Carver County plans to unseal search warrants into Prince's death next week

Carver County officials plan to release search warrants related to Prince's death Monday morning, nearly a year after the rock star died from an accidental fentanyl overdose.

The handful of warrants will most likely focus on the investigators' search of Paisley Park, the recording studio where Prince was found dead in an elevator last April. It's unclear how much detail the documents shed on the artist's death.

County and federal investigations into the death are ongoing, and there has been no indication whether authorities are close to presenting criminal cases for potential prosecution.

The Carver County Sheriff's Office declined Friday to comment on the investigation, other than to say it remains active.

Prince died from a self-administered overdose of the powerful drug fentanyl, the Midwest Medical Examiner's Office said in a report released last June. The report gave no indication of how Prince obtained the painkiller, nor did it list any other cause of death or "significant conditions."

The 57-year-old musician was pronounced dead the morning of April 21, one day before he was scheduled to meet with a California doctor in an attempt to shed an opioid addiction. Two of his staff members — longtime friend Kirk Johnson and personal assistant Meron Bekure — found his body in a Paisley Park elevator about 9:40 a.m.

Sources told the Star Tribune in the days after Prince's death that a joint state and federal criminal investigation has focused on his use of painkillers and how he obtained them. The painkiller Percocet was also present in Prince's body when he was found dead, a source familiar with the investigation told the Star Tribune.

The unsealing of the warrants comes amid the ongoing legal dispute over the legitimate heirs to Prince's vast fortune. He had no will, but Carver County Judge Kevin Eide has indicated that the surviving siblings, including Prince's sister Tyka Nelson and five half-siblings, will likely claim at least part of a fortune estimated at somewhere between $100 million and $300 million before taxes.

David Chanen • 612-673-4465