Relatives question suicide theory

By J.J. Stambaugh, News‑Sentinel staff writer

September 26, 2002

On average, families waiting on the results of autopsies in upper East Tennessee must wait almost a year before learning what killed their loved ones, court records show.

Last year, the average turnaround time for a completed autopsy report from East Tennessee State University in Johnson City was 343 days and 12 hours, according to a recent deposition of one of the school's two pathologists, Dr. Ellen B. Wallen.

In homicide cases, the lengthy wait for a completed autopsy report can prevent prosecutors from bringing suspects to trial. In cases where the manner of death is unknown, it brings months of heartache to relatives seeking a sense of closure.

For the family of Robert C. Bird III, a Greeneville man found shot to death in his Land Rover on May 22, 2001, it means they may never know precisely what happened to their loved one.

In Bird's case, it took 16 months for the autopsy report to be completed.

The report, which was released Tuesday, suggests that Bird committed suicide by shooting himself in the head with a .25‑caliber pistol but contains no information that would completely rule out homicide as a possibility.

Bird's relatives have accused the Greeneville Police Department of not investigating his death in a thorough and impartial manner. They don't believe Bird killed himself and claim to have unearthed several clues that cast doubt on the suicide theory.

They say witnesses have placed Bird in the company of an unidentified person prior to his death. Also, they contend that several witnesses saw Bird smoking marijuana on the day of his death, but the toxicology report filed by ETSU showed no traces of the drug in his system.

"Unfortunately, despite the tremendous delay in time, this report raises as many questions as it answers," said his older sister, Lura Brothers. "From the report we know that Bobby was killed by a gun held close to his head, but when that occurred and what happened before his death remains very unclear."

Bird's family also said they are disturbed because Wallen said some tissue samples from his body apparently weren't "trimmed" and submitted for laboratory processing until January of this year.

"How do you test tissue that old?" Brothers asked.

A grand jury will hear the case after an expert hired by the family has reviewed the autopsy report, said District Attorney General Berkeley Bell.

Four months ago, Bird's sisters filed a lawsuit against ETSU's pathologists to force them to either produce a report or explain why they couldn't. Because there was a question as to whether Bird killed himself or was the victim of a homicide, the lack of an autopsy report had prevented authorities from making a final ruling in the case.

ETSU officials have maintained that the school's autopsy facilities are too small to handle the pathologists' caseload. Originally built to handle only 30 autopsies a year, the laboratory now handles more than 300 cases annually.

"Its not like we're bad people who are just sitting on stuff," said ETSU spokesman Joe Smith. "It's the limitations we're under here."

Tight higher education budgets and a lack of matching funds from the state have prevented the college from building a new facility despite the appropriation of $500,000 in federal funds, he said.

Smith said he couldn't comment on specific details of the case or statements made under oath by Wallen because the family's lawsuit is still pending.

ETSU is represented in the case by the state Attorney General's office because Wallen and Harlan are technically state employees. The lawyer assigned to defend the school, Assistant Attorney General Bill Marett, said he expects the lawsuit to be dropped because the report on Bird has been completed.

"I assume that it (the suit) is moot and will be dismissed," he said. "These people (ETSU's pathologists) cannot be compelled to do anything. How quickly you perform an autopsy is a discretionary function."

The college contracts with eight upper East Tennessee counties to perform autopsies. Each county pays a flat annual rate and the two pathologists ‑ Wallen and Dr. Gretel Harlan ‑ perform all the autopsies that are ordered by authorities in the contracting counties.

Wallen's deposition was taken Sept. 11 in her office in Johnson City as part of the lawsuit filed by Bird's family.

Wallen explained under oath that she is certified in anatomic, clinical and forensic pathology by the American Board of Pathology. She testified that the board publishes no "generally acceptable steps" that pathologists should follow during an autopsy.

She also said the board doesn't have a "generally accepted time frame within which each step of a properly performed autopsy should be completed."

Anne Marie Manning of the American Board of Pathology confirmed Wednesday that the organization has no fixed standards for the conduct of autopsies. "We have no dealings with practice parameters," Manning said.

According to Wallen's testimony, the average length of time that elapsed between the date of an autopsy and completion of the final report in 1999 was 282.6 days. In 2000, the average time was 254.6 days and in 2001 it was 343.5 days.

ETSU's forensics section has an annual budget of about $231,000, not counting Wallen's salary of $127,310 and Harlan's salary $152,770. Last year, they performed 327 autopsies, according to court records.

In comparison, Knox County Medical Examiner Sandra Elkins recently said her office expects to perform about 350 autopsies this year for 14 contracting counties and the University of Tennessee Medical Center.

Average turnaround time for autopsy reports in Knox County is about six weeks, she said.

The two pathologists employed by Knox County also conduct about 1,500 "death investigations" each year where full postmortem exams aren't necessary, she said. Elkins' office has a budget of about $450,000 per year, including pathologists' salaries.

The Illinois‑based College of American Pathologists, which certifies forensics centers, requires its members to complete autopsy reports within six weeks of the actual exam, Elkins said.

"We undergo inspection by the College of American Pathologists, and they look at turnaround times and have a mandate of thirty working days," Elkins said. "Every day, our computer (notifies us of) any delinquent autopsies."

Smith explained that ETSU's facility is in such dire need of upgrading that officials haven't tried to certify it.

"Because of the facility improvements needed here, we've not sought any type of formal accreditation," Smith said.

Both Wallen and Harlan, however, are board certified and recognized as authorities in their field, he said.