Sunday, Jul. 12, 2009

Pathologist changed his opinion in Harvey Henderson death

EAST ST. LOUIS -- Illinois State Police investigating the death of City Manager Harvey Henderson, who fell or was pushed from the Poplar Street Bridge in 2002, spent time interviewing experts listed in newspaper stories.

One of those experts, a physician from Arkansas, said someone from Illinois called the office of his state's governor and word was passed down to the physician not to interfere in the Henderson probe.

Henderson died Aug. 29, 2002. A St. Clair County coroner's jury first ruled that his death was "undetermined," and then, after a rare second inquest, returned a verdict of accidental death.

Before the second inquest, the News-Democrat reported that a nationally-known forensic pathologist, Dr. Frank Peretti, examined the autopsy report and stated that Henderson had probably been struck by a vehicle and knocked to his death 54 feet below the bridge ramp. Peretti is a medical examiner with the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory in Little Rock.

For the second inquest, however, Peretti said investigators from Illinois came to Little Rock with reports and autopsy photos unavailable to the newspaper. After reviewing this material, Peretti reversed himself and said the evidence was, "more consistent with him either jumping or falling off the bridge." Peretti's report was offered as evidence at the second inquest in September of 2003.

Interviewed Friday by telephone, Peretti said he could not remember what caused him to change his opinion but recalled that the matter caused him personal turmoil.

"Someone from Illinois, I don't know who, made a call to the governor's office here in Arkansas who contacted the director of the crime lab and they made it known they were not pleased that I had become involved in their affairs in Illinois," he said. Peretti said he would never allow pressure from a superior to alter his professional opinion.

One of the reports shown to Peretti came from James V. Hall, a former Illinois State Police accident reconstructionist, who was a major witness at the second inquest. Hall's report contradicted state police reports stating that a vehicle paint chip was found on Henderson's clothing and that three hairs from an African-American person were found on the bridge retaining wall where his city-owned sport utility vehicle had crashed. Hall's report stated no vehicle paint was found on Henderson's clothing except paint that had already been in the ground and no evidence was collected from the wall.

Recently released criminal investigation reports from the state police regarding Henderson also show that in January 2003, an investigator interviewed Joseph D. Monroe, the operations field engineer for the Illinois Department of Transportation in Collinsville.

Monroe had been quoted earlier in the News-Democrat as saying, "I have never heard of anyone tripping or falling over" a concrete highway safety wall known as a "Jersey barrier," similar to the one struck by Henderson's SUV. The concrete barriers are about 38 inches high.

A report shows that state police Special Agent Joe Bates interviewed Monroe and made a videotape of the session, during which Monroe admitted making the comment. The tape was not produced as evidence during the second inquest.