Posted on 12/12/2014 7:53:13 PM PST by MeshugeMikey
BLADENBORO, N.C. (AP) - A prosecutor says the FBI is looking into the hanging death of a black North Carolina teen after his family questioned the official ruling that he killed himself.
Seventeen-year-old Lennon Lacy was found hanging by a dog leash and a belt from a swing set in a trailer park in August. The state medical examiner ruled it a suicide, based on reports from law enforcement and a county coroner. That coroner says he now questions if it was a suicide because of so many unanswered questions.
(Excerpt) Read more at myfoxny.com ...
They beat those people, tied them up and then hung them.
I haven’t heard that the guy was beaten.
The independent pathologist also reports:
It should be noted that there are variations of the choke hold. The variation called the lateral vascular neck restraint (LVNR) is where the anterior neck is held in the antecubital fossa (front of the elbow) and the forearm is pulled towards the arm, compressing the vessels in both sides of the neck. This is basically a pincher movement with both sides of the neck between the arm and forearm. This hold can be applied without injury to the underlying internal neck structures or if there is a struggle there can be blood in the muscles and fractures of the superior cornu of the thyroid cartilage. During our conversation with Dr. Radisch she agreed that one would be unable to tell at autopsy if death occurred via this type of choke hold and then the body was placed in a suspension noose.
My understanding of the original autopsy is that it was relatively cursory and left several significant factors unexplored.
1. Lennon was reportedly fully suspended and my understanding is that in the majority of such hangings, abrasions are usually only found on the front of the neck because of the pressure exerted by the body. But the autopsy report notes that abrasions were found around the entire circumference of the neck. Given that the noose in the picture indicates looping through the belt buckle - it would have been impossible to secure the buckle through the belt holes given the vast difference between the width of a neck and the width of a waist - how does 207 pounds of hanging weight create enough tension around the entire neck to leave abrasions?
2. The report does not mention injury to the cervical muscles or the sternocleidomastoid muscle my understanding is that this type of damage is almost universal in full suspension suicides.
3. It is my understanding that one should see significant pooling of blood in the legs, forearms and hands in cases of suspension hangings. The autopsy report mentions none.
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