Posted on 03/07/2002 5:33:51 AM PST by rdavis84
Freedom may be on life support in America, but it is still alive. By sending a mere $25 to the Offoce of the Medical Examiner of Harris County, Texas, The Great Speckled Bird has been able to obtain a notarized copy of the autopsy of former Enron executive, J. Clifford Baxter. A complete copy is attached. Here are the salient points as we see them:
1. Although the "Manner of Death" on page 1 is given as "suicide," no effort is made in the autopsy to support that conclusion, and, indeed, there is no supporting evidence for suicide in the autopsy. The conclusion could only have been reached based upon something extraneous to the autopsy.
2. The strongest evidence in the autopsy report is most consistent with murder. Under EVIDENCE OF INJURY on numbered page 3 we find, "The defect is stellate and, when the wound edges are repositiioned, measures 7.2 centimeters in the horizontal direction and 4.5 centimeters in the vertical direction."
This suggests a wound inflicted by a starburst of rat shot pellets which were far enough from the muzzle of the weapon to have separated from one another by as much as 2.83 inches before striking the head. Who would, or could, shoot themselves in the temple like this?
In the paragraph above the EVIDENCE OF INJURY we read that "The palmar surface of the left hand is remarkable for an irregular, red, recent abrasion occurring at the base of the fifth digit, which measures 1/4 inch along the linear axis. There is an irregular abrasion on the palmar surface of the distal phalanx of the fifth digit, which measures 1.5 centimeters. This injury consists of discontinuous superficial abrasions with a trail of black material."
Such an injury, though very slight, is not consistent with Baxter having shot himself while seated in his car. Rather, it suggests that he had recently fallen to his left (consistent with being shot in the right temple) and attempted to break to fall by extending his left hand, perhaps on an asphalt road. The black material should have been tested to see what it is, but apparently it was not.
3. The car was much nearer to the house than news reports have indicated, for what that might be worth. As in the original Houston Chronicle report, the autopsy report says Baxter was found in his car in the 5200 block of Palm Royale Boulevard. We learn for the first time here, though, that his home was at 5211 Palm Royale Boulevard. He was less than a block from home, and could have been in front of his own house.
4. His dress, workout pants and a t-shirt, are most consistent with his having just ventured out from his house rather than his having been out in some public place.
I am putting the entire autopsy up here in case someone else might see something that I haven't, or in case someone might want to take issue with my tentative conclusions.
David Martin The Great Speckled Bird--------
DC Dave
Author, "America's Dreyfus Affair, The Case of the Death of Vincent Foster"
"Upton Sinclair and Timothy McVeigh"
"Seventeen Techniques for Truth Suppression"
http://www.thebird.org/host/dcdave
News group: alt.thebird
UPDATE
A friend of mine took the initiative to call CCI Ammunition, a manufacturer of rat shot of same general type as was found in Cliff Baxter's noggin. The technician that he was able to get on the phone said that the rule of thumb for such shot fired from a .38 caliber revolver is one inch of spread for one foot of distance from the target. That conjures up an almost comical picture of Baxter holding the gun to attempt to shoot himself. Maybe he wanted to give himself a sporting chance.
-- DC Dave
NEW INFO
Note that Baxter was killed with rat shot, essentially a small shotgun shell sized to fit a handgun, which fires spread pattern useful against rodents and snakes. The spread of the rat shot indicates a distance of about 2 feet between the gun and Baxter's head. This clearly argues against a suicide.
Another argument against suicide is the choice of ratshot as the ammo in the gun. In the sort of home Baxter was able to afford to live in, one does not go hunting rats with guns loaded with ratshot; one hires an exterminator. In addition, rat shot is the perfect murder ammunition, because unlike a solid bullet, there is no ballistics test that can match rat shot or snake shot to the gun that fired it.
There are other problems with this autopsy report.
There were shards of glass found on his shirt, on what would have been over the superior RIGHT shoulder, following the removal of his shirt. What was the source of this glass?
Baxter had Ambien--which is given for sleep--in his stomach and in his blood. That means he had taken it very recently; Ambien works very fast; peak levels are usually at about 1.5 hours. Is it likely that someone would take a sleeping pill and then immediately drive somewhere to kill themselves. Why take a sleeping pill if you are going to kill yourself? Ambien is pretty powerful; you don't get in a car to drive someplace.
The abrasions/lacerations of Baxter's hands take on a new meaning when you consider the unexplained glass shards on his superior right shoulder clothing. This suggests a struggle.
