MEMPHIS, TN: MEDICAL EXAMINER AMUSHED

Medical Examiner Attacked, Tied to Bomb Outside Office [Memphis, again!]

Posted by cgk to KissOfTheSith
On News/Activism Jun 2 1:14 PM #28 of 62

In some article I read by Jim Garrison -- the real life DA from NO Stone made JFK about -- Garrison asserted that when "the Establishment" wanted to infiltrate and "control" an area, they would make it a priority to get one of "their people" in the position of medical examiner because the position has so much power in a real world way. The position can label deaths accidental/murder, etc.
Perhaps there's more to this guy than meets the eye...
Here's another story, significant only because the accused murderer's birthday is the day Smith was attacked: Saturday, June 1st.:
They are accusing the Shelby County medical examiner of purposefully withholding evidence that could have helped them defend Workman."That X-ray was absent from the record for one reason: the Medical Examiner's Office suppressed it," the attorneys wrote yesterday in the motion to reopen the case. Dr. O.C. Smith, Shelby County medical examiner, did not return a request for comment yesterday.
from this Death Row Inmate's Case History page, which I neither support, nor am against... just remember it from Court TV:
Philip Workman; Tennessee Death Row
The Case Today
Interesting coincidence, if that's all it is. I wonder how much more can be found about Smith?
Mrs Kus

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and this...

Posted by cgk to KissOfTheSith
On News/Activism Jun 2 1:24 PM #31 of 62

I forgot this one in the last post:
With drama befitting a John Grisham novel, the day before their client's last-chance clemency hearing, Minton and Dorsey uncovered a missing autopsy X-ray taken by the Memphis/Shelby County medical examiner, O.C. Smith. He says that he just forgot about the X-ray's existence, and that it "just got lost" over years of refiling. Monday, 10 out of the 12 jurors went on record saying they would not have recommended the death penalty knowing the new information. from Salon News:Dead Man Talking
Mrs Kus

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Could the letter calling Smith a liar possibly be referring to, in his own words, forgetting & losing an x-ray crucial to the case, even the jurors' decision? Just another theory to throw out there.
Mrs Kus

An attacker ambushed Shelby County Medical Examiner Dr. O. C. Smith Saturday night, wrapped him from head to toe in barbed wire and strapped a bomb to his body.

Police said Smith left his office at about 10 and was headed to the parking lot when someone threw an acid-like substance in his face to subdue him.

For nearly three hours, he was unable to move or shout for help because of the barbed wire in his mouth.

A security guard spotted Smith's vehicle in the parking lot, became suspicious and found Smith about 12:30 a.m. Sunday outside the office building in the medical center.

The police bomb squad was called to free Smith because of the device bound to his body. Smith was taken to the Regional Medical Center at Memphis and treated for cuts, bruises and a chemical burn to his face.

Released early Sunday, Smith went back to his office to help investigators work the case.

"This is his character," said Deputy Chief R. G. Wright of the Memphis police. "He is always willing to help out and always go the extra mile no matter what."

"Yes, this was a functioning device that could have caused serious injuries or killed somebody," said Gene Marquez, resident agent in charge of the federal Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms office in Memphis.

This is the second time in the last three months a bomb or explosive device has been left on the doorstep of the Shelby County Regional Forensic Center, which houses the morgue and the Medical Examiner's Office.

On March 13, a bomb and two smaller explosive-type devices were found in a stairwell of the building at 1060 Madison.

At the time, local and federal agents couldn't say for sure if Smith and his staff were the targets.

Saturday's attack on Smith left police with little doubt about the focus of the attack but no answers as to why.

"We don't know a motive and aren't making any assumptions as to why anyone would want to hurt Dr. Smith," said Wright.

During a noon press conference, Memphis police and ATF agents wouldn't disclose specifics of the investigation such as information about a suspect or details about the device. Authorities said Smith was found on an outside stairway on the west side of the forensic center building. It was near the area where the bomb and other devices were found in March.

