MARTIN COUNTY − A Palm Beach County man faces a murder charge in connection with the March drug overdose death of a Stuart man, according to the Martin County Sheriff’s Office on Monday.
Marc Mathieu Jr., 36, was arrested July 17 following months of investigation after the death of Heath Moan, 57, who was found March 3 unresponsive in his bedroom, records show. Moan was pronounced dead at 8:03 p.m.
Investigators found a capsule with a “purple powdery substance” on a nightstand next to Moan’s bed. Syringes, baggies and razors with white residue were also found, records state.
Sheriff’s Lt. Michael McCarthy on Monday said detectives began investigating, speaking with those Moan lived and associated with and reviewed phone records.
“We were able to identify Mr. Mathieu as someone that Mr. Moan purchased illicit narcotics from, ultimately the fentanyl that led to his death,” McCarthy said.
In the days after Moan’s death, investigators with an informant reported purchasing from Mathieu a “purple powdery substance” that tested positive for fentanyl. Three purchases were made before Mathieu was apprehended March 13 on drug and other charges, records show.
“After the drug purchases were conducted, Mr. Mathieu was ultimately arrested,” McCarthy said. “We wanted to get him off the street. At that point we believed he was dealing fentanyl, and fentanyl that was of such potency that it was leading to overdoses.”
Fentanyl is an extremely potent opioid — far more powerful than heroin — that has been linked to hundreds of deaths on the Treasure Coast in recent years.
After Mathieu’s arrest in March, detectives continued investigating.
Moan’s cause of death, records show, was “mixed drug toxicity (cocaine, fentanyl and xylazine).” The purple powder in the capsule on Moan’s nightstand contained fentanyl and xylazine, records show.
Xylazine was approved originally by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1972 as an analgesic and sedative for use in veterinary medicine, according to the FDA. It’s not an opioid, so the reversal products, such as Narcan, aren’t effective in treating those who may have overdosed.
In a news release from Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office, xylazine was referred to as a “flesh-eating ‘zombie drug.’”
McCarthy said the narcotics allegedly purchased from Mathieu in March by an informant tested positive for fentanyl and xylazine.
Mathieu was held Monday in the Martin County Jail on $1.585 million bond, a jail official said.
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Will Greenlee is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm. Follow Will on X @OffTheBeatTweet or reach him by phone at 772-267-7926. E-mail him at will.greenlee@tcpalm.com.
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