The death of a 43-year-old Port Townsend man March 27 has led to a multi-jurisdictional investigation, and execution of a search warrant for hazardous materials spotted at a Port Townsend residence connected to the man’s death.

According to Keppie Keplinger, public information officer for the Port Townsend Police Department, there are no threats to public safety, but the investigation is still active.

The investigation started after Jefferson Health Care Center medical personnel found Jarrod Bramson, 43, unconscious in a running vehicle in their parking lot at approximately 8:14 p.m.

They attempted life-saving efforts, but Bramson was pronounced dead of an apparent drug overdose.

Investigations into Bramson’s death led officers to a 12th Street address in Port Townsend, which in turn led to the discovery of hazardous materials, from which investigators concluded the residence was being used as a drug lab.

On March 28, the Port Townsend Police Department applied for and was granted a search warrant for the residence.

The same day, the residence’s occupant, 38-year-old Adam M. Kelly of Port Townsend, was taken into custody and charged with controlled substances homicide, possession with intent to manufacture or deliver a controlled substance, and unlawful use of a building for drug purposes.

On the state’s recommendations, Judge Keith Harper set Kelly’s bail at $500,000 cash or bond, granted a 72-hour bond and ordered the defendant to surrender his passport.

Kelly’s next arraignment is set for 11:30 a.m. April 2.

The search warrant was executed at the residence with the Port Townsend Police Department acting as the primary investigating agency, with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Department of Ecology, Washington State Patrol SWAT, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and East Jefferson Fire Rescue.

Further details will be posted as they are made available.

The FBI has not yet responded to requests for comment from The Leader.

FOLLOWING THE EVIDENCE

According to a March 29 probable cause statement written by Jefferson County Sheriff’s Detective Derek Allen, Bramson was found in the hospital’s parking lot after a woman called in to ask if he’d made it to the ER yet.

When the nurse confirmed no one with Bramson’s name had checked in yet, the woman calling in said Bramson might be in the parking lot in a Ford Focus.

Bramson was found in the passenger seat of the still-running Ford Focus, without a pulse.

The CPR that hospital personnel performed on Bramson had no effect, Allen’s report noted the ER staff found nearby a gallon-sized plastic bag with the words “metribolone 1x30 PCS oral” written on it.

Allen’s report pointed out that metribolone “is a synthetic or orally active anabolic-androgenic steroid, a Schedule III controlled substance.”

Kelly’s name came up more than once in connection with Bramson. Allen’s report stated that Oceana Van Lelyveld told sheriff’s detectives “the only person she knew who Bramson associated with” was Kelly, whom she knew was involved with drug use.

Additionally, the phone number from which the caller had dialed to check on Bramson belonged to Kelly, and JeffCom informed sheriff’s detectives that number had called about a domestic dispute involving Kelly at a 12th Street address in August of 2018.

After obtaining this information, Allen’s report says, officers met with Kelly at the 12th Street residence, where Kelly told officers Bramson had arrived at the residence “in bad shape,” showing signs of being under the influence before becoming unresponsive.

According to what Kelly told officers, he and a woman carried Kelly to the car he’d arrived in, since Kelly was unable to walk, and then drove him to the hospital, leaving on foot while the woman called the hospital to confirm he’d been admitted to the ER.

After officers departed to discuss the investigation, they applied for a search warrant for Kelly’s residence.

Upon their return, they found Kelly had left, but had left behind “what appeared to be some sort of clandestine drug labs set up in a downstairs room,” according to Allen’s report.

The woman who had called the hospital subsequently called officers, saying “she wanted to talk to law enforcement, but was scared of Kelly.”

Allen’s report elaborated the woman “said Kelly told her, ‘I gave him (presumably Bramson) the shot that killed him.’”

While Kelly denied providing Bramson with any drugs other than the anti-overdose shot called Narcan, in an attempt to revive him, the woman claimed Kelly had refused her request to call 911 after he’d injected Bramson with the Narcan.

Although the woman told officers that Kelly had said to her, “I gave him his first shot,” Allen’s report acknowledged she was “unsure if Kelly was referring to administering the actual shot, or giving him a syringe.”

The woman’s account further claimed she witnessed Kelly preparing heroin for injection at a friend’s residence “after the incident with Bramson.” She called the downstairs room in Kelly’s residence (where Bramson was found unresponsive and where she said she’d observed a pill press and liquid drugs) “the Dungeon.”

“Kelly informed (her) the liquids and pills were a steroid, and he was a pioneer of making them,” Allen’s report stated. “Kelly told (her) he was selling drugs to the cartel, and working in a business partnership with the Aryan Brotherhood,” a prison gang for white prisoners.

An FBI bomb squad located several firearms in what was identified as Kelly’s bedroom, including a shotgun, a rifle with a silencer or noise suppressor, a pistol and several boxes of ammunition, as well as a tactical vest.

A confidential source informed Allen that Kelly was using “the dark web” to sell his drugs worldwide, using Bitcoin for payment and making $30,000 a month in sales.

Kelly’s residence is 776 feet from a school bus stop for the Port Townsend School District.

Allen’s report, which also noted Kelly’s use of fake Cialis-brand labels to conceal the nature of the items being shipped, stated that Kelly’s operations show “a high degree of sophistication or planning, and involve a broad geographic area.”