Time: Sun Mar 02 18:38:26 1997 by primenet.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id OAA00813; Sun, 2 Mar 1997 14:32:14 -0700 (MST) Date: Sun, 02 Mar 1997 18:34:20 -0800 To: (Recipient list suppressed) From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar] Subject: SLS: SNET: Picture points finger at White House Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit <snip> >International News > Electronic Telegraph > Sunday 2 March 1997 > Issue 646 > > Picture points finger at White House >By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in Washington > > A CRIME scene photograph from the investigation into the death of the >White House aide Vincent Foster appears to prove that the federal >authorities have lied about the case and perpetuated a cover-up that >continues to deceive the Foster family, the US Congress, and the >American people. > >The photograph is one of the few surviving pictures taken by a Park >Police officer soon after Foster's body was found in Fort Marcy Park >on July 20, 1993. It reveals that Foster suffered trauma on the right >side of his neck, just below the jawline. On the photograph there is a >clearly visible wound about the size of an old sixpence, marked by a >black "stippled" ring suggestive of gunpowder burns. It has the >appearance of a small-calibre gunshot wound. > >The photograph is undoubtedly authentic. A prosecutor on the staff of >Kenneth Starr, the independent counsel appointed by a panel of judges to >investigate President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary, has shown it >to individuals "off the record", including a leading forensic scientist >in New York. > > It is devastating evidence. The official report issued by Robert Fiske, >the Independent Counsel, in June 1994, which concluded that Foster >shot himself in the mouth with a Colt .38 revolver, said "there was no >other trauma identified that would suggest a circumstance other than >suicide". Dismissing the testimony of paramedics who described seeing >a wound on Foster's neck when they found the body, the Fiske Report >stated that "the photographs taken at the scene conclusively show that >there were no such wounds". > >In fact, the photograph confirms the eye-witness account of the >paramedics. Four testified in 1995 that they saw trauma to the neck. >Two described it as a probable gunshot wound. One rescue worker, >Richard Arthur, explained in a deposition to the Senate Banking >Committee that he "saw blood all over the right side of the neck . . . >I saw what appeared to be a small gunshot wound here near the >jawline. Whether the coroner's report says that or not, fine. I know >what I saw." > >The autopsy report said that the only external wound was a gaping hole >in the back of Foster's head where the bullet supposedly came out. The >bullet was never found. But it is doubtful whether such a wound existed >when the paramedics arrived. Sgt George Gonzalez said in a deposition: >"I didn't see an exit wound." > > Corey Ashford, who lifted Foster from behind the shoulders, cradling >the head, told the FBI that he "did not recall seeing any blood while >placing Foster in the bag". He said that "Foster's head was intact and >he had not observed an exit wound". > > Dr Julian Orenstein, the doctor who certified death at the Fairfax >Hospital, said he did not see an exit wound. "I never saw one directly. >I didn't spend too much time looking back there." > > Tom Wittenberg, head of the Reubel funeral home in Little Rock where >Foster's body was taken, gave a bizarre answer when asked to describe >the exit wound. "What if there was no exit wound at all? I'm telling >you it's possible there wasn't." Then he refused to say another word. > > The story of the crime scene photos is disturbing. The first >photographs taken that evening, by Franz Ferstl, a Park Police officer, >have all disappeared. So have most of the photographs taken by >detective John Rolla. The entire set of 35mm photos taken by technician >Peter Simonello were under-exposed and deemed useless. All that remains >is a motley mix of 18 Polaroid photographs that reveal little. > > There are, of course, autopsy photographs but the investigation had >already been compromised by that stage. The X-rays from the autopsy have >vanished. Consequently, the photograph examined by The Telegraph is a >unique record of the crime scene as it was when the paramedics arrived. >It is all the more shocking to discover that this photo was never >presented to the panel of four forensic pathologists brought in by the >Fiske investigation to review the case in 1994. "I never saw anything >like that. If I had it certainly would have piqued my interest," said Dr >Donald Reay, Seattle chief medical examiner. > >Instead, the panel was shown an enhanced "blow-up" of a second >generation photograph which had been cleverly distorted. An informed >source said the mischief occurred at the FBI crime laboratories, the >same ones plagued by allegations of evidence tampering in a series of >key cases. > >This sham photograph was shown to investigators on the Senate Banking >Committee and Congressman Bill Clinger's House Oversight Committee, >tricking the Republicans on Capitol Hill into believing that nothing >was amiss. In the distorted picture the stippled neck-wound looks like a >smear of blood. The Fiske panel was misled into concluding that it must >have been a "contact stain". But because Foster's head was pointing >straight up, and was not in contact with any blood, the panel >speculated that one of the paramedics must have jolted the head. > >This theory might have held if it had not been for Miquel Rodriguez, the >tenacious prosecutor appointed by Mr Starr to reopen the investigation >into Foster's death. Mr Rodriguez discovered that the photograph >circulated had been touched up. After a struggle with the FBI he >obtained the original, which he sent outside FBI channels to the >Smithsonian Institution. The enhancement work was done by Asman Custom >Photo Service, in Washington. > > Mr Rodriguez resigned soon afterwards, complaining that he was >overruled by his immediate superior, Mark Tuohey, then head of Mr >Starr's Washington office. Mr Touhey had indicated from the start that >the Foster investigation was largely for show and that it would be >ill-advised to challenge the official version of suicide. When Mr >Rodriguez appealed to Mr Starr, the response was vacillation. > >Mr Starr risks committing himself to a position that could haunt him for >the rest of his life. Although sources close to the Starr investigation >acknowledge in private the authenticity of the photograph, the original >has not been provided to the two outside pathologists brought in to >evaluate the Foster case. > >Brian Blackbourne, the San Diego medical examiner, told The Telegraph >that he had not seen anything that would indicate trauma on Foster's >neck. Henry Lee, the world famous forensic scientist, said that he >could not remember if he had seen it, a laughable evasion. Mr >Blackbourne and Mr Lee have submitted reports that tend to buttress the >ruling of suicide. > > For two years Mr Starr has been making tactical leaks to newspapers, >encouraging them to say that the Foster phase of his investigation is >over. Last week The Los Angeles Times announced that the final >document was ready. Mr Starr had better be ready to explain why a crime >scene photograph shows a .22 calibre bullet wound in the neck of >Hillary Clinton's closest friend. > > >© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997. Terms & Conditions of >reading. Information about Telegraph Group Limited and Electronic >Telegraph. "Electronic Telegraph" and "The Daily Telegraph" are >trademarks of Telegraph Group Limited. These marks may not be copied or >used without permission. Information for webmasters linking to >Electronic Telegraph. <snip> ======================================================================== Paul Andrew, Mitchell, B.A., M.S. : Counselor at Law, federal witness email: [address in tool bar] : Eudora Pro 3.0.1 on Intel 586 CPU web site: http://www.supremelaw.com : library & law school registration ship to: c/o 2509 N. Campbell, #1776 : this is free speech, at its best Tucson, Arizona state : state zone, not the federal zone Postal Zone 85719/tdc : USPS delays first class w/o this ========================================================================
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