Posted on 02/16/2016 5:53:44 AM PST by Enlightened1
Veteran homicide investigators in New York and Washington, DC, on Monday questioned the way local and federal authorities in Texas handled the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
"It's not unreasonable to ask for an autopsy in this case, particularly knowing who he is," retired Brooklyn homicide Detective Patricia Tufo told The Post.
"He's not at home. There are no witnesses to his death, and there was no reported explanation for why a pillow is over his head," Tufo said. "So I think under the circumstances it's not unreasonable to request an autopsy. Despite the fact that he has pre-existing ailments and the fact that he's almost 80 years old, you want to be sure that it's not something other than natural causes."
Bill Ritchie, a retired deputy chief and former head of criminal investigations for the DC police, said he was dumbstruck when he learned that no autopsy would be performed.
"I took a look at the report and I almost fell out of my chair," Ritchie told The Post from his home in Maryland.
"I used to be an instructor in the homicide school. Every death investigation you are handling, you consider it a homicide until the investigation proves otherwise," Ritchie said.
"How do you know that person wasn't smothered? How do you know it's not a homicide until you conduct an investigation? You have to do your job. Once you go through that process, you can conclude that this is a naturally occurring death."
Presidio County Judge Cinderela Guevara said she declared Scalia dead via telephone based on what cops and marshals at the scene told her -- that there were no signs of foul play.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Bingo.
Considering who this man was and the importance of his absence in the Supreme Court; I would think that an autopsy would have been imperative just to stave off this kind of rumor. To be sure, even protocol for cases involving regular citizens probably wasn’t followed.
Who can blame the public for suspecting foul play? But given the absolute malicious games that are being played with our government; perhaps public suspicion is the goal. Who knows anymore? The chess players behind the scenes are the stuff nightmares are made of. I hope they aren’t as real as they seem.
“That’s about the tenth time I’ve gotten a dismissive comment for being a “newbie”. Why do you guys always try to run off people?”
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LOL - Don’t “run off” — we want and need you here.
With all due respect, conservatives do not call themselves “post-American” even in jest or sarcasm.
But in good conspiracy movies that person is innocent and someone else not initially suspected did it.
Cruz gains so he make this primary case about nominations
Trump gains so he can get the courts to steal property for his investments
Obama gains because the new court could protect his accomplishments
Clintons are just so evil so they belong at the top of the list. Keep Hillary out of jail maybe.
That Ruth, she looks weak but I beat that's just an act
I seem to remember the death of another leading American political figure in Texas about fifty years ago; there was a similar rush to get the body out of State and back to DC without any proper legal or coroner review. That really lead to certainty by the American people about the circumstances of JFK’s death and fully put to rest any notion that the “official” explanation might not hold, didn’t it?
Agree entirely.
Really? Grow up, “newbie”. If you don’t like their opinion say so and why, but this newbie crap is really old.
The death of Scalia was handled as if it was desired to make people think he was murdered.Perhaps there is a lesson here for others who would defy the rulers. That is what the location of the pillow might suggest. It is highly unlikely someone pushed a pillow down onto his face but the pillow being there would give others pause. It is sort of like finding a fish wrapped in a dead gangsters coat.
FR is overrun with keyboard warriors** these days.....JR has lost his grip on the site, as far as I’m concerned.
**Example - go to any Trump thread and have the audacity to disagree with the red meat eaters, and watch the flames ignite.
A pillow left over the head is NOT over the face. I regularly place my pillow at the top of bed over my head each night so the bed is flat and more comfortable for me.
Since Scalio was an originalist. The candidate/president with citizen ship birth issues has the most to gain. But it doesn’t mean they had anything to do with his death. Expect a statement concerning health to come out after funeral. Let the family grieve.
“I would think that an autopsy would have been imperative just to stave off this kind of rumor.”
Absolutely. We look to the world like the USSR used to. Maybe I was always exceptionally naive about all of this, but although I used to believe fully in the sanctity of our system, my general feeling now is that as a citizen I’m just a small pawn in a game that I have only limited knowledge about.
I agree .. if he had been smothered, there would be facial bruising; or broken blood vessels on his face.
Of course, according to the person who found him, John Poindexter, the Justice was peaceful looking, like he was just asleep. So, I agree that the pillow is a non-factor. But then, we have only his word on the incident.
But, I still think they should have overridden the family’s wishes and done an autopsy. Because of the manor of death.
This is just another of the long and scary incidents that always seem to happen around the DemocRATS; especially when they want something and it’s being denied to them.
Confirms my opinion this current liberal group is very scary.
The Supreme Court with Scalia was a HUGE threat to union money in the California case. If the SC ruled, it would be a U.S. wide decision. If it goes 4-4, then the unions win based on the previous ruling. Justice Roberts should delay that case and others till next year when there is a 9th Justice. He can do that. Hopefully like Scalia.
Common Joe-blow in a fatal car accident gets an autopsy to determine fault (alcohol, drugs, none of the above) for insurance and legal purposes.
This is ABSOLUTELY solid reason to withhold ANY action on a replacement until this part of the situation is cleared up.
Even Obama should do the right thing and not move forward until this is absolutely transparent. He won’t. But that just means Scalia’s death was a huge political windfall.
The VERY reason there should now be both an autopsy and an investigation.
Cibolo Creek Ranch owner recalls Scalia’s last hours in Texas
“We discovered the judge in bed, a pillow over his head. His bed clothes were unwrinkled,” said Poindexter.
“He was lying very restfully. It looked like he had not quite awakened from a nap,” he said.
Scalia,79, did not have a pulse and his body was cold, and after consulting with a doctor at a hospital in Alpine, Poindexter concluded resuscitation would have been futile, He then contacted federal authorities, at first encountering a series of answering services because he was calling on a weekend.”
Whether murdered or as you said someone wanted us to think that, seems like a strong message to judges or anyone who interferes with the fundamental change being made to America by the left. Safe to assume Roberts won’t step out of line.
The pillow was not over the face. The person who originally claimed the pillow was over his head has clarified his statement since, meaning it was at the head of the bead; Scalia’s head was not resting on it.
The way this is being handled IS ridiculous, though. An investigation and an autopsy should be done regardless of what the family wants. He was too important a man to this country to let conspiracy theories fly around out there.
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