THE CASE OF THE DEPUTY INVOLVED SUICIDE
“Send help immediately” said the caller on the other end of the phone that was being answered and monitored by the Emergency 911 operator, “my girlfriend just shot herself in the mouth and is bleeding like crazy!”
The voice of the caller sounded high-pitched and staccato as the details were relayed, giving the operator little time to respond but finally, pausing long-enough for her to ask the caller’s location.
“Mam, what is your location?” the operator asked. “Please Miss, we can’t help you if we can’t find you.”
“Lady, quit calling me ‘Miss’ the caller responded, obviously annoyed but speaking a little more slowly, “I’m not a woman; I am a deputy Sheriff with the County and I’m trying to report a shooting—of my girlfriend!”
DEATH IN THE CANAL: A POLICE EXECUTION
The police sirens filled the night silence in the small enclave of primarily African American families at the end of a small back street ending at the banks of a large irrigation canal running from Lake Okeechobee to the Atlantic Ocean, thru the northern part of Ft. Pierce, Florida, as more than twenty cars roared down the street in pursuit of a tan-colored sedan, driven by a Black man later identified as Henry Freeman.
Henry had apparently been driving home from his part-time job at a computer store when, according to later police reports, had failed to stop when they tried to pull him over for a damaged taillight on his vehicle. Instead of stopping, he drove to his residence, only a few blocks away, driving at the speed limit at least through the neighborhood, according to several residents who observed the incident from their front porches.
By the time Freeman had driven to the end of the road, at least six police cars had arrived at the scene and within a short time thereafter, the number had swelled to ten patrol squad cars and a Canine unit—all with lights flashing and sirens blasting.
“What the hell’s going on” William Deveraux shouted as he ran to his front porch confronting the sea of blue lights filling up his view of the area of the canal, “who are you chasing?”
“Get your black ass back in the house”: was the response from the burley white deputy approaching the front porch with his hand on the.44 caliber pistol at his side.
Deveraux immediately retreated to a position on the back of the porch, but still outside, not willing to relinquish his view of the ensuing events—but still not wanting to possibly be shot in the process.
THE CASE OF THE ANGEL OF DEATH
Dr. Arthur Lyons and his forensic technologist assistant Larry Hudson were in the middle of an autopsy of a fairly young looking sixty-four-year-old gentleman found dead in his hospital bed early in the morning of the day he was supposed to be discharged, and because the family was concerned had requested an autopsy to find out what happened.
Mr. Howard Campbell had been admitted for issues related to his pacemaker that began while vacationing in Central Florida from his home in New York after noticing an unusual sound emanating from the device—although there didn’t seem to be a problem as far as he could tell.
After he presented himself to the Emergency Room at a local hospital, he was initially seen by an ER doctor who ultimately sought a consultation from a Cardiologist to further evaluate the problem. This type of referral is not uncommon in the hospital setting, where most of the physicians are either employed by or have contracts with the hospital, and a hierarchy of referrals has been established—and while having the potential for enhanced patient care because of immediate availability of many specialties, also had the down-side for potential abuse by generating consultations that are not medically-indicated or completely necessary but do generate increased income for the institution.
“Doc,” Larry turned to the pathologist, “I got the pacemaker out and all the wires, and they look ok.”
“Thanks Larry,’ Lyons responded, “great job!”
While the pathologist performed most of the dissection during a autopsy, there were some areas in which the tech was invaluable, particularly in sawing open the skull to allow examination of the brain, and tracing such things as pacemaker wires through the veins to the heart—providing a second set of hands while the ends of the wires were being examined by the pathologist on the other end.
“This guy doesn’t look too bad, Doc,” as the heart was removed and place on the scale. “Four Hundred twenty grams. Looks a little big but not anything serious.”
“Larry, I know you’re a genius, but let’s take look inside before you get too excited,” was the reply.
THE CASE OF THE HIGH PROFILE 'SUICIDE'
The jail guard raced down the hall after opening the cell door where accused child sex-trafficker and pornography mogul Ira Morganstern had been incarcerated since his arrest nearly five weeks earlier, shouting almost hysterically to ‘call 911’ and pointing back toward the now opened access point, indicating that there was a medical emergency.
The inmate lay motionless on the floor beside the cot in his rather stark cell, consisting of a sink and toilet, with only a small desk and chair as furnishings, and a tile floor with no carpet. A sheet and blanket were on both the upper and lower cots of the bunkbed, with that of the lower bunk appearing to be in place—a fact that would later be documented in the photos taken by the staff after Mr. Morganstern was removed and taken to the nearest medical center by the responding paramedics.
While a sheet was later seen hanging down from the top bunk in the photos, amazingly there were apparently no photos showing the top bunk or how—or if—the sheet was actually attached to some part of the bed.
The responders had found the victim without pulse or blood pressure, with the electronic recordings of cardiac activity only showing a pattern that indicated that, while there was still some minimal electrical activity in the heart, the muscle had been sufficiently compromised by the long period of oxygen deprivation as to make restoration of normal blood pressure, and consequently circulation, impossible.
Nevertheless, according to protocol, emergency transport to the nearest hospital had been affected, with the ambulance arriving about ten minutes after departing the jail. “He’s just been down too long,” the lead paramedic told the Emergency Room doctor, “we couldn’t get any response!”
READ MORE IN Dr. Arthur Lyons, Medical Examiner Volume 1!
