I guess if you die under suspicious circumstances, you have been stalked for 4 months, and you are a healthy 20-year-old…I guess law enforcement shouldn’t wonder if maybe a murder has been committed and they should gather as much evidence as possible.
Just the thought of an autopsy makes my eyes shut and my shoulders quiver. But I told myself, they’re right, it has to be done, and I tried to think of other things, pretend it was not happening. Maybe that was the wrong thing to do, maybe I should have grabbed Steve, and insisted on both of us riding with her, being right there every horrific step of the way. If my daughter was taken away in an ambulance to the hospital it would not have been any other way…I would have been with her. Steve and I would be right there every single step of the way. But on that cold Friday morning, on December 2nd, they were taking my daughter’s body away, not my daughter.
Only I’ve been told I would not have been allowed to be there for any step of the way, no matter how much I insisted. First, as hard as it is for me to conceive, I was a suspect – until I am ruled out, it could have been me, and I can’t begin to be ruled out until the autopsy is finished, so I can’t possibly be allowed anywhere near it.
Enter the first theories of law as I understand them:
- Pronouncement of death
- Process the scene
- Approve the removal of the body
- Arrange to have the body moved to the lab for an autopsy
- Maintain the chain of custody
And all of those steps happened for Morgan, but remember they were done by Thomas Walton. What if he is not trained or legally able to do any of them? What if the Garfield County Coroner’s office never completed the steps that would have established Thomas Walton as a legal Deputy Coroner? I don’t even want to think about how potentially tainted Morgan’s case could be by the actions of the Coroner. But first things first.
There is another document recently adopted by the State of Colorado in May of 2011, before Morgan’s murder. To clarify autopsies and it pertains to this case. It is called the National Association of Medical Examiners Forensic Autopsy Performance Standards (NAME). It was adopted intact as the minimum for an autopsy in the State of Colorado.
And wouldn’t you know it, right there in the first section, section A, another problem.
Section A: Medicolegal Death Investigation
The purpose of this section is to define responsibility for medicolegal death investigation and to outline the types of cases that are to be investigated by such systems. Investigations can be conducted by inquiry with or without examination. Inquiries are typically conducted via telephone interview, personal interview, or review of records. Examination may include scene investigation, external inspection, and forensic autopsy.
Standard A1 Responsibilities
Medicolegal death investigation officers, be they appointed or elected, are charged by statute to investigate deaths deemed to be in the public interest–serving both the criminal justice, civil justice and public health systems. These officials must investigate cooperatively with, but independent from, law enforcement and prosecutors. The parallel investigation promotes neutral and objective medical assessment of the cause and manner of death.
To promote competent and objective death investigations:
A1.1 Medicolegal death investigation officers should operate without any undue influence from law enforcement agencies and prosecutors.
A1.2 A forensic pathologist or representative shall evaluate the circumstances surrounding all reported deaths
The problem? The investigators and interviewers are to be independent from law enforcement and prosecutors. Well if your interviewer is a Garfield County Sheriff’s detective, and your investigators are a group of Garfield County Deputies and Detectives, do you see the problem? None of these people can legally be processing the crime scene. It’s Colorado Law. In Morgan’s case a neutral and objective medical assessment of the cause and manner of death never happened.
Was Thomas Walton, not really a legal deputy coroner? And a death scene overrun with Garfield County Sheriffs who are not supposed to be participating, by Colorado Law. Is that what Morgan had? No Medicolegal officers in charge here, trained in death scene assessment, practicing good investigative techniques present to take over and restore order? Are all of the pages of investigation from Morgan’s death scene not potential evidence of a crime? Are they rather evidence of a crime or evidence of crimes by the deputy coroner by the mere fact of being there, and crimes by the Garfield County Sheriff’s department by interviewing, touching, processing, and handling all of the evidence in an investigation that must be independent from these very law enforcement personnel? Why on earth would they do that? And who is responsible for the law enforcement personnel not following the law?
Should Thomas Walton have been in charge of preventing this intrusion into the death scene in violation of Colorado Revised Statutes? He should have been, but… Certainly not If his mere presence is in direct violation of Colorado Revised Statutes. Is this really what happened? Was Morgan’s death scene destroyed for all intents and purposes by the Sheriff and the Coroner? And of course if you have been reading this blog of Morgan’s stalking you have to know it does not get any better. You might be wondering how it could possibly get worse, but trust me, it can, and it does.
Enter Dr. Robert Kurtzman the forensic pathologist. He will be supervising the autopsy. And the National Association of Medical Examiners Forensic Autopsy Performance Standards adopted by the State of Colorado once again set his minimum standards to work under.
I am only going to question one facet, as most of us did not witness what happened. This is more of a prima fascia case based on timing.
First the standards complete with examples:
These standards underscore the need for assessment of all available information prior to the forensic autopsy to (1) direct the performance of the forensic autopsy, (2) answer specific questions unique to the circumstances of the case, (3) document evidence, the initial external appearance of the body, and its clothing and property items, and (4) correlate alterations in these items with injury patterns on the body. Just as a surgeon does not operate without first preparing a history and physical examination, so must the forensic pathologist ascertain enough history and circumstances and may need to inspect the body to decide whether a forensic autopsy is indicated and to direct the forensic autopsy toward relevant case questions.
Steve was asked by the detective to prepare an email with anything they should look for at autopsy, no matter how minor or far fetched, absolutely anything that may help to guide the autopsy. They told him he didn’t have to do it right away. This was Friday early noon and they said Monday would be just fine. So it has always bothered me deeply that a forensic pathologist is supposed to assemble all of the facts, history and circumstances, Prior to the autopsy, not during, not after – Prior. And that simply was not done for Morgan. And what is the purpose of asking Steve for that email of things, “to look for at autopsy” when the autopsy is going to be wrapped up Friday evening, in time for dinner, before Steve ever sends the email of what to look for. Has anyone ever given you a list of things to pick up at the store, after you leave the store? Is this what happens when the Deputy Coroner lacks training and certifications, and when in place of Medicolegal officers they utilize the one officer that is specifically to be excluded from the investigation, the law enforcement officer. And then it all ends up in a nice pile for the Forensic Pathologist, and he knows without question the investigators were not Medicolegal officers, that they were Garfield Sheriff’s. He knew or should have known this is in direct conflict with the Forensic Autopsy Performance Standards that he is charged with upholding.
And it is not a simple gaffe, not a simple misunderstanding, it is in direct violation of Colorado Revised Statutes. It is going 85 MPH when the posted limit is 25 MPH. It is breaking the law. A rose by any other name and all that. I have been told there are “official” documents of Morgan released and circulating. I should look at them. But I have not. I really don’t want to see them because to me they are anything but official documents. They are prima fascia evidence of the miscarriage of justice that took place and continues to take place in the investigation of Morgan’s death.
Would you believe me if I told you that – to date nobody has ever asked Steve or I, her only parents, who her doctor was, what medications, if any, she was currently taking, and for what reason? Where would be the best place to get the most current medical records for Morgan, and on and on. I already know the answer, but really, is it too late to just start over? It could not be any worse.
On the way to Grand Junction
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