Heroin Distribution Charge Related to Roommate's Death

The St. Charles County Prosecutors office charged a St. Charles man April 16 in connection with his roommate’s fatal overdose in December.

Christopher R. Frambers, 23, is charged with distributing heroin, a class B felony. Normally, the charge is associated with selling or making a controlled substance, but it also applies to distributing or delivering illegal drugs.

His roommate, Andrew Eckert, was discovered dead in the house the two shared in the 500 block of Madison Avenue on Dec. 17. An April 9 St. Charles County Medical Examiners’ report said the cause of death was a heroin overdose.

Officers found seven capsules Eckert’s dresser drawer, empty capsules and straws with white residue. The powder tested positive for heroin. Investigators also found messages on Eckert’s cell phone indicating that Frambers distributed heroin to Eckert, according to a written statement by the St. Charles County Sheriff’s Department.

Frambers told investigators that Eckert wanted heroin but couldn’t leave to get it. So Frambers went to St. Louis, bought heroin and brought it to the house in St. Charles, according to the report.

Frambers told investigators that Eckert “didn’t deserve what happened to him.” He called heroin “the devil,” and said he hated it, according to the St. Charles County Sheriff’s Department report.

He also said the heroin he gave Eckert was good, but he used too much of it.

The report also quoted him as saying, “I know cops are getting so (expletive) sick of this dope they’re trying to pin someone that’s responsible for it. They’re even trying to charge the dope dealers with murder. You know I’m not trying to be charged with no murder cause I went and got the dope.”

There were 18 heroin-related deaths in St. Charles County in 2011. So far, there have been seven heroin-related deaths in the county in 2012. If that pace continues, the county would eclipse its high of 22 deaths in 2010.