medical examiner

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Man's Death in ICE Custody Raises New Questions

Medical examiner staffer cites possible homicide in Texas; feds say Cuban migrant tried to kill himself

(Newser) - US immigration authorities say a Cuban detainee tried to kill himself at a Texas detention camp. A staffer at the local medical examiner's office who spoke to his daughter, however, suggests the death may be ruled a homicide. In a recorded call shared with the Washington Post , an employee...

A Twist in Case of Man Serving Life Over 'Shaken Baby'

Former chief medical examiner now says baby's death was likely due to natural causes

(Newser) - A onetime star witness in a shaken-baby trial now says the crime may never have happened—but the man he helped put away is still serving life. Former Tennessee chief medical examiner Dr. Bruce Levy tells NBC News he has reversed his decades-old finding that Alex Maze, who died at...

Texas Student's Death Was Suicide, Police Report

Brianna Aguilera's mother had disputed that she would have jumped from an apartment building

(Newser) - The Texas college student who was found dead near a high-rise apartment in Austin last weekend died by suicide, police said their investigation shows. The mother of Brianna Aguilera had disputed that cause of death. "In every investigation, we have to rely on the evidence, and all evidence in...

Los Angeles Tree Trimmer Dies in Horrific Accident

Victim was trimming a palm tree in Canoga Park, fell and was impaled on fence

(Newser) - A tree trimmer in Los Angeles died Monday after falling 35 feet and becoming impaled on an iron fence, authorities say. The Los Angeles Fire Department responded to the incident in Canoga Park around 3:20pm, finding the man, said to be about 44, beyond medical help, per KTLA . Officials...

MMA Fighter Dead at 31 After Collapsing in Ring

Fighter was competing in his first Muay Thai event

(Newser) - An MMA fighter died hours after collapsing during a match in Chicago Friday. Isaac Johnson, 31, was injured and collapsed during the third round of his fight at the Matador Fighter Challenge, held at Cicero Stadium on Friday night, People reports. An ambulance was called at 8:38pm, and Johnson...

Philly Insists Woman Stabbed 23 Times Killed Herself

32-page report on Ellen Greenberg's death notes discovery of additional wounds

(Newser) - Philadelphia officials have reaffirmed the suicide ruling in the controversial 2011 death of Ellen Greenberg, despite a new review uncovering three additional stab wounds and 20 more bruises than originally documented. Chief Medical Examiner Lindsay Simon's court-ordered review, prompted by a settlement with Greenberg's parents, brings the total...

'Suicide' of Woman Stabbed 20 Times Gets a Court Review

Woman found dead in 2011 was initially ruled a homicide before ME changed it to suicide

(Newser) - The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal from the family of a Philadelphia woman whose 2011 stabbing death was initially ruled a homicide before the medical examiner switched it to suicide after police objected. First-grade teacher Ellen Greenberg, 27, was found in her apartment with 20 stab...

Coroner Investigator Accused of Stealing From the Dead

Adrian Munoz charged in Los Angeles

(Newser) - An investigator with the medical examiner's office in Los Angeles County has been charged with stealing items from the dead, reports USA Today . Adrian Munoz, 34, first came under suspicion when the family of a man who suffered a fatal heart attack on the job asked about his missing...

Court Hears Case of Woman Stabbed 20 Times in 'Suicide'

Ellen Greenberg's parents may soon take their case to trial

(Newser) - After more than a decade fighting the Philadelphia medical examiner's office on their daughter's cause of death, lawyers for Ellen Greenberg's parents made their case in front of a Pennsylvania appeals court Tuesday. "We are cautiously optimistic that the panel will find the estate of Ellen...

Study: 55% of Police Killings Don't Appear in Statistics

Researchers call fatal police violence an 'urgent public health crisis'

(Newser) - Police killings in the US represent an "urgent public health crisis," the size of which is not accurately reflected in the official statistics that guide health policy, according to a new study in the Lancet medical journal. Researchers say they compared data from National Vital Statistics System to...

