Читать книгу Dead Center - Frank J. Daniels - Страница 14
Оглавление= chapter 6 =
The color of the Colorado River can change from indigo blue to blood red hour to hour or minute to minute, depending upon the nature of upstream runoff. It was blood red that Monday when the autopsy was conducted at the hospital in Montrose. Oddly, both Bruce and Janice knew the pathologist who performed the autopsy. Dr. Tom Canfield is a medical doctor and an experienced forensic pathologist with many years of practice under his belt. Having been a prominent, successful medical doctor in a small western Colorado town for many years has left him with a substantial amount of self-assurance some might mistake for conceit. He keeps a sailing vessel on Blue Mesa Reservoir and on warm summer evenings can be found yachting in a blue blazer while sipping martinis. Dr. Canfield has had significant experience with gunshot wounds. He was Chief of Legal Medicine at the Armed Services Institute of Pathology at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. and retired from the Army Reserves as a Colonel. Janice worked as a psychiatric nurse at Memorial Hospital and Bruce was a laboratory technician at the hospital in Delta, a small town twenty minutes from Montrose. Bruce actually worked under Dr. Canfield in his capacity of laboratory director for both hospitals.
Also present at the autopsy were investigators Bill Booth and Nick Armand. To criminal investigators and certainly to an experienced pathologist like Tom Canfield, autopsies are routine matters and they sometimes joke or make remarks that seem unfeeling to outsiders, but this allows those to whom death is an everyday occurrence to break the tension. Dr. Canfield identified the body by the tag on the body bag as well as by the fact that he personally knew Bruce. “I also know Bruce’s wife, Janice,” he said with a wry smile. “I saw her having a good old time at a hospital party just last spring. She is flighty and prone to mood swings,” he said offering his opinion. Once the body bag was unsealed and unzipped, the clothing was carefully removed, described and examined. Dr. Canfield recorded all details.
Investigator Booth pointed out, “There’s a small copper-colored metal fragment, consistent with a small portion of the jacket of a high-powered rifle bullet, in the clothing on the man’s chest near a large entry wound.” This was just right of midline, nipple high, near the sternum. The bullet traveled across the ribs, fracturing several, and exited under Bruce’s arm. Canfield shook his head. “That wound would not have been immediately fatal. With this wound alone, Bruce could have survived for hours and would have lived had he made it to a hospital within a reasonable amount of time.” When the body was turned over, Canfield saw another entry wound in the lower right back. “This one was nearly immediately fatal,” he noted. Dr. Canfield removed a small lead bullet core from the left lung. There was no exit wound associated with the shot to the back. Because of the three spent shell casings found next to Bruce, there had been some speculation that he may have been wounded by a stray bullet and then fired three shots as a distress signal. Dr. Canfield summarily dispatched such a scenario, “Bruce would not have been able to fire his rifle after his spine was severed by the shot to the back,” he concluded.
Any thoughts that this may have been an accidental shooting or suicide had now evaporated. You are not accidentally shot twice by a high-powered rifle, and you cannot, without great difficulty, shoot yourself in the back with one. Dr. Canfield took photographs of the body. The bullet fragments and clothing were marked, sealed, and forwarded to the Montrose office of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
The Autopsy Report made plain the fact that this was murder.
GENERAL EXTERNAL EXAMINATION:
The body is received in a blue pristine body pouch which is zipped shut. Across the zippers of the body pouch are multiple red evidence seals. The seals are intact. There are initials, “NA, 10-15-95.” The intact seals are ruptured and the body pouch opened revealing the body as described below.
IDENTIFICATION:
On the handle of the body bag is identifying tag in the name “John Bruce Dotson” [sic]. There is accompanying paperwork from the Mesa County Coroner’s Office. Additionally, the body is that of an individual personally known to the undersigned.
JEWELRY:
1) On the left wrist is a “Timex Iron Man, 8 Lap” brand triathlon watch showing the correct day and date and essentially the correct time.
2) On the 4th finger of the left hand is a gold-colored metal ring which has the logos of mountains and a single mounted dark crystalline stone therein.
3) A pair of bifocal prescription lenses is present on the face in the appropriate position labeled in part “Acutech 108 with Flexons 4018140.”
CLOTHING:
The body is partially covered with two items of clothing in the body bag.
1) The first is a blue and red, reversible, down-filled vest showing several defects in the outer fabric from which feathers flow.
2) The second item over the body is a multicolored, plaid, hooded, long-sleeved shirt which contains in the left breast pocket a Montrose Sporting Goods license envelope in which is a hunter safety card in the name of Janice K. Morgan as well as a 1995 resident antlered elk license and antlered elk carcass tag in the name of Janice K. Morgan.
The body is further wrapped in a multicolored, plaid, green-red-blue-purple-yellow, lightweight blanket.
The body is clad in multiple layers.
1) The feet are shod in a pair of grayish-brown, 5 D-loop, 2 speed lace, hiking boots, size 11, “Merrell” brand, showing moderate wear.
