Charges or no in Prince's death? Word comes Thursday

Updated: April 19, 8:15 a.m. | Posted: April 18, 1:15 p.m.

Carver County Attorney Mark Metz is expected to announce who — if anyone — will be charged in connection with the death of Prince.

The 11:30 a.m. announcement follows a two-year investigation into the superstar's death from a fentanyl overdose. Metz has said he will not be taking any questions after the statement.

MPR News will carry the press conference live.

On April 21, 2016, Prince Rogers Nelson was found unresponsive in an elevator at Paisley Park — his home and studio complex. He was 57 years old.

As fans from around the world came to Chanhassen to leave momentos and makeshift memorials on the fence, details began to trickle out about the musician's final days.

Prince had performed two concerts in Atlanta a week before he died — makeups for shows he'd canceled due to illness. On the flight back to Minneapolis, Prince's private plane made an emergency 10-hour stopover in Moline, Illinois.

After returning home, he threw a dance party for fans at Paisley Park. Hoping to quash any rumors about his health, Prince came out briefly, showed off his new purple piano, and said "wait a few days before you waste any prayers." It would be his last public appearance.

Debra Grant of Minnetonka was at that gathering. She told MPR News in 2016 that Prince looked good, but something was off.

"You could tell his voice was really weak when he did talk, he just sounded weak," Grant said.

The day after Prince died, Carver County Sheriff Jim Olson told reporters that investigators did not suspect foul play or suicide. But he said little beyond that.

"The information we have right now is that he was last seen about 8 o'clock Wednesday night. Somebody dropped him off at home," Olson said.

Six weeks later, an autopsy would reveal that Prince died of "fentanyl toxicity," and that the synthetic opioid painkiller was self-administered. The Midwest Medical Examiner's office ruled it an accident.

But where did Prince get such a powerful drug?

According to search warrants made public a year ago, Prince had no prescriptions for any medication at the time of his death. But the documents say Dr. Michael Schulenberg prescribed several narcotics for Prince to help with hip pain.

The drugs — which do not include fentanyl — were prescribed under the name of Prince's friend and bodyguard.

Authorities say they discovered "a sizable amount of narcotic medications" throughout Prince's home; some were found in vitamin bottles.

After the warrant was released, Schulenberg's attorney disputed investigators' accounts, saying in a statement that the doctor "never directly prescribed opioids to Prince, nor did he ever prescribe opioids to any other person with the intent that they would be given to Prince."

According to the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice, Schulenberg has been licensed in the state for more than 20 years and has never faced any disciplinary or corrective action. He continues to practice family medicine in New Brighton, Minn.

So far there's nothing in the public record linking anyone in Prince's orbit to the fentanyl that killed him, nor any indication how he obtained it.