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The mystery surrounding the death of Heath Ledger deepened when the masseuse who found the actor's body changed her story yesterday.
Diana Wolozin, 40, who had visited Ledger's Manhattan flat on Tuesday afternoon for a massage, initially told police that she rang the actress Mary-Kate Olsen twice before calling for an ambulance.
However, when police checked the call records on Ledger's telephone, they discovered Wolozin rang Olsen four times - spending nine minutes on three calls before she dialled the emergency services, and ringing her again later.
Investigators believe Ledger, the 28-year-old Australian star of Brokeback Mountain, may have overdosed on prescription sleeping and anti-anxiety pills.
Police, who have ruled out foul play, say that the calls to Olsen do not have any significant bearing on the investigation because they believe Ledger was already dead. But they have asked to see security videos from the building.
They have denied newspaper claims that they wanted to interview Olsen, reportedly a girlfriend of Ledger's.
A New York police source told the Daily News yesterday: "Given what we know at the moment, while we wait for the medical examiner to determine the cause of death, we don't need to talk to Olsen."
According to investigators, an increasingly anxious Wolozin told Olsen that Ledger was unconscious and she did not know what to do.
Olsen, who was in California, said she was sending her security men to the apartment.
After finding Ledger cold to the touch, the masseuse rang back Olsen to say she thought he was dead and she was ringing the emergency services.
It also emerged that Wolozin does not hold a New York state licence to practise massage therapy. She should have been trained in resuscitation techniques but had to be told how to do it by the emergency services operator.
Test results due back early next month are expected to show whether Ledger died from an accidental drug overdose, after six types of prescription drugs were found in his home.
Ledger will be buried in his hometown of Perth, after a memorial service in Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, Ledger's death has spiked sales and interest in the late actor's films.
As often happens after the death of a famous actor or musician, many have sought to revisit or simply discover his work.
Three of Ledger's movies charted among the 25 best-selling DVDs on Amazon.com as of yesterday.
Most have been buying copies of Ledger's 1999 comedy 10 Things I Hate About You and his 2001 period action flick A Knight's Tale.
After those films, Ledger pursued more dramatic, challenging roles, with 2005's Brokeback Mountain - the third most popular of his DVDs on Amazon - roundly considered his finest achievement.
Ledger's latest film to be released, the multi-persona Bob Dylan film I'm Not There, has mostly completed its theatrical run.
The impact of Ledger's death on his last completed project, The Dark Knight, remains to be seen.
In the latest instalment in the Batman series, Ledger plays the Joker, and his twisted take on the villain had been a focal point in the film's advance promotion.
Since Ledger's death, more than seven million have flocked to YouTube to watch trailers of The Dark Knight.
At the time of his death, Ledger was shooting a US$30 million ($39.28 million) film directed by Terry Gilliam.
The movie recently completed shooting scenes in London and was soon to resume production in Canada. Producers have not said whether the film will continue.
- INDEPENDENT
