Looksmaxxer Connor Murphy Was Injecting Liquid Gold Before Death, Friend Claims

Looksmaxxer Connor Murphy was injecting liquid gold into his body before his death, which may have led to some sort of psychosis ... at least according to his longtime friend.

Connor's former roommate and close friend Tony Huge tellz TMZ ... while he saw some benefits to Connor injecting liquid gold into his blood stream, he warned him about the practice.

Tony tells us Connor used gold to enhance the color of his skin and to create "superhuman" traits ... and he did see a huge change in him -- he was bolder, more courageous and had elevated energy.

Still, Tony says he warned Connor he should cool it with the amount of gold he was injecting ... worried about the unknown consequences of having the precious metal -- sometimes bought right from jewelry shops in Thailand -- in his body.

As a friend, Tony says there was only so much he could say.

Tony tells TMZ he believes the gold may have altered Connor's mindset and got him "stuck" in another personality, bringing out a side of him that desired going to extreme measures for his looksmaxxing and content creation. Tony worries that altered state of mind may have encouraged actions that eventually led to Connor's demise.

As you know ... Connor drowned Tuesday in Thailand after locals in town called police on him for "erratic" behavior. He reportedly fled from cops and jumped into a lake nearby, swimming until he could no longer stay afloat.

Rescuers eventually pulled his body out of the water.