Report: Tuinei
had used heroin

A court document indicates
he also had taken Ecstasy
the night he died

Associated Press

PLANO, Texas -- Mark Tuinei injected heroin the night before he died, KDFW-TV reported today, citing a court document.

Tuinei, a former Punahou School, University of Hawaii and Dallas Cowboys star -- and Cowboys running back Nicky Sualua -- spent Wednesday night at a Dallas apartment, the station reported. Sualua said Tuinei injected heroin and also used the stimulant Ecstasy, according to the document.

The document was an affidavit filed by Plano police in support of a search warrant of Tuinei's home, a Collin County clerk said. Police said they found a small amount of drug paraphernalia in Tuinei's home.

In the document, Sualua said Tuinei was alive when they left the apartment, and Sualua drove them to Tuinei's house in Plano, the Dallas-Fort Worth station reported. Sualua apparently fell asleep, and when he woke up, he could not revive Tuinei.

Sualua called 911 shortly before 6 a.m. Thursday, and Tuinei, 39, was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at a hospital.

Tuinei's wife, Pono, was in Hawaii, so police secured a search warrant to enter the home. Police say she has cooperated in the investigation.

Investigators were still awaiting toxicology results on Tuinei from the Collin County medical examiner's office. Results were expected tomorrow.