AUTOPSY AND INVESTIGATIVE REPORTS ON THE DEATH OF CHIEF NEGOTIATOR

About three months ago, under the advice of the Texas Attorney General's office, I wrote a registered letter to Joyce M. Carter of the Medical Examiner's Office of Harris County in Houston, Texas, requesting the coroner's report on Herbert Paul Meadows, known to us as CHIEF Negotiator, who died in a fire at his house on October 4, 2001.

That report along with the Houston Fire Department's report on the investigation of that fire has finally arrived.

Without going into the technical aspects of the autopsy report, CHIEF Negotiator's death was ruled as accidental due to smoke inhalation.

"The fire originated at floor level approximately 4 feet west of the east wall adjacent to the south wall in the formal dining area. At this point the sheetrock on the south wall shows calcination along the south wall approximately 6 feet in length in the area below the southeast window. This suggests an area of intense burning and high heat.
The wood wall base trim at the area of origin was deeply charred by the fire. A wooden dining set of 4 wooden chairs and a wooden table were almost completely consumed by the fire. Small charred pieces of the table and chairs were all that remained.
The fire was very intense in the dining room area and spread to the adjacent rooms to the east, west and north. These rooms sustained high heat and fire damage from the fire spread. The fire consumed wooden doors separating the dining room from the kitchen and family room. Burn patterns were consistent with a fire moving from the dining room area into the adjacent rooms."

"Investigators observed that the north side garage entry door was kicked open and that a partial shoe print was found on the door. This investigator was unable to determine if the door was forced by firefighters or was forced prior to the fire."[italics and bold mine]

"Captain ------ of L-36 told Investigator ------ that he found the deceased Herbert Paul Meadows lying in a fetal position, with his head against the west wall in the bathroom near the den. Firefighters dragged the victim to the driveway where he was pronounced dead by paramedics of Squad 40."

"Engineer ------- of L-36 reported that he observed two tripped electrical breakers when he shut off the electrical power."

Investigator ------- went to St. Lukes Emergency Room to interview --------(Mrs.) Meadows who is the wife of the deceased. --------(Mrs.) Meadows was transported by H.F.D. ambulance after the fire. -------(Mrs.) Meadows was treated for smoke inhalation and had been medicated by the hospital but she was able to relate details of the fire.
(Mrs.) Meadows told investigators that she and her husband Herbert watched a late night T.V. show and then she had went to bed while her husband Herbert had went into the den to work on the computer.
Mrs. Meadows stated that she was in bed about 10 minutes as was not asleep when she heard a 'noise or crash'. Mrs. Meadows said the sound 'was like something going through a window'. These sounds came from the other side of the house where her husband was working. This sound was followed by loud screams. (sic)'Was like something going through a window!' She described the sounds made by her husband as 'like I never heard him scream in my life!'
-----(Mrs.) Meadows reported she ran down the hall toward the dining area and was stopped by the thick black smoke in the kitchen area. ----- (Mrs. Meadows) yelled at her husband and asked him if (sic) see needed to call '911'! (Mrs. Meadows) stated that she heard a 'muffled' 'yes!' and then lost contact with Herbert Meadows. (Mrs. Meadows) told investigator that she smelled a 'bar-b-que' type odor like 'when you light a fire with charcoal lighter fluid'. (Mrs. Meadows) attempted to call for help on a phone in the house but she reported the phone was dead. (sic) Meadows went outside in the front yard and yelled for help.

"Arson inv. reveals no..(crossed out).. flammable fluids"
"The investigators.. (crossed out).. smelled gas at scene"
"Not sure if they are ruling arson or not"

I noticed the Chief's blood/alcohol level being questioned a few times here, and without having time to read every post on every page of every thread to see if this info was already posted, I did a little research to find out just how much a feller needed to drink to hit .18.

Assuming he was drinking Red Dog, and assuming 12 ounce bottles, the Chief would have to sock away 8 of them in an hour, considering his 220lb body weight.

Not an easy feat, in my opinion, but doable, if one is accustomed to drinking like that.

I don't wanna knock the Chief.. in fact, I wanna help figure out this riddle. So I think back to my younger days when I could knock down a dozen in an hour or two... how drunk did I get? Not drunk enough to become so disoriented in a fire as to allow myself to burn or to not be able to escape it.

He was found in the bathroom, inches away from safety. I find that strange, and not explainable by his B/A level.

I'm not a medical examiner, so I can't ascertain from the ME's report, just how those peculiar burns on the genitalia came about, so I won't even speculate. But I do have some experience with intoxicated behavior... :)

Anyway, one scenario that comes to mind is him being in the den, or on the can, when the fire starts in the dining room. Seeing the flame, he instinctively tries to get to his wife to get her out, tries several times, gets burned pretty good, and retreats... but if he makes it to the bathroom, why can't he make the extra few steps required to get out of the house altogether? Is he too intoxicated to think clearly? does he pass out from shock and intoxication?

I don't think so... in my experience, emergency situations tend to have a rapid sobering effect... maybe not at a B/A level of .30, but at .18, an experienced drinker can keep his wits about him. I have, on many an occassion.

I'm sure that in that scenario, he would be able to retreat, leave through the garage, and make it around the outside of the house to the bedroom window to assist his Mrs. in getting out. This is a man we're talking about... not some whiney liberal snot nosed cry baby. If he had an ounce of life left, he's gonna get his wife out first and worry about dyin later...

Is he overcome by smoke in such a short time? I don't think that's the case either.. Not in a naturally aspirated wood fire... I'm sure it's documented somewhere, that smokers can withstand the lethal gasses of a fire more so than non smokers... I guess our bodies become accustomed to the intake of harmful gasses, and we acquire some form of resistence.

I have been in, and put out one housefire in my life and the smoke was a non factor except for the discomfort in the eyes. It was a desk that caught fire from a candle, and a lot of paper, plastic and wood was burning, and the smoke was extremely dense... I put it out using a plastic bathroom trash can and water from the bathtub... it took about 10 or 15 buckets to get it under control, so I was in that smoke for some time. It occured in a 2nd floor bedroom, and I didn't notice it until the smoke had already made it down to the 1st floor and into the sunken den at the end of the house, so you can imagine it was quite smokey up there.

Typically, there is nothing in a dining room that can generate so much heat and toxic smoke in such a short time as to be debilitating to a person so quickly. It's not a long, slow smouldering sofa fire in which the cushions produce intense levels of toxic gasses, and almost explode into a super hot fire ball... It's a wooden table and chairs...

It all tells me that foul play isn't just a possibility, it's not even a probability.. it's a definite. We can't give up on this... there's a killer lose...

I only wish I hadn't taken a leave of this place right around the time the Chief died... I hadn't heard that it was arson til just today.

Keep up the great work and thanks for being such a good friend to a great freeper!

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