Posted on 03/05/2002 6:42:48 PM PST by RCW2001
Tennessee State Highway report confirms crash did not kill woman who died in flaming car
WOODY BAIRD, Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, March 5, 2002
©2002 Associated Press
URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2002/03/05/national2227EST0835.DTL
(03-05) 19:27 PST MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) --
A state Highway Patrol report released Tuesday confirmed a driver's license examiner charged in a bogus license scheme was not killed by the impact of her car ramming into a utility pole last month.
Investigators are still awaiting a coroner's report on the cause of Katherine Smith's death. Smith, 49, was found Feb. 10 burned beyond recognition in her car about 20 miles from her Memphis residence.
Witnesses told the FBI that the car was ablaze before it crashed into a utility pole. Smith had been scheduled to appear in court the following day on charges she helped five Middle Eastern men get licenses illegally.
Tennessee Highway Patrol Capt. Jimmy Erwin said an investigation determined Smith was traveling just over 20 mph, which he called a survivable crash. He did not to speculate on the cause of the fire.
Erwin said the few pieces of her clothes recovered from the car showed traces of gasoline.
"This was not a traffic fatality," Erwin said.
Memphis FBI spokesman George Bolds said Tuesday that the cause of the fire remains undetermined.
"We know she was alive but not necessarily conscious after the impact with the pole. She did breathe in superheated gases from the fire," Bolds said.
Smith was arrested five days before her death along with the five Middle Eastern men. She was accused of taking payoffs for helping them get driver's licenses without proper documentation.
Smith had been released on her own recognizance. The other suspects are being held without bond and were behind bars when Smith died.
The men are charged under federal law with illegally trying to produce identification documents.
©2002 Associated Press
They ultimate irony would be if the rhymin revruns would come out and say that if they kept this crimal behind bars she would still be alive today.
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Here's my template. Any suggested additions gladly accepted.
Feb. 7
Six Charged in Tenn. License Plot [Courtesy of the Tennessee DemocRAT Party]
Feb. 8 (for comedic relief)
Dri ver license fraud case here is a rare incident, state says
Feb. 11
WOMAN ARRESTED FOR AIDING ARABS IN DRIVER'S LICENSE SCAM PRESUMED DEAD
Feb. 12
Feds fear license examiner is dead - Memphis Woman's co-defendants tied to 9/11, judge told
Feb. 13:
Body in car identified as license examiner - Update on Memphis, Tennesse License Examiner
Feb. 14
TENN DRIVER LICENSE SCANDAL: FLAMING DEATH NO ACCIDENT, FBI SAYS
TENN DRIVER LICENSE SCANDAL: FLAMING DEATH NO ACCIDENT, FBI SAYS (II)
Flaming death no accident, FBI says - Gasoline found on clothes of license examiner
Feb. 15
New York Times (with Pics of car) F.B.I. Says Arson Killed Woman Accused in License Scheme
Sm ith led low-impact life until arrest, fiery end (Not a thread)
Images of the burned car owned by Katherine Smith * alternate title: How Arabs Kill Witnesses
FBI Agent: Arson Killed Key Suspect (driver's license examiner accused of supplying terrorists)
Feb.16
License suspect had WTC repair pass, but Port Authority did its own work [Tennessee License Scandal]
TE NN DRIVER LICENSE SCANDAL: FLAMING DEATH NO ACCIDENT, FBI SAYS
***FBI checking 5 in illegal-license cases for possible al-Qaida links
Feb. 18:
Mourners remember the good deeds of license examiner, not how she died
Feb. 20
State Immigrant I.D. Llicense for Disaster, Foes Say [Tennessee License Scandal - Business as Usual]
Terror in Tennessee? (Front Page magazine)
Feb. 22
Terroris m expert [Steven Emerson] monitors the Mid-South (WMC-TV Memphis 2/23)
Feb. 24:
Caution: Driver license rule-makers at work
Other Stories
I-70 Traffic Stop Turns Up $300K In Cash, Undocumented Jordanian (Al Qaida Operative?) [2/22 Utah]
Immigrant Licenses Debated ( ILLEGAL ALIENS... AGAIN )[Kansas 2/20]
***Grass roots, politicians differ on immigration (2/14 plus Grover Norquist Barf Alert)
Man on FBI watch list spotted (2/23 Iraqi, with Saddam Connections, in truck with OK lic. Plates, Picking up chemicals in Michigan. Egads!) Santa Paula Mayor's Wife Target of Probe (Calif. -Selling Drivers Licenses to Illegals)
Phony IDs, Real Danger (CBS 2/26)
NJ Man Charged in Bogus ID Ring Linked to 9/11 Hijackers Driver's Licenses To Be Easier For Foreigners (New Mex. 2/28)
And dont forget the stories about the Doctor who fell off a Memphis bridge!
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Nope. She was murdered.
Thanks for the links.
This should be a loud and clear warning to all Black Muslems and others who have supported the Islamic terrorists here in America!
They will kill you and fry you and barbeque you when you are no longer useful or could be a problem!
Clovis, you need to get this in a letter to the editor or out in the al Fuqra or Jihad in America Community in your area. Those people could be the next natural spontaneous combustion targets. They should be running to the FBI and telling all to save their a$$es!
BTTT!
I agree, 20mph is slow on this highway. She was probably driving the normal speed, 55mph on a two lane highway, until the inside of her car ignited.
According to earlier stories, she went through a ditch. Body in car identified as license examiner - Update on Memphis, Tennesse License Examine
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