3-MAN TRYST, SEX PILLS AND 1 DEATH

A 26-YEAR-OLD Singaporean man died after taking performance-enhancing drugs during a night of casual sex with two other men.

Mr Brandon Boh Zhuang Min died 16 days after he was found unconscious in the Holland Close flat of a man he had met barely a week earlier, a coroner’s court heard yesterday.

Mr Boh, a catering executive, met German magazine publisher Rene Daniels, 45, on an Internet dating site in late March last year.

Shortly after, on the weekend of April 4, Mr Boh stayed over at Mr Daniels’ home, and the pair had sex.

Three days later, they invited another man known only as Ismail – whom Mr Daniels had also met online – to join them for sex at the Holland Close flat.

While the trio were in the bedroom, Mr Daniels took out four blue pills meant for sexual enhancement, saying he had brought them from Germany. He took two and gave the other two to Mr Boh. Both of them soon felt unwell.

Ismail, whose identity could not be established in the police investigation, left the flat some time after.

Later, Mr Daniels’ friend, Mr Ong Chee Haur, 36, found the duo lying unconscious in separate rooms. Their bodies were hot and dehydrated. He poured water into their mouths and called for an ambulance when he failed to rouse Mr Daniels.

Paramedics found both men foaming at the mouth. They had low blood-sugar levels. After glucose was administered to Mr Daniels, he came to but was still drowsy. Both men were taken to the National University Hospital.

Mr Daniels survived, but Mr Boh remained in critical condition and died on April 23 of pneumonia and swelling in the brain following multiple drug abuse.

Among the drugs found in his system were glibenclamide, used to treat diabetes, and amphetamines. When used without medical supervision, glibenclamide can cause hypoglycaemia (low blood-sugar levels), leading to brain injury.

Police officers found unopened condoms and medication in the bedrooms.

In recording a verdict of misadventure on the death of Mr Boh, State Coroner Victor Yeo said the evidence showed that the two men had knowingly taken the sex enhancement pills, which were very likely counterfeits.