I am working on outreach for the new episode of AUTOPSY.
I thought you and your members may be interested in the latest AUTOPSY show, featuring an unusual case presented to Dr. Baden through the HBO website. Please feel free to forward this info, or post to your listserv or website. Cases and questions for Dr. Baden can be sent throught the website: www.hbo.com/autopsy.
Thank you,
Jessica
ALL-NEW DOCUMENTARY SPECIAL
DEBUTS SATURDAY, MARCH 11 at 10 p.m. ET/PT, EXCLUSIVELY ON HBO
Over the past decade, HBO’s “Autopsy” series has allowed viewers to witness how forensic pathologists, known as “doctors of death,” crack their most difficult cases, unlocking secrets of mysterious crimes that might otherwise go unsolved. Offering first-person explanations by experts and family members, videotapes of autopsies and crime scenes and photographs from case files, the documentaries have featured insights from Dr. Michael Baden, former Chief Medical Examiner of New York City. In the 11th installment of the hit series, Dr. Baden explores four difficult cases, including one brought to HBO’s attention by a “plea of last resort” in the “Autopsy” e-mailbag on www.hbo.com/autopsy.
Cases include:
The Love Bird. On Christmas Eve 2001, 48-year-old bachelor Kevin Butler was found murdered in the living room of his home in Pleasantgrove, Texas. In the kitchen, police also discovered the mangled carcass of Butler’s beloved white cockatoo, Bird. Who killed Butler and Bird?
Justice for Jaime. In July 2001, 37-year-old Jaime Dobbs was taken to the hospital following bouts of lethargy. Although doctors found only traces of valium and other prescription drugs in his system, Jaime ended up dying – and his sister Tammy became suspicious of Brigitte, Jaime’s wife of 16 years. At Jaime’s autopsy, the hospital pathologist concluded he had died of natural causes. Tammy was unconvinced, but unable to get authorities to reopen the case. She recalls, “A good friend said, ‘Do you watch HBO? I think there is a place on the internet that you can go and look for Dr. Baden, and you could get help.’ So that’s what I did.” Turning to the “Autopsy” website on hbo.com, she e-mailed Dr. Michael Baden, saying, “I need your help to prove my brother was killed…I believe the lives of four little children are at stake.”
Lasting Impression. In 1994, 39-year-old June Aurelio was struck by a speeding car while walking down a road in rural Stillwell, Kansas. She suffered critical spinal injuries and was unable to remember anything about the accident. At the Kansas State crime lab, researchers examined the black stretch pants Aurelio had been wearing and detected the imprint of a Missouri license plate, complete with the expiration date and the first two numerals.
He Said…She Said. In 1999, Susan Fassett, a 48-year-old mother of two, was found fatally shot in the parking lot of the Pleasant Valley Church. Her husband had an airtight alibi, but as investigators probed deeper into Fassett’s private life, they learned she had once been involved in a tawdry ménage a trois with Fred Andros and Dawn Silvernail.
The first documentary series on forensic science, “Autopsy” was an instant success when it launched in 1994, paving the way for the host of other forensic shows – documentary and drama – that followed, and igniting a cultural phenomenon that continues today.
Pathologist Dr. Michael Baden is perhaps the most well-known “detective of death,” having conducted more than 20,000 autopsies in his 34-year career; he reviewed the autopsies of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman at the O.J. Simpson trial, and examined victims of the TWA Flight 800 crash. Dr. Baden also consulted in the cases of Claus von Bulow, President John F. Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, John Belushi, Chandra Levy, Andy Warhol, Christian Brando, Montgomery Clift, the Romanovs, and the Challenger and Lockerbie disasters. Dr. Baden shows how, in a very real way, he and his peers are the living interpreters for the dead, demonstrating as well just how important pathology and other disciplines can be in revealing the truth behind suspicious deaths.
For a preview of Autopsy 11 and learn more about forensic science, visit: http://www.hbo.com/autopsy.
Join the discussion or send Dr. Baden a question at http://www.hbo.com/autopsy/community/index.html.