Posted on 05/07/2012 7:21:58 PM PDT by Nachum
A private investigator has been unable to find the only eyewitness to the sudden death of media innovator and conservative activist Andrew Breitbart.
The apparent disappearance of Christopher Lasseter, who says he saw Breitbart drop to the sidewalk in front of a restaurant, adds to the mystery surrounding Breitbart’s March 1 death.
On the day the Los Angeles County coroner released Breitbart’s autopsy report, a photographic technician at the corner’s office died suddenly of suspicious causes.
In addition, at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C., just three weeks before Breitbart’s death – where he promised to unveil “damning” new video evidence of Barack Obama’s radical past that would change the election – Breitbart gave WND details of his upcoming revelations.
He claimed to WND that he had a video showing radical Weather Underground terrorist Bill Ayers and Barack Obama at Harvard planning revolution in the United States. But the video, aired just after he died, was of Obama introducing a radical Harvard professor, and the general response was flat.
Filmmaker Steve Bannon, appointed executive chairman of the Breitbart News Network after Breitbart’s death, has insisted to WND that the media mogul died of natural causes and to suggest anything else is irresponsible.
(Excerpt) Read more at wnd.com ...
“Footage of Ayers and Obama...when Obama was a student at Harvard Law School would be huge news.
Obama openly discussing revolution (with anyone) would be huge news.
Ayers and Obama openly discussing revolution while Obama was a student at Harvard Law School would be huge news.”
I don’t get it. Why would they take the chance that someone would be seeing tapes of such talk and bust them? I can’t figure out private conversations, if these were private.
Did Breitbart have tapes from public events?
“If something was done to Breitbart, maybe the “witness” did it.”
Very interesting, “Agatha”.
Oh, that’s Jamie Weinstein. He is senior editor for the Daily Caller.”
Thanks for the Jamie Weinstein ID.
I thought JW was holding he doggie bag, but someone upthread said it was Breitbart. I'm having a hard time deciphering that photo.
Evil powermad narcissists could tape themselves talking about revolution “for posterity”. So they could play them after their revolution is successful. Or to jack up their stupid followers. Or training tapes for their followers. I can see many reasons why they would tape stuff like that.
Thank you!
As Dan Rather would say..........courage. ;o)
What? I’m an idiot?
Bite me. I am allowed to question faith or God (and not from a lack of Him, but from sheer frustration). And I suspect you are calling me an idiot because I blew your whole ‘free will’ and karma mash up theory to hell and back. Whatever, you just lost the debate with the first three words of that post.
“I am allowed to question faith or God”
Heck - you are even allowed to wrestle with God:
*****************
“Then the man [an angel] said, ‘Let me go, for it is daybreak.’ But Jacob replied, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.’ The man asked him, ‘What is your name?’ ‘Jacob,’ he answered. Then the man said, ‘Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.’ Jacob said, ‘Please tell me your name.’ But he replied, ‘Why do you ask my name?’ Then he blessed him there.
Only if it’s thumb wrestling. I suck at normal wrestling. heee
Seriously, thanks. I needed to read that.
You are welcome. Lots of Psalms too that question God, angry at God, etc. Was just talking with some folks about all the crap going on around the world these days, and thinking “Okay God - any day now would be a good time to come back”.
Although I’m pretty sure I’m not ready for that either!
Yes; a lot of ‘maybe’s’; but all reasonably considered there remains a ‘big’ OTOTH.
The guy who died of suspected arson poisoning was a photographer for the special operations response team, so that’s as close as we can come (without seeing an actual schedule of who took the call that night) to knowing that he was the guy who actually photographed Breitbart’s body before the coroner cut him open.
IOW, if there was a red mark on Breitbart’s body where a potassium choloride dart entered his body, it was photographed by somebody holding the same position as the guy who was poisoned.
We don’t know which photographer took the call that night. There are 8 techs on the photography team, but that includes the people who photograph the tissues and organs from the autopsy itself; going out on the calls to pick up the body, bring it back to the morgue, and photograph it is a different job which is one job we know that Cormier did. Breitbart’s body would have been picked up from the Reagan Hospital at UCLA, which isn’t that far from North Hollywood, where Michael Cormier lived. So it would make sense for him to take the call. Looks like Brentwood, where Breitbart went down, is just across the San Diego Freeway from UCLA.
