This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Initial indications were that a man found dead in Salt Lake City's Avenues district early Tuesday morning was the victim of a drug overdose.
Public safety dispatchers recorded a 911 call, reporting an unresponsive male lying in the street near 1185 E. Chandler Ave. (590 North), at 4:01 a.m.
While police said that 34-year-old Robert Martin Carpenter's death was still under investigation as possibly of suspicious origin, the victim's girlfriend — believed to have made the 911 call — reportedly told them that she and Carpenter had been using methamphetamine in a parked car before he got out and collapsed.
Paramedics found the man unconscious and not breathing. He was later declared dead at the scene.
Police confirmed detectives — assisted by the Utah State Medical Examiner's Office — were focusing on either a drug overdose or medical issue in connection with the death.
Court records show Carpenter had a long criminal history associated with drug use, identity and credit card fraud.
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