GIST: "Round II of Quincy's Trial of the
Century is scheduled to begin July 25, when former University of
Illinois football star Curt Lovelace faces a second trial for the
alleged 2006 murder of his wife, Cory Lovelace. Lovelace's first trial, which lasted two weeks, ended in a mistrial Feb. 5 after jurors were unable to reach a verdict. The mystery surrounding the death of 38-year-old Cory Lovelace is dual in nature. While prosecutors try to prove that Curt Lovelace is responsible for
his wife's untimely death, the defense contends that no crime occurred.
They assert that Cory Lovelace died of natural causes from health
problems caused by chronic alcoholism and bulimia. Rich Herr, a local businessman and former Illini football teammate of
Curt Lovelace, is among those who contend that Cory Lovelace died of
natural causes. He said that he had long been concerned about her
health. "We all knew how sick she was. We weren't shocked that she died, but we weren't surprised either," he said. Herr, who described himself and Lovelace — both linemen on Illini
teams from the late '80s and early '90s — as friends "since forever,"
could be accused of bias. But UI law Professor Steve Beckett
characterized the case as shot through with reasonable doubt, so much so
that he's scheduled an April 29 symposium on the case at the UI College
of Law. "It's a really interesting case," said Beckett, one that features "competing death experts" but also compelling fact witnesses. Key witnesses include three of the four Lovelace children, who told
authorities they saw and spoke with their mother not long before her
body was found upstairs in bed on the morning of Feb. 14, 2006 —
Valentine's Day. They were 10, 9 and 8 at the time. A fourth was too
young to be interviewed. Their testimony is critical because the prosecution is relying on
medical testimony that Cory Lovelace was suffocated by her husband about
12 hours before her body was found. If the children's testimony is
correct, the prosecution has no case. While his future hangs in the balance, Lovelace remains in custody at
the Hancock County jail, where he's been held since his arrest on Aug.
27, 2014. He was indicted by an Adams County grand jury the same day
following a reinvestigation of the case by a recently promoted patrol
officer, Detective Adam Gibson.......... Although both sides will present their own medical experts to
testify, there will never be any definitive finding as to Cory
Lovelace's cause of death. At her mother's request, her body was
cremated.The
original autopsy, conducted by Dr. Jessica Bowman, found no specific
cause of death, ruling it undetermined. She also reported that Cory
Lovelace had a significantly enlarged liver, roughly twice the normal
size. The condition of the body when observed by police is a matter of significant dispute. Employees of the coroner's office reported seeing significant rigor
mortis, suggesting she had been dead for a number of hours. But one
police officer reported the body felt warm to the touch. St. Louis Dr. Janet Turner, who reviewed medical records during the
reinvestigation, said the rigor mortis she observed, which included the
deceased's hands in a frozen position above her chest, proved Cory
Lovelace died, probably from suffocation, 12 hours before her body was
found. "I suppose a pillow was used to suffocate her," Dr. Turner said. But a defense witness, Dr. George Nichols, said he found "no proof
the woman was murdered." He down-played the rigor mortis question
because he said it "does not occur at a fixed time," varying from person
to person. He also said it's impossible to reach any conclusion beyond
that because the tests necessary to do so weren't conducted at the
autopsy and the body is no longer available. Dr. Michael Baden, a pathologist with a national reputation,
testified that it is his opinion Cory Lovelace died from suffocation
with a pillow. But Dr. Shaku Teas, a forensic pathologist from the
Chicago area who initially was contacted in March 2014 by police during
the reinvestigation, said it's her opinion no crime occurred. "There is no (criminal) case here," Dr. Teas said, indicating that
she would have found that Cory Lovelace died from chronic alcoholism. Given those conflicting assessments, the children's testimony that
they saw their mother that morning — if believed — turns the case.
That's why the CBS News Show "48 Hours" titled its segment on the
Lovelace case "What Did the Children See?" Beckett said, in his view, what the Lovelace children told police is dispositive. "Would you remember the last time you saw your mom or dad before they
died?" he asked. "All three kids immediately told authorities their mom
was alive before they went to school."
The entire story can be found at:
http://www.news-gazette.com/opinion/columns/2016-03-24/jim-dey-more-questions-answers.html
See CBS 48 Hours documentary on this case: "What did the children see," at the link below." "Detective Gibson kept investigating the old case secretly, out of the
public eye. He consulted the original pathologist, Dr. Jessica Bowman,
who had ruled the death "undetermined." Bowman told Gibson she would no
longer participate in the case, but sent him for another opinion to
another pathologist she knew in Chicago, Dr. Shaku Teas. "She said basically that she saw nothing suspicious about the death," Det. Gibson said of Dr. Tea's ruling. "So
why wasn't that the end of it for you? I mean, you have Dr. Bowman who
says undetermined, you have now Dr. Shaku Teas, who is accredited and
is telling you, 'look it's undetermined, I don't see a problem with
it,'" Maher asked the detective. "Because I didn't believe that the information that Dr. Teas had given was credible to what I already knew," he replied. So Det. Gibson sought yet another opinion. Enter Dr. Jane Turner, an assistant medical examiner in St. Louis."
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/cory-lovelace-mystery-what-did-the-children-see/
PUBLISHER'S NOTE:
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.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html
Please
send any comments or information on other cases and issues of
interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.