Here’s a post about this: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2878213/reply?c=25 There are follow-up posts as well.
It’s based on what is revealed in a 2009 audit of the LA County Coroner’s Office, which is at http://file.lacounty.gov/bc/q2_2010/cms1_145445.pdf
On p 65 of that PDF there is an organizational chart which shows where the Special Operations response team is and where the photography and support division is. Somewhere it says that the techs in the photography division work most closely with the actual medical examiners during the autopsies.
The special operations photographers would work with the investigators who go out on the field calls. They are the people who collect the information that helps the Deputy Chief Coroner decide whether an autopsy is needed - which includes information about the death scene, external condition of the body, and the decedent’s medical history. (Breitbart’s death REQUIRED an autopsy because he had not seen a doctor within a month of his death - and the Deputy Chief Coroner, Ed Winter, actually said that he hadn’t seen a doctor for over a year - which would have been gleaned from his actual medical records, according to the flow chart for field calls, found on p. 86). The visible condition of the body is what would be important for the photographer to document at the point the coroner’s office took custody of the body.
Those photos would be confidential (wouldn’t be available to the public in the autopsy results). Breitbart’s autopsy would have a security hold on it and very few people would have access to the records, but the medical evidence inventory (which would presumably list all the photos) is able to be altered by someone other than the medical examiner even when there is a security hold. I need to look further, but it seems that the photos could be removed or edited. This office is notorious for compromising their photos; a whole year’s worth of photos were lost/damaged and nobody knows why. The person who would know if the photos had been removed from the file and the medical evidence inventory scrubbed to hide that fact... is the person who took the photos.
Something else in that report is a statistic regarding the number of physical attacks made on staff there. One of the problems the audit was supposed to address was the staffers’ feeling that they were not secure there. Security has been a problem. The police went to Cormier’s house to look for arsenic, but unless something drastic happened between 2009 and when Cormier died, a hit-man would have little problem making a hit right there at the coroner’s office.
This is the description for the symptoms of arsenic poisoning, found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/physical_health/conditions/arsenic_poisoning.shtml :
“A person exposed to large amounts of arsenic - either through eating or drinking it - will usually die, and symptoms will appear within 30 minutes of exposure. Although the onset of symptoms may be delayed as the concentration is likely to be lower, there is a similar outlook for people who breathe large amounts of it.
Acute arsenic poisoning causes a metallic taste in the mouth, excessive saliva production and problems swallowing. The next stage is to suffer vomiting and diarrhoea coupled with garlic-like breath, stomach cramps and excessive sweating.
As the poison’s effects progress, the patient will suffer seizures and go into shock, dying within a few hours. If death does not occur at this stage, it will happen a few days when the kidney fails. “
The same article says that arsenic is odorless and tasteless, so it would not be difficult to use as a poison. Cormier was pronounced dead at about 10:30pm after having complained of nausea and pain. (I’m trying to find the exact quote but my computer is suddenly acting up again. sigh)
I’ve got a ton of stuff to do, getting ready for my daughter’s graduation, but when I get time I may write up something that shows the relevant information from that document.
Did Larry Grathwohl videotape any of what he saw, when he infiltrated these groups?
At http://www.google.com/url?q=http://articles.latimes.com/2012/apr/30/local/la-me-0430-coroner-poisoning-20120430&sa=U&ei=UqaqT_qcI8eg2AWF8ZWmAg&ved=0CCIQtwIwBw&usg=AFQjCNExqpzy6sN3TWfLH0i2Jqyk19VSeA it says Cormier had earlier complained of pain and vomiting.
It also says that hospital staff alerted the police to the possibility of foul play. Since they sent experts to look for toxic substances at Cormier’s home, that suggests that the foul play that the doctors suspected was poisoning. Seems like arsenic poisoning has fingerprint symptoms including seizures. The pain and vomiting fits the symptom list for arsenic as well.
