Dumb Reporters

[G-ManBart]

I will point out that this isn't a funny case (tragic, really), but how dumb are these reporters? Notice the last line, second to last sentence?...I can't be the only one that noticed this.

http://www.detnews.com/article/20101020/METRO03/10200414/Medical-examiner--%E2%80%98I%E2%80%99m-sorry...-your-husband-was-murdered%E2%80%99

Last Updated: October 20. 2010 9:22PM

Medical examiner: 'I'm sorry... your husband was murdered'

Christine Ferretti and Charles E. Ramirez / The Detroit News

Harrison Township— The death of bank executive David Widlak is now being investigated as a homicide after a second autopsy showed he was killed by an execution-style gunshot wound, and a gun registered to Widlak was recovered today.

The bullet hole was discovered near the base of Widlak's skull during a private autopsy conducted by Oakland County Chief Medical Examiner L.J. Dragovic.

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Widlak's wife, Anne Widlak, told The Detroit News today the findings support what the family has instinctively known since her husband went missing Sept. 19.

"We have always thought it was foul play," she said. "Knowing my husband as we did, the other scenarios did not ring true."

Dragovic's report said Widlak died "as a result of a contact gunshot wound sustained to the mid-back of his neck." Dragovic concluded a self-inflicted wound of that type would be "physically impossible" and that the Community Central Bank CEO was murdered, Anne Widlak said.

The 62-year-old Grosse Pointe Farms resident was found Sunday floating in a marshy area of Lake St. Clair in Harrison Township.

"(Dr. Dragovic) said, 'I'm sorry to have to inform you, your husband was murdered execution-style'," Anne Widlak said this afternoon of her conversation with the medical examiner.

The news comes after a Monday autopsy conducted by Macomb County Medical Examiner Daniel Spitz listed Widlak's cause and manner of death as undetermined.

Macomb County Sheriff Mark Hackel and Spitz held a joint press conference today to discuss the second autopsy and the discovery of a gun near where Widlak's body was found.

Hackel said the 38-caliber handgun was registered to Widlak. Divers with the Macomb County Sheriff's Office found the weapon just before 2 p.m. today about 6 feet from where the body was found in approximately 1 ½ to 2 feet of water, Hackel said. The gun has been shipped to the Michigan State Police Crime Lab to test for latent finger prints and DNA.

Hackel said, from the onset, his department treated Widlak's disappearance as a missing persons case.

"Now we're looking at it as a homicide until something is brought forward that proves otherwise," Hackel said.

Spitz said today during the press conference that he agrees with Dragovic's determination. He said Oakland County's more advanced X-ray equipment was able to detect bullet fragments in the body that Macomb's could not. Once those fragments were discovered, a further dissection was performed and the bullet hole was discovered, Spitz said. He added he worked with Dragovic and viewed the wound himself.

"It certainly seems like this gunshot wound is cause of death," Spitz said, although a death certificate will not be issued until both the cause and manner of death can be formally established. " I think the gunshot wound was the fatal wound."Anne Widlak said she's not pointing fingers at the Macomb County Sheriff's Department, noting the department worked "earnestly" on the case and Hackel was "very supportive" when the family requested a second autopsy.

"The sheriff's department has earnestly attempted to find the truth," she said. "This provides critical information that will assist police in continuing investigative efforts. Now, the sheriff's department will conduct a criminal investigation and review the evidence we already know through a new lens."

Earlier this week, Widlak's relatives stressed that they didn't believe the bank chief harmed himself.

Shortly before he went missing, Widlak expressed concern to his wife and a private investigator whom he called upon occasionally to vet investors, of some prospective investors with the bank.

The family said it's unclear if the fear was for his personal safety or over the legitimacy of the potential investors.

Anne Widlak declined to speculate today about who may have wanted to harm her husband.

"At this point, the most productive and valuable thing to do is let the police do their job," she said. "This is their business. This is what they do. The family wants to find out who did this to Dave and took away a husband, a father, a grandfather and a community leader."

The sheriff's department also released two 911 calls today related to the case.

The first call was placed by an employee who discovered the office of the bank CEO in disarray on Sept. 20. The second call was made by a duck hunter who stumbled upon Widlak's decomposing body near a dock in Harrison Township on Oct. 17.

Widlak was found one month after he was captured on surveillance video leaving the bank's executive offices through a back door on Sept. 19. His car was left in the bank lot.

The body is expected to be released to the family in time for the funeral. The service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church, 438 St. Antoine in Detroit.

Edited October 21, 2010 by G-ManBart

[AlamoShooter]

OK I will bite, What is so strange about the last line? are not many Funerals happen with out a body?

[alpha-charlie]

Morons. Thank God they're getting him there or he'd end up being late for his own funeral!!!

[G-ManBart]

OK I will bite, What is so strange about the last line? are not many Funerals happen with out a body?

I guess it depends whether you make a distinction between a funeral and a burial. The norm seems to be having the remains, in some form, at the funeral.

Still, I don't even see what that line adds to the story...weird. R,

[Chills1994]

I am more curious about the latent prints that could be found on a gun submerged in water for a few days. I thought water or humidity was the enemy to fingerprints (unless of course it is in something like a greasey or oiley or bloody fingerprint).

[G-ManBart]

I am more curious about the latent prints that could be found on a gun submerged in water for a few days. I thought water or humidity was the enemy to fingerprints (unless of course it is in something like a greasey or oiley or bloody fingerprint).

I had that same thought, but I'm not an expert on latent prints. They can do some pretty amazing stuff these days, so I wouldn't put it past them. Heck, I've heard they've pulled latent prints off the inside or a latex glove

[Rob Tompkins]

I am more curious about the latent prints that could be found on a gun submerged in water for a few days. I thought water or humidity was the enemy to fingerprints (unless of course it is in something like a greasey or oiley or bloody fingerprint).

Don't you watch CSI? It's all true, its on TV!