River Phoenix lectured the world about the evils of meat and people in Hollywood “who don’t have their heads in the right place” — but spent four years binging on drugs before dying on the sidewalks of Los Angeles as he joined the ranks of celebrity drug overdoses. The doomed star’s longtime drug dealer spoke out to The National ENQUIRER after the horrific death of River outside of Johnny Depp’s popular Viper Room in the early hours of October 31, 1993 — saying: “I tried to warn River that he shouldn’t mix heroin and cocaine.” Struggling drummer Rick Riojas added: “I tried my hardest to convince him that it was a bad idea. I guess he thought he was young and indestructible, that the drugs wouldn’t kill him!”
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Riojas told The ENQUIRER in an exclusive interview that he introduced Phoenix to heroin in 1989. "I was with River the first time he..used heroin," said Riojas. "He didn't know how to melt the mixture, and he couldn't 'shoot' himself. So I grabbed his arm, stuck the needle in a good vein and pushed the plunger."
Photo credit: Getty Images
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"He claimed he had gotten loaded on heroin before, but I could tell he never had," added Riojas, who said that River had a $1,000-a-week heroin and cocaine habit when he died at the age of 23. "About nine months ago, he asked me if I'd ever done 'speedballs'...he called them 'John Belushis,' and I told him no, and begged him not to do it."
Photo credit: Getty Images
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"The cops and the doctors said at the time they were unsure what killed River, but I had no doubt," Riojas continued. "They could have asked me — a bad trip on speedballs!" In fact, an autopsy later revealed that the young star (seen here with
Teri Garr) died from "an acute multiple drug intoxication — including lethal levels of heroin and cocaine."
Photo credit: Getty Images
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Just as River said, it was the same deadly mix that killed
John Belushi in 1982. The baby-faced actor — who launched his career alongside
Corey Feldman,
Wil Wheaton and
Jerry O'Connell in 1986's "Stand by Me" — was a devout vegetarian who begged friends not to wear leather. But Riojas said that was all an act!
Photo credit: Getty Images
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"His friends must have known he was using heroin, because he was loaded all the time," Riojas explained. "I'd run into him on the Sunset Strip, and he'd be with his friends and he'd score from me. He bought so much from me one weekend that I sold out, and even my connection sold out!"
Photo credit: Getty Images
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Riojas, who says he kicked his own drug habit and stopped dealing several months before River's death, recalled how the actor once flew across the country just to score drugs. "He called me collect from New York and said he'd be right over," Riojas recalled. "About six hours later, I heard a knock on my door, and it was River!"
Photo credit: Getty Images
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The actor also played guitar in the band Aleka's Attic, and told Riojas he liked heroin because he thought it helped his music: "He said, 'Liquor makes you too messy when you play, and coke makes you too wired. With heroin, you get in the right groove and can play all night!"
Photo credit: Getty Images
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But eventually, Riojas said, heroin alone was not enough: "The last time I saw River, about six months ago, he told me, 'Dude, you were right. John Belushis are the ultimate high!' I realized he wasn't the naive, scared kid whom I had first shot up a few years ago. He had the look of an old man in his eyes."
Photo credit: Getty Images
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Samantha Mathis, who had starred with her boyfriend in "A Thing Called Love," which became River's final film, finally spoke about his death 25 years later, telling a reporter: “I knew he was high that night, but the heroin that killed him didn’t happen until he was in the Viper Room. I have my suspicions about what was going on, but I didn’t see anything.”
Photo credit: Getty Images
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Riojas, meanwhile, insisted that he was warning former clients to kick their habits before it's too late. "I got out just in the nick of time," he declared. "River acted mature for his age, and I think he used drugs because that's what adults do, or so he thought. But really, only troubled people turn to drugs for help — the wrong kind of help!"
Photo credit: Getty Images
Riojas told The ENQUIRER in an exclusive interview that he introduced Phoenix to heroin in 1989. "I was with River the first time he..used heroin," said Riojas. "He didn't know how to melt the mixture, and he couldn't 'shoot' himself. So I grabbed his arm, stuck the needle in a good vein and pushed the plunger."
Photo credit: Getty Images
"He claimed he had gotten loaded on heroin before, but I could tell he never had," added Riojas, who said that River had a $1,000-a-week heroin and cocaine habit when he died at the age of 23. "About nine months ago, he asked me if I'd ever done 'speedballs'...he called them 'John Belushis,' and I told him no, and begged him not to do it."
Photo credit: Getty Images
"The cops and the doctors said at the time they were unsure what killed River, but I had no doubt," Riojas continued. "They could have asked me — a bad trip on speedballs!" In fact, an autopsy later revealed that the young star (seen here with
Teri Garr) died from "an acute multiple drug intoxication — including lethal levels of heroin and cocaine."
Photo credit: Getty Images
Just as River said, it was the same deadly mix that killed
John Belushi in 1982. The baby-faced actor — who launched his career alongside
Corey Feldman,
Wil Wheaton and
Jerry O'Connell in 1986's "Stand by Me" — was a devout vegetarian who begged friends not to wear leather. But Riojas said that was all an act!
Photo credit: Getty Images
"His friends must have known he was using heroin, because he was loaded all the time," Riojas explained. "I'd run into him on the Sunset Strip, and he'd be with his friends and he'd score from me. He bought so much from me one weekend that I sold out, and even my connection sold out!"
Photo credit: Getty Images
Riojas, who says he kicked his own drug habit and stopped dealing several months before River's death, recalled how the actor once flew across the country just to score drugs. "He called me collect from New York and said he'd be right over," Riojas recalled. "About six hours later, I heard a knock on my door, and it was River!"
Photo credit: Getty Images
The actor also played guitar in the band Aleka's Attic, and told Riojas he liked heroin because he thought it helped his music: "He said, 'Liquor makes you too messy when you play, and coke makes you too wired. With heroin, you get in the right groove and can play all night!"
Photo credit: Getty Images
But eventually, Riojas said, heroin alone was not enough: "The last time I saw River, about six months ago, he told me, 'Dude, you were right. John Belushis are the ultimate high!' I realized he wasn't the naive, scared kid whom I had first shot up a few years ago. He had the look of an old man in his eyes."
Photo credit: Getty Images
Samantha Mathis, who had starred with her boyfriend in "A Thing Called Love," which became River's final film, finally spoke about his death 25 years later, telling a reporter: “I knew he was high that night, but the heroin that killed him didn’t happen until he was in the Viper Room. I have my suspicions about what was going on, but I didn’t see anything.”
Photo credit: Getty Images
Riojas, meanwhile, insisted that he was warning former clients to kick their habits before it's too late. "I got out just in the nick of time," he declared. "River acted mature for his age, and I think he used drugs because that's what adults do, or so he thought. But really, only troubled people turn to drugs for help — the wrong kind of help!"
Photo credit: Getty Images
