Scientist's death is called accidental
Wind gust tied to bridge plunge
By David Abel, Globe Staff, 1/15/2002
enowned Harvard biochemist Don C. Wiley died accidentally in a fall from a Memphis bridge, medical authorities concluded yesterday in an autopsy report.
The 57-year-old award-winning scientist was last seen in Memphis around midnight on Nov. 15. Intense speculation followed his disappearance and the discovery of his body on Dec. 20 in the Mississippi River in Lousiana, about 300 miles downstream.
But Shelby County Medical Examiner O.C. Smith said Wiley's end was just a tragic series of accidents that began when he hit some construction signs on the Hernando DeSoto Bridge, a mile-long span over the Mississippi that connects Tennessee and Arkansas.
After the 6-foot-3-inch, 165-pound professor stopped to inspect the damage to his rental car, investigators believe, he was swept off the 135-foot-high bridge by a gust of wind, possibly from one of the many 18-wheel trucks that cross the bridge that time of day.
Making the accident scenario more likely, Smith said, Wiley had had a few glasses of wine that evening and also suffered from a seizure disorder that sometimes caused dizziness when he was tired or under stress.
Smith ruled out suicide because the autopsy suggests Wiley hit a support beam of the bridge before he landed in the water. Previous suicides at the bridge suggest that those who jump easily clear the support beams, which are 12 feet below the bridge and project about 3 feet beyond the guardrails.
The medical examiner also ruled out murder because there was no physical sign on Wiley's body of a struggle, and no one reported seeing a confrontation on the busy bridge.
Yesterday's report appeared to solve a mystery that weighed heavily on Wiley's family, friends, and colleagues, many of whom have insisted the father of four was unlikely to commit suicide.
''I'm glad we've come to a conclusion,'' said Wiley's wife, Katrin Valgeirsdottir. ''It's just over. That's it.''
Wiley, an expert on how the immune system fights infection, had studied the Ebola virus, HIV, herpes, and influenza. The professor was widely regarded as the nation's foremost expert in using special X-ray cameras and mathematical formulas to make high-resolution images of viruses.
Two years ago, he won the prestigious Japan Prize.
Wiley had traveled to Memphis to attend an annual meeting of the scientific advisory board of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. He was last seen at a banquet at the Peabody Hotel. Colleagues who spoke to him that night said that the professor did not appear stressed and that he had said he was looking forward to spending the weekend with his family, who planned to visit him in Memphis.
Although he drank a few glasses of wine that night, Wiley's colleagues said, he did not appear intoxicated. Initial toxicology reports say that Wiley had alcohol levels ''suggesting impairment.''
Another possible factor in a fall from the bridge is ''an infrequent and poorly understood seizure disorder affecting Dr. Wiley,'' Smith said.
Wiley had kept his condition private for many years and had not received treatment for it, the medical examiner said. ''It was prone to occur when he was stressed, fatigued, or had taken alcohol,'' he added. ''It will never be known if this disorder or drowsy driving due to the late hour and long day Dr. Wiley had put in, or the effects of alcohol contributed to the incident on the bridge.''
Wiley's rental car was found around 4 a.m. on Nov. 16 abandoned on the bridge with the keys in the ignition, a full tank of gas, and without the hazard lights flashing. On the driver's side of the white car, investigators found yellow paint and rusty material from a sign on the bridge. On the passenger side, they found a missing right front hubcap and scrapes on the wheel rims from the side of the bridge.
Wiley was supposed to return that night to his father's home in a suburb of Memphis in the opposite direction he was headed. Investigators believe be was probably confused by the large amount of construction in the area and that he took a wrong turn on the highway.
After the crash, Wiley might have stepped out on the four-lane bridge, which had two lanes blocked off that night. A strong gust combined with the bouncing of the bridge from heavy vehicles could have swept the lanky professor over a guardrail that was less than 4 feet high, Smith said.
''Instability for any reason could precipitate a fall,'' he said.
The evidence that Wiley hit the support beams below the bridge came from a missing button on a Giorgio Armani shirt the professor was wearing that night. The professor fractured his chest bone in the same area, and Smith said the impact of the water wouldn't have removed the button.
''This subtle physical finding combined with the absolute lack of suicidal indicators is conclusive,'' Smith said in his report. ''The possibility of Dr. Wiley's death having been a suicide was carefully considered and rejected. The manner of death is therefore accidental.''
This story ran on page A1 of the Boston Globe on 1/15/2002.
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