2) On the upper torso is a gray, hooded sweatshirt-type jacket, size extra-large, “Lee Midway cotton and polyester” zipped-front jacket. The zipper shows a traumatic defect with disruption of both tracks of the zipper and the cloth about it several inches from the top of the front portion of the neck. Additionally there is a traumatic defect in the right lateral aspect of the jacket on approximately the anterior axillary line and a traumatic defect to the right of midline in the back. There is massive blood staining of the jacket. The next layer is a gray in color, “Windridge Mervyn’s” brand, 100% cotton, large size, long sleeve sweatshirt which shows a traumatic defect in the anterior right lateral portion, the anterior lateral and approximately the anterior axillary line and the posterior right portion with massive blood staining over the entire garment. The next layer is a pair of blue, polyester and cotton, “Big Mac” brand bib overalls. In the front chest pocket is a license envelope from Leisure Time Sports in Cedaredge, Colorado, which contains a Colorado hunting license in the name of John B. Dodson with a resident antlered deer license dated 10-13-95. Also present in the pocket is a “Kershaw” brand knife which has one 4-inch, drop point blade in a lock blade configuration in the closed folding knife. The blade appears clean. There is an apparent acute traumatic defect in the chest just to the right of midline and in the right side of the back of the straps. There is marked blood staining of the overalls. The under shorts are a pair of “Hanes,” size 36, 100% cotton. There is marked blood staining of the under shorts which are brief style. The hands are covered in a pair of brown, cloth gloves. There is a moderate amount of vegetable material on the clothing and grass stains on the knees of the bib overalls.
Found on the anterior chest beneath the clothing is an irregular, over folded and disrupted, 7 × 5 × 2 mm portion of copper colored metal consistent with the metal jacket of a hunting bullet.
EXTERNAL EVIDENCE OF TRAUMA:
There are three traumatic lesions on the body consistent with gunshot wounds:
1) In the right anterior chest 51 ½ inches from the base of the right os calcaneus to the right of midline, 1 ¼ inch from the center is an irregular, 35 × 28 mm defect. There is a 5-8 mm irregular rim of contusion about the wound medially greater than laterally and there is a gray-black, 2-3 mm apparent margination at the site of the central defect which is 5 × 6 mm. There is no evidence of powder burning, heat damage, tattooing or stippling about the wound.
2) In the right flank, 49 inches from the base of the right os calcaneus in the anterior axillary line, 6 ¾ inches to the right of midline is an ovoid, 45 × 32 mm acute traumatic defect which has an irregular subcutaneous hemorrhage about the defect, up to 40 × 40 mm medially with an additional, up to 65 × 50 mm medial area of multiple petechial and ecchymotic hemorrhages. There is a drying artifact at the margins of the wound. There is some tearing at the margin of the wound as well. There is avulsion, disruption and hemorrhage on the underlying tissues. There is no evidence of powder burning, heat damage, tattooing or stippling about the wound.
3) In the right back 49 ½ from the base of the right os calcaneus and centered 2 ¾ inches to the right of midline is an ovoid defect which is irregular, rectanguloid with some tissue bridging measuring 20 × 12 mm. There is a definitive 4-5 mm area of margination surrounding the wound. There is no identifiable stippling, smoke, burn or tattooing about the wound. There is some irregular fraying of the margins of the epithelium. There is an irregular, 130 × 60 mm area of subcutaneous apparent bruising and hemorrhage about the wound, laterally and superiorly.
4) Additionally over the back of the right shoulder and lateral to the scapula is a 9 mm, double tapering to 2 mm superficial abrasion-contusion.
INTERNAL EXAMINATION:
The body is entered by way of the standard Y-shaped, thoracic-abdominal incision revealing 2 cm of yellow subcutaneous adipose tissue and thick red-brown musculature. There is acute traumatic injury from the defect #1 described above which transverses from medial to lateral through the subcutaneous tissues with avulsion, disruption and hemorrhage. Ribs 8, 9 and 10 show multiple fractures with avulsion, disruption and hemorrhage. Wound #2 on the right flank is in continuity with the above-described track. A laceration on the dome of the liver is directly under this area. Wound #3 described above the right back perforates the subcutaneous tissues with avulsion, disruption and hemorrhage and perforates the paravertebral muscles of the right back with avulsion, disruption and hemorrhage with disruption of vertebral body L1 and avulsion of the spinal cord. It exits on the left lateral aspect of the vertebral body perforating the diaphragm and penetrating the lower lobe of the left lung. A bullet lead core is recovered from the lower lobe of the left lung with lodging from the missile track on the posterior, to the midportion of the lower lobe of left lung with avulsion, disruption and hemorrhage.
LUNGS: The right lung weighs 325 grams; the left lung weighs 375 grams. Cut sections show collapse of the lung on the right and some congestion of the lung on the left. The above-described traumatic injury is present in the lower lobe of the left lung with a bullet track causing avulsion, disruption and hemorrhage and a recovered bullet in the lower lobe of the left lung. The bullet portion is apparent lead and is marked at its base “TMC 105” and shows significant disruption of the anterior portion of the bullet. There is no jacket portion present at this location. The missile is consistent with a high-powered rifle hunting bullet core.
DIGESTIVE SYSTEM: The stomach contains approximately 500 cc of fluid with minimal digested foodstuff.
MUSCULO-SKELETAL SYSTEM: There are fractures of ribs 8, 9 and 10 on the right and L1 due to the passage of missile with avulsion, disruption and hemorrhage.
Dr. Canfield concluded that each gunshot wound was consistent with having been fired from a large-caliber rifle at a distant range. The lack of any evidence of powder burning, heat damage, tattooing or stippling about the wound ruled out a close-range shot, as did the nature of the wounds themselves. Under cause of death, he wrote, “This forty-eight-year-old Caucasian male died as the direct result of a gunshot wound of his back. Additionally he suffered a gunshot wound to his chest.”
