Skip to main content

Home News News World

Attorney who was found dead in car overdosed on MDMA, says chief medical examiner

The body of Daniel Potucek was found in the front passenger seat near four gay clubs in Washington

By Steve Brown

An attorney who was found dead in a parked car overdosed on MDMA, according to the chief medical examiner.

Daniel Potucek, a gay attorney in Washington, was found in the front passenger seat of a car parked on a street near four gay clubs but there were no signs of injury or trauma.

However, after an investigation into his death was launched, the chief medical examiner confirmed it was an accidental overdose of MDMA and ecstasy, the Washington Blade reported.

Following his death, people who knew him posted messages on social media saying he was gay and visited at least one of the four gay clubs near where he was found on a regular basis.

LGBT+ activists raised concern at the time of his death when authorities weren’t able to immediately determine the cause of death because of reports of possible hate crime assaults of gay men in the area.

Potucek, 34, was an attorney for the US Transportation Security Administration since 2013 and his mother, Lorinda Potucek, told NBC 4 News: “We all think with beyond a reasonable doubt that there’s more to this story.

“Daniel always has made it home.”

Suspicions were raised when the owner of the car told police that he didn’t know Potucek and had no idea how he found his way inside the vehicle.