The article talks about accidental exposure. The medical article I posted earlier talks about arsenic occurring naturally and about there being effects from long-term exposure to arsenic. If there was arsenic naturally in Cormier’s home you’d expect those kinds of symptoms. But he experienced the symptoms of ACUTE arsenic poisoning, which would come from ingesting it or from inhaling a LOT of it.
Two new articles:
Police Debunk Theories Linking Breitbart, L.A. Coroner Tech Deaths
Police don’t yet know what killed L.A. autopsy technician Michael Cormier, but they tell Maria Elena Fernandez and Christine Pelisek that despite blogosphere conspiracy theorists, it had no connection to Andrew Breitbart’s death.
SNIP
The problem with the “suspicious” Cormier-Breitbart link, law-enforcement officials told The Daily Beast, is that Cormier “had nothing to do with the autopsy ... and wasn’t in the same room.”
“It had nothing to do with that,” LAPD homicide supervisor Det. Rich Wheeler said. “He had nothing to do with the autopsy or anything to do with the case ... That story is based on rumor and innuendo.”
LAPD hazardous materials officers have searched the one-bedroom home Cormier shared with his wife, Sharon, and interviewed his family and friends, but not because of Breitbart, law-enforcement officials said. Cormier was first hospitalized on April 18, complaining of abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea. Doctors suspected he had a perforated bowel but released him anyway, though not before Cormier told them he thought someone had tried to poison him.
The following day, Cormier’s stomach pain continued, and he was taken by ambulance to St. Joseph’s, where he suffered three heart attacks, according to a law-enforcement source. When an initial toxicology test proved “questionable” and Cormier later died, the hospital notified the coroner’s office.
“We have information that could potentially include foul play,” LAPD Lt. Alan Hamilton said last week. “We are not ruling anything out.”
That includes natural causes. Sources told The Daily Beast that Cormier had a preexisting heart condition and had worn a heart monitor in the past. As Hamilton pointed out, it is also possible that Cormier accidentally poisoned himself.
Coroner’s office speaks on Breitbart mystery
http://www.wnd.com/2012/05/coroners-office-speaks-on-breitbart-mystery/?cat_orig=us
“Mr. Cormier was not the attendant on Mr. Breitbart’s case, nor did he do any of the handling nor any of the investigation,” Winter told WND.
Winter says the chief medical examiner at the coroner’s office has put a security hold on the Cormier case, so he’s not at liberty to discuss specifics.
“It allows for law enforcement to complete our investigation, and so that nothing gets out until we make our determination,” he explained, noting holds are often used in officer-involved shootings, an in-custody death and high-profile cases.
“There’s been a lot of speculation in connection with the Breitbart case,” he admitted.
Winter says after he directly told one news agency – which he refused to name – that Cormier was “absolutely” not connected to the Breitbart case, that news agency actually reported the opposite, that he was involved.
“As soon as they did that, I had like 20 different agencies call up [to confirm that],” Winter said. “I spent half the day doing disclaimers [to stress], ‘No, I didn’t say that!’ Sometimes [the media] need to make a big sensational issue.”
Winter described Cormier, 61, as “a good guy,” who was one of 17 forensic techs employed by the office.
“He was a forensic attendant, he would assist the doctors in autopsies,” he explained.
Winter says the coroner’s office has 25 full-time pathologists and 37 consultant doctors.
“If we have to bring in a specialist, such as an anesthesiologist or cardiologist, we’d maybe bring in a consultant to validate what our findings are,” he said.
Coroner’s office speaks on Breitbart mystery
http://www.wnd.com/2012/05/coroners-office-speaks-on-breitbart-mystery/?cat_orig=us
Meanwhile today, an eyewitness who saw Breitbart drop dead outside the Brentwood Restaurant and whose whereabouts were unaccounted for this week has now been found.
Los Angeles private investigator Paul Huebl has located Christopher Lasseter.
Smokeyblue wrote:
Coroner’s office speaks on Breitbart mystery
http://www.wnd.com/2012/05/coroners-office-speaks-on-breitbart-mystery/?cat_orig=us
Meanwhile today, an eyewitness who saw Breitbart drop dead outside the Brentwood Restaurant and whose whereabouts were unaccounted for this week has now been found.
Los Angeles private investigator Paul Huebl has located Christopher Lasseter.
