peter, get back to me after you review this leftwing analysis of the vince foster death:
"To sum up, the OIC has investigated the cause and manner
of Mr. Foster's death. To ensure that all relevant
issues were fully considered, carefully analyzed, and
properly assessed, the OIC retained a number of
experienced experts and criminal investigators. The
experts included Dr. Brian D. Blackbourne, Dr. Henry C.
Lee, and Dr. Alan L. Berman. The investigators included
an FBI agent detailed from the FBI-MPD Cold Case
Homicide Squad in Washington, D.C.; an investigator who
also had extensive homicide experience as a detective
with the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington,
D.C., for over 20 years; and two other OIC investigators
who had experience as FBI agents investigating the
murders of federal officials and other homicides. The
OIC legal staff in Washington, D.C., and Little Rock,
Arkansas, participated in assessing the evidence,
examining the analyses and conclusions of the OIC
experts and investigators, and preparing this report.
The autopsy report and the reports of the pathologists
retained by the OIC and Mr. Fiske's Office demonstrate
that the cause of death was a gunshot wound through the
back of Mr. Foster's mouth and out the back of his head.
The autopsy photographs depict the wound in the back of
the head, and the photographs show the trajectory rod
through the wound. The evidence, including the
photographic evidence, reveals no other trauma or wounds
on Mr. Foster's body.
The available evidence points clearly to suicide as the
manner of death. That conclusion is based on the
evidence gathered and the analyses performed during
previous investigations, and the additional evidence
gathered and analyses performed during the OIC
investigation, including the evaluations of Dr. Lee, Dr.
Blackbourne, Dr. Berman, and the various OIC
investigators.
When police and rescue personnel arrived at the scene,
they found Mr. Foster dead with a gun in his right hand.
That gun, the evidence tends to show, belonged to Mr.
Foster. Gunshot residue-like material was observed on
Mr. Foster's right hand in a manner consistent both with
test firings of the gun and with the gun's cylinder gap.
Gunshot residue was found in his mouth. DNA consistent
with that of Mr. Foster was found on the gun. Blood was
detected on the paper initially used to package the gun.
Blood spatters were detected on the lifts from the gun.
In addition, lead residue was found on the clothes worn
by Mr. Foster when found at the scene. This evidence,
taken together, leads to the conclusion that Mr. Foster
fired this gun into his mouth. This evidence also leads
to the conclusion that this shot was fired while he was
wearing the clothes in which he was found. Mr. Foster's
thumb was trapped in the trigger guard, and the trigger
caused a noticeable indentation on the thumb,
demonstrating that the gun remained in his hand after
firing.
The police detected no signs of a struggle at the scene,
and examination of Mr. Foster's clothes by Dr. Lee
revealed no evidence of a struggle or of dragging. Nor
does the evidence reveal that Mr. Foster was intoxicated
or drugged.
Dr. Lee found gunshot residue in a sample of the soil
from the place where Mr. Foster was found. He also found
a bone chip containing DNA consistent with that of Mr.
Foster in debris from the clothing. Dr. Lee observed
blood-like spatter on vegetation in the photographs of
the scene. Investigators found a quantity of blood under
Mr. Foster's back and head when the body was turned, and
Dr. Beyer, who performed the autopsy, found a large
amount of blood in the body bag. In addition, the blood
spatters on Mr. Foster's face had not been altered or
smudged, contrary to what likely would have occurred had
the body been moved and the head wrapped or cleaned.
Fort Marcy Park is publicly accessible and traveled; Mr.
Foster was discovered in that park in broad daylight;
and no one saw Mr. Foster being carried into the park.
All of this evidence, taken together, leads to the
conclusion that the shot was fired by Mr. Foster where
he was found in Fort Marcy Park.
The evidence with respect to state of mind points as
well to suicide. Mr. Foster told his sister four days
before his death that he was depressed; he cried at
dinner with his wife four days before his death; he told
his mother a day or two before his death that he was
unhappy because work was "a grind"; he was consulting
attorneys for legal advice the week before his death; he
told several people he was considering resignation; he
wrote a note that he "was not meant for the job or the
spotlight of public life in Washington. Here ruining
people is considered sport." The day before his death,
he contacted a physician and indicated that he was under
stress. He was prescribed antidepressant medication and
took one tablet that evening.
Dr. Berman concluded that Mr. Foster's "last 96 hours
show clear signs of crisis and uncharacteristic
vulnerability." Dr. Berman stated, furthermore, that
"there is little doubt that Foster was clinically
depressed . . . in early 1993, and, perhaps,
sub-clinically even before this." Dr. Berman concluded
that "in my opinion and to a 100% degree of medical
certainty, the death of Vincent Foster was a suicide. No
plausible evidence has been presented to support any
other conclusion."
In sum, based on all of the available evidence, which is
considerable, the OIC agrees with the conclusion reached
by every official entity that has examined the issue:
Mr. Foster committed suicide by gunshot in Fort Marcy
Park on July 20, 1993. |
