QUICK TAKES - Sept. 3, 2009

Was DJ AM’s death suicide?

The jet-set mash-up disc jockey had prescription pills in his stomach and one in his throat when authorities found him dead in his SoHo apartment on Friday, an unnamed New York City official told the Associated Press.

The official said there were six pills in DJ AM’s stomach and the one lodged in his throat that appeared to be the powerful painkiller OxyContin. The official didn’t know what dosage of the pills and was not certain what kind of pills were in DJ AM’s stomach. A similar report on People.com quoted an unnamed law enforcement source saying that eight undigested OxyContin tablets had been found in the DJ’s stomach and a ninth in his mouth.

The discovery suggests that DJ AM (real name Adam Goldstein, 36) swallowed the pills in rapid succession. “He wanted to die,” the source told People.com. “He was going unconscious when he took the last one. He didn’t even swallow it.”

Responding to a 911 call, paramedics had to break down the door of Goldstein’s apartment; they found him shirtless and wearing sweat pants in his bed around 5:20 p.m. Prescription pill bottles and a crack pipe were discovered near the body. There was no evidence of foul play. Final autopsy and toxicology reports are pending.

-- Chris Lee