First off, this post does not make light of someone's death. I don't do that. This story is a little too bizarre to ignore and pass without comment so I offer it up here.
Per an AP story by Jorge Rueda, it is noted that Venezuelan authorities will be exhuming the body of former major league pitcher Geremi Gonzalez (the card identifies him as Jeremi) to determine whether his 2008 death was due to a lightning strike or a beating.
Hold up! How can this be? I am sure that sentence has never been uttered before in history so I read further.
Apparently, Gonzalez died in May 2008 on a beach in May of 2008. Investigators ruled out homicide after an autopsy blamed an "electrical shock produced by natural causes." A lightning strike, I guess.
Later, apparently doubts surfaced as to the cause of death when there were reports that jewelry that Gonzalez had been wearing at the time of death was being sold somewhere leading some to believe that he was beaten and robbed.
This is weird. Authorities are unsure if the death was caused by a lightning strike or a beating?
I am not a medical examiner by any means but for a medical examiner to determine that a lightning strike was a cause of death, wouldn't this event have had to be witnessed by someone or in the alternative wouldn't the deceased have to have burns on his body and clothing? This would not seem to be a cause of death that you would just pull out of your back pocket if you were stumped as to the cause and finally just offer up "lightning strike" for the death certificate.
This is kind of like a medical examiner doing an autopsy on an anonymous corpse and ultimately determining that the cause of death was either a mauling by tiger or a drug overdose. It is one of those two.
What gives here?
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2 comments:
Dude, there are parts of the world where "lightening strikes" are a leading cause of death, whether because of politics, drug money, lack of money to do proper autopsies, whatever. If things look suspicious, I'm sure the last thing a poorly paid medical examiner is going to do is get involved.
Good point.
I think that it is similar to the official in 18th Century England who during a riot had to go out into the crowd and read the precise language of the Riot Act and then ask the mob to disperse before they could legally call out the police force. Who wants that job?
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