STORY: "Ohio lawyer accused of bungling investigations," by Associated Press reporter Amanda Lee Myers, published by the Columbus Dispatch on May 16, 2014.
GIST: 'A judge is considering whether to remove a southwestern Ohio
coroner from office over allegations that she mishandled death scenes
and abandoned evidence amid a political feud involving her, her husband
and the county sheriff.........The Adamsons said Varnau made a series of investigative mistakes that
will prevent them from ever knowing the truth about how their son died,
including failing to test his hands for gun residue, turning over the
gun used in his death to his roommate and leaving his home unlocked when
she left. They said that his cellphone and the clothes he was wearing when he died were missing from the home.........The Adamsons’ lawsuit is separate from a federal civil-rights lawsuit filed in February against Varnau. In that action, the family of Hanson Jones Jr., 67, of Ripley,
accuses Varnau of declaring his death a suicide without any meaningful
investigation, failing to order an autopsy or tests to see whether there
was gun residue on his hands, and leaving behind in the home a shotgun
and chunks of Jones’ skull that were found later by his sister. The lawsuit attributes the mishandling of the case to a conflict with
longtime Sheriff Dwayne Wenninger and says that the coroner and her
husband, Dennis Varnau, have been using deaths as a political pawn. Dennis Varnau, who accompanies his wife to death scenes and does
office work, lost a bid for sheriff to Wenninger in 2008 and later lost a
lawsuit seeking to have Wenninger thrown out of office and take his
place. Judith Varnau was an obstetrician and gynecologist without experience
as a coroner before she was elected in 2012 with 176 write-in votes."
The entire story can be found at:
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2014/05/16/coroner-accused-of-bungling-investigations.html
PUBLISHER'S NOTE:
Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following this case.
I
have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses
several thousand posts. The search box is located near the bottom of
the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this
powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and
myself get more out of the site.
The
Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible
years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr.
Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of
Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic"
section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It
can be found at:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2013/12/the-charles-smith-award-presented-to_28.html
I look forward to hearing from readers at:
hlevy15@gmail.com.
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;
