The cozy relationship between the FBI and the coroner's office
At least one of Peerwani's Branch Davidian autopsies has been challenged by British pathologists, who reexamined the body of Mt. Carmel resident Winston Blake. The second autospy failed to reveal the powder burns Peerwani said he found near Blake's gunshot wound.
The Texas coroner has presided over at least one other high-profile death case, when he autopsied the body of key Whitewater witness James B. McDougal. McDougal's March 8, 1998 prison death was caused by cardiac arrest, according to Peerwani. But several of McDougal's fellow inmates at the Ft. Worth Prison Medical Center have claimed that guards denied the former Clinton business partner his heart medicine hours before he collapsed and died. How many of the Davidians were burned to death? How many were killed by the gas? And how many were killed by gunshots? We'll never know, because the FBI did not allow the local coroner's office to be involved with the autopsies. In fact, crucial evidence was seized from the county coroner's office and never returned. Autopsies were only allowed to be performed by the FBI laboratory, the same facility currently embroiled in scandals involving false evidence in many other cases.
Fred B. Jordon the Chief Medical Examiner (who examined the victims in the Murrah Building Explosion) reacted to the government’s “case closed” statement with dismay, “Kenneth Trentadue died a violent and unusual death, the mechanism of which may never be satisfactorily explained. None-the-less, this case file remains open and we intend to continue to look at the matter and cooperate fully with any investigating agency.” Jordon complains his report was submitted by Janet Reno to the Office of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner for consultation and that the federal agency was in “essential agreement” with his conclusions (Suspicious circumstances). But instead, Federal prosecutor Sheyl Robinson brought in a Texas Ranger to testify before the grand jury that “he had seen a lot of suicides that looked like Trentadue’s.”
Turns out the man from the U.S Armed forces, Col. William T. Gormley (who also examined Ron Brown’s remains) refused to change his opinion which happened to support Jordon, so the government simply replaced him. Jordon says he was paid a visit by the FBI after he made a local television appearance in July publicly stating his belief that the death of Trentadue was “very likely” murder. Reportedly, the FBI wanted him to personally deliver documents—they should have already had—to the court. The agents even came armed with a subpoena. Jordon told them his attorney advised him to have nothing more to do with it. “I took it as a threat by the government,” Jordon said, “It was an attempt to show their authority by trying to intimidate me. Well, I won’t be quiet. I’m so angry at the government.”
One need only imagine what Dr. Jordon has experienced with the FBI since the OKC bombing victim examinations. In his unique position he is likely to have very interesting evidence (or lack thereof) which have no doubt prompted FBI visits before. By now he may be growing weary of their heavy-handed intrusiveness.
DR. DON CHUMLEY - MEDICAL DOCTOR One of the first doctors at the scene of the bombing was Don CHUMLEY who operated the Broadway Medical Clinic located about half a mile from the Murrah Federal Building. Shaun Jones, Chumley's stepson, was assisting him. Jones recalled the scene: "Chumley, who was working with Dr. Ross Harris, was one of the few doctors who actually went into the Federal Building while the others waited outside. He had helped many people, including seven babies, whom he later pronounced dead." Dr. Chumley, like many others, was strongly impacted by the tragic experience. He was a man of integrity and character and, when asked to participate in a questionable and outright deceptive act, he adamantly refused. An experienced pilot with over 600 hours flying time, Chumley's skills were never in question. Yet he was killed five months later when his Cessna 210 crashed near Amarillo, Texas in what are called "mysterious circumstances." "It's a pretty mysterious circumstance. There's no apparent reason--there's nothing we can think of," said Jones. "It was rumored that Chumley was about to go public with some damning information. According to Michelle Moore, who has investigated the bombing, Chumley was asked to bandage two federal agents who falsely claimed to have been trapped in the building that morning. Since the pair was obviously not hurt, Chumley refused. When the agents petitioned another doctor at the scene, Chumley intervened, threatening to report them. "When Chumley learned of the government's hastily planned cover-up, he apparently decided to go public. It seems he never got the chance."
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The Tommy Burkett case is by now quite familiar to readers of this series, and it might ring a bell with the readers of Christopher Ruddy’s The Strange Death of Vincent Foster or Ambrose Evans-Pritchard’s The Secret Life of Bill Clinton, who both mention it briefly, Evans-Pritchard elaborating somewhat more than Ruddy. Burkett was a 21-year-old college student in a Virginia suburb of Washington, DC, who was found dead in his room in his parents house on December 1, 1991. The Fairfax County Police, who did virtually no investigation, ruled death from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The parents later exhumed the body and a second autopsy revealed a cleanly broken jaw, a mangled ear, and numerous bruises and scrapes. He had clearly been beaten to death. The parents also learned later through confidential informants that Tommy had been doing undercover work for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The original autopsy doctor was James C. Beyer, the same person whose later autopsy of Foster, as with Burkett, was absolutely vital to the suicide conclusion.