'Murphy Brown' star died from overdose

LOS ANGELES, April 9 (UPI) -- A Los Angeles county coroner said "Murphy Brown" actor Robert Pastorelli died last month of an accidental drug overdose, The Smoking Gun Web site said Friday.

The TV actor died March 8 of an overdose of heroin and cocaine, said the L.A. County Coroner's report.

On the day of his death, Pastorelli's assistant found the 49-year-old actor on the floor of his Hollywood Hills home with a syringe in his right arm.

Pastorelli had a history of addiction, but was believed to have been sober for the past 15 years.

Pastorelli's death came five years to the day after his girlfriend and mother of his daughter was killed by a gunshot wound to the head.

Police had recently begun reinvestigating the woman's death at the urging of her parents.