Coroner’s office speaks on Breitbart mystery
http://www.wnd.com/2012/05/coroners-office-speaks-on-breitbart-mystery/?cat_orig=us
Meanwhile today, an eyewitness who saw Breitbart drop dead outside the Brentwood Restaurant and whose whereabouts were unaccounted for this week has now been found.
Los Angeles private investigator Paul Huebl has located Christopher Lasseter.
““Mr. Cormier was not the attendant on Mr. Breitbart’s case, nor did he do any of the handling nor any of the investigation,” Winter told WND”....
“He was a forensic attendant, he would assist the doctors in autopsies,” he explained.”
Somebody should ask Winter who photographed Breitbart’s body - who took the call to go out with the special operations response team and ended up photographing the body as soon as the coroner’s office took custody of the body. Winter refers to Cormier as being a forensic attendant - as if he knows that Cormier wasn’t at all involved with Breitbart’s “case” because he was not the attendant during the actual autopsy, but there are also reports that Cormier was a photographer for the special operations response team. And that position is what would make him more critical in Breitbart’s death - because if Breitbart was assassinated it was possibly done by a potassium chloride dart to induce heart attack, and the only evidence for that would be the dart entry hole. And the person who photographed that would probably know what was going on. The person who photographs the body so that Winter can see if there’s anything suspicious that warrants an autopsy - the person who is in the picture before there even IS an autopsy “case” - is the photographer who goes out with the special operations response team. And there is video of Cormier performing that role in another death, so we know he has served in that role.
I wonder if a person could request the records showing who answered the call to go out with the response team for Breitbart’s death.
This article was very poorly written and had a number of inaccuracies.
If the police actually told the authors that they don’t know why Cormier died but they know it wasn’t related to Breitbart’s death, then that is about as unprofessional as can be. If they don’t know why/how Cormier died then they can’t possibly know whether it was or wasn’t connected to Breitbart’s death, and for them to say otherwise is in direct contradiction with their statement that “We are not ruling anything out.” Their job is to go where the evidence takes them. Right now they are waiting for results to the toxicology tests, and that will tell them whether foul play is likely. If so, then their job is to find out who did it and why. They can’t rule out a Breitbart connection until they know who did it and why.
The new information that Cormier himself told doctors that he thought somebody had tried to poison him - especially considering that Cormier works to figure out cause of death and so is knowledgeable about how this stuff works - adds to the suspicious nature of all this. Sounds like his wife is high-strung about it all too, and understandably so.
And she might have grounds for a lawsuit against the doctors - if they let him leave the hospital when he had said he thought he had been poisoned and they thought he had a perforated bowel. Especially if he had also worn a heart monitor and all that history was in his medical record. The day after they released him he ended up going back to the hospital and had 3 heart attacks. Not exactly what a person would expect if his vomiting and diarrhea was from an untreated (because the doctors released him without checking it out) perforation of the bowel.
Unless these reporters screwed up the facts about the doctors who attended Cormier (which is a distinct possibility, given the other inaccuracies in the article), the competence and/or diligence of the doctors is questionable.
We’ll never know what really happened. The medical evidence inventory is manipulable so that whatever photos of Andrew Breitbart were taken and by whom they were taken can be falsified. And we’ve seen so many government agencies falsify records on Obama’s behalf that it would be surprising if these records WEREN’T falsified.
At this point the Breitbart people are apparently lying to us about Breitbart having had a massive heart attack last year AND about Breitbart having only one video of Obama (and that being the one they aired already). The cops aren’t doing any investigating on Cormier’s death until they have the results of the toxicology test - and by that time any leads they might have been able to find regarding who poisoned him and why will be long gone. If it was an assassination (of Breitbart and/or Cormier) the coroner’s office would deny it anyway so we have no way of knowing whether they are telling the truth or lying.
Sad state of affairs.
If Cormier was the photographer and photographed the dart entry hole then it is likely that he knew Breitbart was assassinated and that he himself would be a target as well, because he knew the truth. His behavior immediately before his death is consistent with that scenario - especially his belief that somebody had poisoned him. We’ll never know whether that really happened or not, but the behavior is consistent with it.
I hope Mrs. Cormier has good protection.
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