MAN ADMITS INJECTING DEADLY HEROIN

A Mount Morris man said he bought heroin and injected it into two friends
who were found dead Sunday morning, according to his police statement.

Victor Pagan, 49, of 11 North Main St. said he helped put the needles into
James Barnhardt, 39, and Elizabeth Mancuso, 37, on Friday night, then left
after Barnhardt became sick.

Barnhardt and Mancuso were found dead of an apparent heroin overdose by a
neighbor in their 7 Trumbull St. apartment on Sunday morning. Pagan is
charged with two counts of second-degree manslaughter.

"Jim asked if I had any dope and I told him I did," his statement reads.
"He asked me up to his apartment to do some, so I said, 'Yes.' As soon as
we got upstairs, Liz, who is Jim's girlfriend, wanted to do some dope, too."

He described to police how Barnhardt passed out after taking heroin, and
his lips turned blue. Before he left, Pagan said he put Barnhardt into bed,
then he and Mancuso did another round of heroin.

Mount Morris investigators said the potency of the heroin is unclear. "It's
terrible for something like this to take place," said Mount Morris Police
Chief Sherman Yates, discussing how the case has affected the small community.

Pagan told police that a few months earlier Mancuso was treated at a
hospital for drug abuse after Pagan injected her with heroin. Police said
that indicates Pagan's knowledge of the effect heroin had on her, part of
the reason for the manslaughter charge. Pagan faces up to 15 years in
prison on each count of second-degree manslaughter, said Thomas Moran,
Livingston County district attorney.

A preliminary hearing will be held Friday in Mount Morris Village Court.
Pagan has had two prior felony convictions; for alcohol abuse and property
crimes, Moran said.

Heroin use has grown at an alarming rate in Livingston County, as it has
nationally, especially among teenagers, law enforcement officials have
said. Police said they are aware of drug trafficking between the county and
Rochester.

Pagan said he bought two bags of heroin at Brown and Jay streets in
Rochester for $35.