIM WAS PRONOUNCED DOA AT THE SCENE. M.E.’S OFFICE TO DETERMINE THE CAUSE OF DEATH. INVESTIGATION CONTINUES.”