Viral fitness influencer Connor Murphy has died by drowning after fleeing the police in Thailand, according to reports from the Bangkok Post. Close friends say drug use played a part in erratic behavior leading up to the incident that caused his death.
Born in Texas and based in Austin, Connor Murphy reportedly drowned Thursday night, according to the Bangkok Post, after jumping into a lake near a home in Samut Prakan, south of Bangkok, where he was staying with his girlfriend. The Post reported that Murphy was being driven back to his luxury rental home by a driver but started to behave strangely, ultimately exiting the vehicle and rolling around on the road.
Samut Prakan Province Police responded to a report of a man acting strangely at around 3 p.m. local time after Murphy tried to get into a bystander’s car and became irate when the bystander refused, according to the Bangkok Post.
Murphy became more frantic when police arrived and eventually attempted to run away before ultimately going to the village lake. Witnesses told the Bangkok Post that Murphy began swimming out into the water before growing tired and slipping beneath the surface. Rescue divers searched for 30 minutes before finding his body approximately 65 feet from shore.
According to reports, two unused needles and a bag containing many white pills were found during a subsequent search of Murphy’s car.
Investigators discovered that Murphy’s rented home, where he had been living with his 22-year-old girlfriend for three months, was destroyed and wrecked, with furniture and decorations damaged. The girlfriend reportedly told authorities that the content creator covered the entire house, including the electrical appliances, with paint in the middle of the night while she was asleep.
Despite the search that resulted in illicit materials being found in his vehicle and the vandalism that took place at their home, his girlfriend also reportedly told authorities that Murphy had not behaved abnormally before his death, and she indicated that she did not know about any suspected drug usage.
Several of Murphy’s friends, including fitness coach Patrick Lyons, confirmed his death in social media tributes. In a lengthy post on Instagram, Lyons alleged Murphy had been experimenting with a highly dangerous illicit drug that drove him to a psychotic break in 2020.
“Connor experimented with an illicit, extremely powerful drug in 2020 that unveiled a previously unknown underlying mental illness,” Lyons wrote. “In effect, it caused a psychotic break that turned Connor into someone far different from the person I once knew.”
Lyons went on to further insinuate that Murphy was more than likely in a state of mania due to the use of performance-enhancing and psychedelic drugs.
Murphy’s social media persona began gaining popularity in the mid 2010s, where he made a name for himself as a bodybuilder and prank video maker. Over 2.7 million people followed him on YouTube and Instagram, where he shared bodybuilding and fitness-related content. He began partaking in the popular “looksmaxxing” trend popularized on TikTok, which features men chasing physical perfection through various avenues including bodybuilding and more extreme routes like surgery and drug usage.
In the final video posted to his YouTube channel on July 1, titled “RIP Elon Muscular”, Murphy talked about his potential death. At the end of the 1-minute-long video that featured Murphy dancing and playing a mini violin, the influencer said people “have an unhealthy relationship with death.”
The caption to the video read: “Obituary Pending. This is purely a satirical acting performance. This dramatization does not depict any true events. Nothing in this video should be replicated, and everything performed abides by all laws and regulations.”
The investigation into Murphy’s death is still ongoing. He was 32 years old.