"All we can say is the components of this device are similar to the one found in March," said Marquez. "Both are not very sophisticated and are very similar, but until we finish the investigation we can't say if the two are connected."

When the device was removed from Smith, police X-rayed it to see if it was an explosive device. When they determined it was a bomb, they sent it to the ATF lab in Atlanta for further analysis.

Today, the ATF's National Response Team, made up of agents who are experts on explosive devices and who specialize in profiling bombers, will arrive in Memphis.

"This is the cream of the cream," Marquez said. "We are planning to saturate this investigation and team up with local police on this matter immediately."

The Commercial Appeal could not reach Smith, who was placed under heavy security, for comment.

Smith, 49, is one of several local forensic science specialists who help investigate criminal cases.

Last year, anonymous letters threatened harm to Smith, a prosecution witness in the long-running case of convicted Memphis cop killer Philip Workman.

Smith said at the time that he had not received any letters himself but was taking the threats "very seriously."

Workman's attorneys had challenged the validity of Smith's ballistics and laboratory tests. Smith said the tests proved Workman's bullet killed Memphis police Lt. Ronald Oliver in 1981.

In one letter, the writer called Smith a liar and said, "Long have I waited for my HOLY ORDER to fight against the DOCTOR-KILLER abortionists but now I know OUR LORD was saving me for something larger."

"I know Dr. Smith has worked several big cases, but I can't imagine who would want to hurt him," said Wright. "That is what we are working on now to find out."

Known for his precision and thorough work, Smith is highly regarded by police and prosecutors and defense attorneys as well.

"In the 1994 case where we found three homicide victims hidden in the cemetery, Dr. Smith was right there down in the graves working hard like always," said Wright.

Police are asking anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers at 528-CASH or the ATF hotline at (888) ATF-BOMB.

From your article above:
Last year, anonymous letters threatened harm to Smith, a prosecution witness in the long-running case of convicted Memphis cop killer Philip Workman.
Smith said at the time that he had not received any letters himself but was taking the threats "very seriously."
Workman's attorneys had challenged the validity of Smith's ballistics and laboratory tests. Smith said the tests proved Workman's bullet killed Memphis police Lt. Ronald Oliver in 1981.

I posted my theory about this yesterday, but no one seemed to think it had much relation:

Good info but is it in any mob in the US's M.O. to kill a scientist who may be getting too nosey?

The mob [*outfit* in the environs where I worked in the newspaper racket] is not at all so generally disposed, but has cooperated in the past with US Government intelligence agencies requiring either local talent or no direct links to a death that may be required, as with that of Fidel Castro at the hands of former Havana casino operators, or of Martin Luther King by crooked cops on the payroll of the Carlos Marcello family of New Orleans...which took place in Memphis. Just a coincidence, I'm sure....

I could also well imagine that the mob, which has long held interests in certain legitimate businesses such as hotels, waste removal and the liquor distribution business might easily diversify into pharmaceuticals, and at least one way of preventing a breakthrough advantage by a competitor might be to remove the individual responsible for that advance, if he could not be bought off. Do you reckon that Dr. Wiley was the sort of fella who could have been bought off easily? If not, a local cop on the outfit's payroll could have handled the job neatly, and that might easily explain the Memphis PD determination to write off the physician's disappearance as a suicide or accident.

Such a drastic step would of course not be likely if but a few thousand dollars were involved, though certainly men have been murdered for less, but if a multimillion-dollar breakthrough drug or treatment were involved, I might be wary about selling life insurance to those involved.

-archy-/-

I'm thick...what was the coincidence?

A research establishment, funded by the U.S. Department of Defense, comes out with a breakthrough, just shortly after a leading researcher at a facility working along similar lines elsewhere is killed while away from his home area where a more exhaustive investigation might have been demanded by his family, friends and neighbors. And he's one of 15 or so in the world who meets a similar end in the last half year. After the recent terrorist/ post office anthrax scare, how much do you think an anthrax *cure* or preventative medicine might be worth? Millions? Certainly. Billions? Over the long run, almost certainly.

-archy-/-

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