Insurance Broker Is First 9/11 Victim IDed in 2 Years

Dorothy Morgan was working on 94th floor of the WTC's north tower; a man has also been IDed

(Newser) - Two more victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks have been identified ahead of the 20th anniversary as part of "the largest and most complex forensic investigation in the history of the United States." New York City's Chief Medical Examiner's Office announced Tuesday that two victims have...

Work of Expert Who Testified for Chauvin to Be Examined

Maryland to review in-custody deaths from David Fowler's tenure as medical examiner

(Newser) - Dr. David Fowler's testimony about the death of George Floyd was so far removed from mainstream forensic practice that a review of his past work for Maryland should be conducted, hundreds of doctors have told the state. The state Attorney General's Office agreed that an investigation is needed,...

Medical Examiner Helped ID Every Flight 800 Victim
Man Who Helped ID
Every Flight 800 Victim Dies
obituary
Aug 17, 2020 7:35 PM CDT

Man Who Helped ID Every Flight 800 Victim Dies

Medical examiner Charles Wetli was at the center of a 4-year investigation

(Newser) - Dr. Charles Wetli, a pioneer in forensic pathology, was in demand as an expert in other people's cases across the country. In 1996, it was a case of his own—the explosion of TWA Flight 800—that made the Long Island medical examiner a national figure, the New York ...

On One Point, the Competing George Floyd Autopsies Agree

His death was a homicide, they both conclude

(Newser) - George Floyd's family disagrees with the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office on Floyd's cause of death—but the medical examiner did classify his death as a homicide. On that point the two autopsies (one performed by the ME's office and one ordered by Floyd's family...

A Virus First: The Dead Are Still Contagious

Scientists in Thailand say coronavirus appears to have spread to medical examiner from a corpse

(Newser) - Out of Thailand, a coronavirus first: a case in which the virus appears to have spread from a corpse to a medical examiner. "According to our best knowledge, this is the first report on COVID-19 infection and death among medical personnel in a Forensic Medicine unit," researchers write...

They Said He Died Naturally. The Funeral Home Said Otherwise

Georgia man was actually stabbed to death

(Newser) - "It was too much blood." That was the initial assessment of Michelle Smalls, the sister of Ray Neal, a 61-year-old Georgia man found dead over the weekend. A Gwinnett County medical examiner's investigator determined he died of natural causes. But it turns out the suspicions of Smalls...

Almost 18 Years Later, 9/11 Victim Identified
9/11 Victim IDed,
18 Years Later
Jun 11, 2019 9:40 AM CDT

9/11 Victim IDed, 18 Years Later

Man's name being withheld

(Newser) - A previously unknown victim of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center finally has a name. We just don't know it yet. According to the New York City Medical Examiner, DNA testing of remains recovered in 2013 has confirmed a man as the 1,643rd victim to be...

'She Sucks': But DNA-Test Doubter Just Won $1M

Toxicologist Marina Stajic sued New York City over her firing

(Newser) - A toxicologist who got fired after questioning a dubious kind of DNA test is doing her victory lap—to the tune of $1 million, the New York Times reports. Marina Stajic, a former official at the chief medical examiner's office in New York City, settled with the city Monday...

Medical Examiner's Son Dies of Drug Overdose

'No family is immune,' Wis. senator says

(Newser) - There have been more than 160 drug-related deaths in Milwaukee County, Wis., this year, 70 of them in the last seven weeks, and that is more than just a grim statistic for Chief Medical Examiner Brian Peterson. His own son, Adam Peterson, a 29-year-old with a history of drug use,...

Court: Coroners Don't Have to Return Bodies With All Their Parts

Parents buried son, learned of brain in a jar months later

(Newser) - Families who bury loved ones whose body has been looked at by a medical examiner may not be burying their whole bodies. And New York's highest court ruled yesterday that it's OK. The unusual case involves the death of 17-year-old Jesse Shipley of New York City in a...

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