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Autopsy: Postmortem with Dr. Michael Baden |
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The focus of the first eleven Autopsy specials ran the gamut from little-known
murder cases to higher-profile examinations of historical crimes, and included
several cases explored as a result of the "Ask Dr. Baden" interactive component
of the Autopsy HBO.com website. This month, Autopsy looks at some well-
known cases which were personally investigated by Dr. Baden. They include:
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John F. Kennedy
In 1977, Congress appointed the Congressional Select Committee on
Assassinations to investigate the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Dr. Baden was
in charge of the forensic-pathology investigation, assembling a panel to review autopsy reports,
photographs, X-rays, and clothing. As he reported before Congress, no forensic pathologist has
ever examined the body of the President. Instead, Washington hospital pathologists who had no
training or experience in gunshot wounds bungled what was an "incomplete" autopsy, mistaking
an entrance wound for an exit one, and placing the fatal head wound four inches lower than it
was. In addition, photos were not done by a professional, the bullet track was not traced, and the
notes were re-copied. After examining the scars on John Connally and sending bullet fragments
found on the stretcher to a lab, Baden testified there had been one shooter: Lee Harvey Oswald.
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O.J. Simpson
On June 13, 1994, one day after the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and
Ronald Goldman, Baden arrived at the home of Robert Kardashian, where O.J. Simpson was in
seclusion. Examining the suspect, Baden found no marks of a struggle, and noted that Simpson
had a healing cut on one hand. Baden did feel Simpson was suicidal, and shortly before police
arrived, Simpson disappeared in what was to become the "Bronco chase." Later, at the trial,
Baden made several points for the defense, asserting that the crime scene had been contaminated
(detectives' bloody shoeprints were everywhere), that the time of death could not be determined
(the bodies had been out in the open too long), and that Nicole's body was never viewed at the
scene by a medical examiner. Instead, it was flipped over and removed to the morgue, washed
(eliminating blood-drop evidence), and left for two days before the autopsy. These and other
mistakes doomed the prosecution. Baden's theory is that two men were involved in the murders.
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The Romanov Royal Family
After ruling Russia for 300 years, the Romanov royal family
disappeared on July 18, 1918, thought to have been executed by Bolsheviks. For 70 years, myths
persisted about what happened to Tsar Nicolas, his wife Alexandria, and their five children. Then, in
1991, nine skeletons were discovered in Siberia. A year later, Baden and a team of scientists
traveled to Russia to examine the remains. The bodies had been shot, and bullets found in one
corpse were consistent to those used in 1918. After estimating the height and weight and checking
teeth, the bodies were confirmed to be those of the Romanovs and their servants - except for
Anastasia and Alexi, the two youngest children. For years, a woman named Anna Anderson had
claimed to be Anastasia, but she was cremated upon her death in 1984. However, DNA from an
appendix she had removed confirmed that Anna was not a royal. The real Romanovs were buried in
St. Petersburg in 1998 - but two crypts (for Anastasia and Alexi) remain empty.
ROMANOV UPDATE:
In August, 2007, there was an announcement from Russia that two burned skeletons had been found buried less than hundred yards from the main burial site. Recent forensic anthropologic examination indicates that the remains are likely those of the missing Romanov children. Confirmation awaits DNA analysis which has not yet been performed.
Read a New York Daily News story on the Romanov's.
Read a Wikipedia article on Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia.
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Sid Vicious
A member of one of the most influential punk bands of the 1970s, the Sex Pistols,
Sid Vicious epitomized the excess and rage of that era. At 19, he met Nancy Spungen, who
became the most important person in his life. After the band broke up in 1978, Sid and Nancy
checked into NYC's Chelsea Hotel and embarked on a downward spiral of sex and drugs. One
morning in October, police found Nancy's crumpled body in the bathroom, stabbed in the
abdomen. Although Sid said that she had committed suicide, Baden, then the NYC medical
examiner, saw no "hesitation" wounds (testing the blade before inserting it) and noted that the
blade had been withdrawn. He classified Nancy's death as a homicide, and Sid was arrested. For
four months, Sid was drug-free in Riker's Island. But in February 1979, after his mother posted
$50,000 bail, he attended a party celebrating his release - and 13 hours later he was dead.
Baden concluded he died from an overdose of potent heroin that was too strong for him to tolerate
after his withdrawal. In a factoid, we learn that Sid's mother, also an addict, had bought the
heroin that killed her son. On September 6, 1996, she committed suicide with a heroin overdose.
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9/11 Responders
On September 11, 2001, Frank Maisano of the NYPD was one of the first
responders to the tragedy at the WTC. Like others, who "did what we were told," he inhaled an
excess of ash at the site. Three and a half years later, Maisano collapsed while chasing a suspect,
and was forced to take early retirement despite just passing his sergeant's test. Meeting with
Baden, this once-athletic young man is told he has pulmonary fibrosis, scar tissue on his lungs
that may require a transplant. "It's one thing going into a job where you see the perp," says
Frank. On 9/11, "we were unprepared." Another first responder, James Zadroga, died in 2006;
analyses of his lungs matched particles with those present at Ground Zero. According to Baden, it
is "the first death of a responder that is directly linked to Ground Zero by the autopsy findings."
DETECTIVE ZADROGA UPDATE
The cause of Detectuve Zadroga's fatal lung disease has recently been made controversial. Dr. George Breton, the pathologist who performed the autopsy in 2005 concluded that his death was "directly related to the 9/11 incident." Dr. Baden reviewed all of the autopsy material and available medical records and agreed with Dr. Breton's diagnosis. Medical Review Boards who also reviewed the case concurred. However, a few months ago, the New York City Medical Examiner publicly stated that Det. Zadroga's death was not caused by exposure to Trade Center dust but rather by Det. Zadroga's own improper actions, charging that he crushed oral medications and injected them repeatedly into his body intravenously. Dr. Breton and Dr. Baden strongly disagree with this opinion and are convinced that Detective Zadroga died as result of breathing the poisons at Ground Zero.
Related stories:
CNN.com
Daily News.com
New York Times.com
WNBC.com
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