2/4
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>> Continued from previous message
  "If Ron Brown was truly President Clinton's dearest friend as he so=20
eloquently eulogized at Ron
  Brown's funeral, one would hope your dearest friend, especially if=20
he is president of the United
  States, would do everything in his power to open up a new=20
investigation. President Clinton simply
  cannot dismiss the evidence of two high ranking officers of the=20
United States military as being
  conspiracy or politically motivated. Even his political friends have=20
questions and are calling for the
  President to do the right thing," Madison continued.
  "If the President is truly concerned about the Brown family and the=20
families of 34 other victims of
  that tragic plane crash, then he owes it to the families, the nation=20
and his dear friend Ron Brown to
  review this new evidence and investigate why the x-rays are=20
missing."
----------------------------------------------------------------------
TOP PATHOLOGIST;  AUTOPSY NEEDED IN POSSIBLE HOMICIDE OF RON BROWN
         By Christopher Ruddy
         FOR THE PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
         December 17, 1997
  One of the nation's most prominent forensic pathologists says there=20
was "more than enough" evidence
  to suggest possible homicide in the death of Commerce Secretary Ron=20
Brown, and an autopsy should
  have been conducted on his body.
  Pittsburgh coroner (Allegheny County) Dr. Cyril Wecht reached these=20
conclusions after reviewing
  photographs of Brown's body, photo images of X-rays of Brown's head=20
and body, and the report of
  the forensic pathologist for the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology=20
who examined the corpse.
  The Pittsburgh pathologist's findings -- including his=20
identification of what may be more evidence
  suggesting homicide -- bolster the statements by Air Force Lt. Col.=20
Steve Cogswell and Army Lt.
  Col. David Hause, both AFIP forensic pathologists.
  Hause and Cogswell participated in AFIP's investigation of the April=20
1996 military jet crash in which
  Brown and 34 others died.
  Both officers told the Tribune-Review that a perfectly circular hole=20
found at the very top of Brown's
  head looked like a .45 caliber gunshot wound, and both contended its=20
discovery should have
  prompted an autopsy. No autopsy was conducted.
  In the wake of their allegations, Air Force Col. William Gormley,=20
the pathologist who examined
  Brown's body, has dramatically changed his description of the wound.
  Previously, Gormley, an AFIP pathologist with approximately 25=20
years' experience, insisted that the
  primary reason the hole could not have been caused by a bullet was=20
his finding that the circular hole
  "didn't go all the way through the skull."
  A bullet most assuredly would have, Gormley said, and he described=20
the hole as having "no open
  communication with the inside of the head," with no brain visible.=20
He said the "punched out" defect
  had simply been "depressed" but was still visible, covering the=20
brain.
  Gormley also said in his initial interview that if the hole had=20
indeed gone through the skull, "You
  wouldn't want to have that. It's not good."
  Gormley said his written examination report detailing "a round,=20
punched-out defect...approximately
  .5 inches in diameter" was consistent with his observation that the=20
hole did not penetrate the skull.
  Gormley said the object that caused the wound probably was a rivet=20
or some other fastener that could
  be found in the plane.
  But Cogswell, AFIP's investigator at the crash scene, disputes the=20
notion that any part of the plane
  created the circular hole.
  Last week, appearing on BET Tonight, a national black cable network=20
show hosted by Tavis Smiley,
  Gormley admitted that a photograph and lateral X-ray of Brown's head=20
both of which have been
  published in the Tribune- Review indeed prove the skull had been=20
penetrated and that Brown's brain
  was visible.
  Gormley noted it has been a year-and-a-half since the Brown crash,=20
and said he had simply forgotten
  what the wound looked like.
  Still, he said, the wound definitely wasn't caused by gunshot,=20
primarily because X-rays showed no
  slug or metal fragments in the head consistent with a bullet, and=20
there was no sign of an exit wound.
  Wecht Challenge
  Wecht challenges Gormley's conclusions on several points based on=20
his nearly 40 years of experience
  in forensic pathology. Dr. Wecht has conducted some 13,000 autopsies=20
himself and has reviewed
  approximately 30,000 additional autopsies. His experience includes=20
both gunshot wounds and
  airplane crashes. He is also prominent in Democratic Party politics=20
in Pennsylvania.
  Wecht scoffs at skeptics who dismiss the possibility of Brown being=20
found with a bullet after a plane
  crash. "It's happened," Wecht said. "It's in the literature. It's=20
rare, but it can happen, and evidence
  of a possible gunshot should not be ignored."
  After reviewing the evidence, Wecht reached several broad=20
conclusions:
  ** Autopsy
  "It's not even arguable in the field of medical legal investigations=20
whether an autopsy should have
  been conducted on Brown," Wecht said.
  "I'll wager you anything that you can't find a forensic pathologist=20
in America who will say Brown
  should not have been autopsied," Wecht continued. He noted that it's=20
standard procedure to conduct
  autopsies on all victims in a plane crash.
  "Forget about Brown being a cabinet member, or being under=20
investigation," Wecht added. "He was
  in a plane crash. That alone should have meant he was autopsied."
  Gormley said AFIP had jurisdiction to do autopsies only on military=20
personnel and not any of the
  civilian victims, including Brown.
  Cogswell has argued that the finding of a suspicious hole in Brown's=20
head put the case under the
  Presidential Assassination Statute, which gives the FBI, and AFIP,=20
jurisdiction to investigate the
--- FMail 1.22
---------------