The official cause of death for 50-year-old Joseph F. Dillard has been ruled as an overdose caused by a combination of drugs, according to Marshall County Coroner John Grolich.
Dillard was found deceased, along with his unresponsive wife Melissa Dillard, at their Plymouth home on West La Porte Street on Saturday, January 27th.
The coroner explained that toxicology tests were conducted the night that Joseph Dillard came in and were then sent to a lab in Pennsylvania for results. He said the results were received earlier this week and showed that a number of drugs were in Dillard’s system.
Grolich said at least seven drugs were found in Dillard’s system including oxycodone, fentanyl and monoacetylmorphine, which is an active metabolite in heroin. Grolich said the other drugs found included cyclopropyl fentanyl, which he described as an “exotic mixture”, diphenhydramine or Benadryl, which can be used to supplement other drugs according to the coroner, cyclopropyl fentanyl and alprazolam, which is a benzodiazepine which is available under the trade name Xanax and other generic tranquilizers.
According to Grolich, most of the drugs found in his system affect the central nervous system. The influence of those drugs impacts the respiratory receptors in the brain and leads to breathing complications which can result in death if the subject is not resuscitated within a certain amount of time.