Baxter's body was found on 01/25/2002. The specimens were received at the lab on 01/26/2002. The date of the autopsy report is 01/25/2002 (the day BEFORE the lab specimens were delivered), but the autopsy was not notarized until 02/15/2002. It was signed by Dr. Carter on 01/31/2002. Dr. Carter indicated very quickly to the press that it was a suicide, yet did not sign the report until 01/31/2002. There are no initials or indications regarding the processing of the report; no dictation or transcription dates, or transcriptionists initials.
From ------http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/baxterautopsy.html
"If in fact Baxter shot himself, and it's looking like a slim chance of that, he sure picked a Stupid Load to do it with. Those rounds use something like #9 birdshot and might have blended his brain from a Contact Shot, but from a couple of feet away it would be extremely iffy.
Most of them I've shot would not break a coke bottle from two feet, but they will mess up a snake.
I'd say it was left obvious on purpose (a message) that he was offed. (Don't Rat on the Plan!) Ratshot, it fits! They're cute with their innuendo.
Yes, it's Rivero's website.
Fruitcake Central.
You got that right. I've shot these in various calibers -- even made my own with CCI's shot cannisters. They have a very narrow and specific envelope of performance.
If this man was killed with a single shot, he was killed by someone who knew exactly what he was doing.
I'd like to see stats on murder/suicide with similar ammunition. Anyone?
Some know David Martin as the poet "DC Dave", or as the author of "The New Moral Order". Most of his past writing, however, is on Puerto Rico and its economy. From 1978 to early this year, Dr. Martin was an economist for the government of Puerto Rico.
The last 14 of those years were in Washington, D.C., a city where crime is a way of life. He has written a series of historical articles relating to the strange death of Vincent Foster.
Dr. Martin has a Ph.D. in economic history from the University of North Carolina. "I was two years ahead of Vince Foster at Davidson," Martin notes, "but remember him only as an intramural basketball opponent. We are about the same height."
Back in the discussions about "Ron Browns Hole in the Haid" I'd offered a "theoretical" round/load that could give the results his head showed. Doesn't work in this case but I'll throw it out again for reflection.
Powdered Lead Encapsulated in a teflon or even acrylic shell(bullet equivalent) would allow normal function of an Auto, would give the "starburst effect" seen in an x-ray, would leave a precise entry hole, the plastic/teflon would not show on an x-ray. And it would be Formidable, not like Loose Shot in these Snake Rounds.
From the posted article:
"In addition, rat shot is the perfect murder ammunition, because unlike a solid bullet, there is no ballistics test that can match rat shot or snake shot to the gun that fired it."
Only to those who have a lot of firearms-related knowledge--by no means a certainty with the target population of Enron executives--and that they would draw the same conclusion as you do from a somewhat ambiguous message.
If they wanted to send a message, cutting the decedent's tongue out or giving him a Colombian Necktie would be much more unambiguous.
This guy's forensics knowledge is SO 1955...nowadays, forensics can match the shot pattern to the weapon.
I LIKE THAT!! Much more effective.
But Death Works about anyway you do it, if the guy's at risk of spilling his guts..... ooops.... I mean .... Talking to an Open Hearing.
Making it look like a suicide very likely will defeat the purpose of enforcing omerta, because the target audience might not get the hint.
I'm not saying it WAS a suicide; I'm just wondering that, if it was a murder, what the motive was. The method seems a little too ambiguous for enforcing omerta.
Maybe this guy was the only guy who knew the sordid details...
"enforce omerta" ------ Isn't that mostly a Mafia thing/code? Mafia with a capital "M" not the wannabe's.
This possible Murder/Silencing vs. Suicide/Conscience seems more like a "Business Decision" to me. Cut the Chain at a crucial point, plus let others speculate about whether it was or wasn't either one; murder or suicide.
Makes it a contact wound, all the powder residue is inside.
Fits perfectly with suicide.
Throughly shoots (pun alert) hole in the "shot from a distance allowing shot to spread" theory.
As for the murder/silencing vs. suicide/conscience issue...if it's intended to keep people at Enron from cutting a deal, I'm not sure it would work--some of these Enron folks appear to be as smart as a box of rocks...
for a moment there I thought the bitchy lady from the meow mix commercials finally offed the chubby guy's cat!
God Save America (Please)
I'd tell ya, but then I'd have to kill ya.
I like the idea of it being a message. They walked the fine line between having it look like a suicide and sending a loud-and-clear message to those in the know who needed to be reminded to shut up. They don't even care if people think it's a murder, help on the inside will label it a suicide, so it's a suicide and that's it.
No case, no questions, no justice.
But what do we make of the Ambien in the system? For all we know, this guy was in his bed, made to put something on, escorted out to his car and brought off site. I am not clear on where the wife was during this period. Are either of you?
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