Posted By Travis Uresk | June 21th, 2022 | Murder or Alcohol Poisoning? |
For this case, all names will be left out or changed for protection.
Read this case and comment what you think. Should it be re-opened and investigated further?
By Travis Uresk
Updated July 12th 2022
A few weeks ago, I received an email from a concerned citizen from a Rocky Mountain town with a population of around 23,500. At first, I thought it was strange, and then a few more came in.
After reading and communicating back and forth, I got in touch with a family member too who these concerned people were talking about. I asked this person was there a recent death in the family, and they said yes, about a year ago. I then said I have been receiving multiple emails claiming that your niece’s death was suspicious? Very quickly, I received a reply back saying, YES, VERY SUSPICIOUS!!
Okay, now the aunt has my attention! She says, "it involves a local construction company and sort of the City Police." "I can type you up a summary of the facts, then email it to you?" I told her, "that would be great!."
Here is part of the email summary I got from her:
Hi Travis-
Thank you for taking the time to read this email. I am confident that once you are done, you will agree it all seems suspicious.
My niece was married to____. His parents,____ and____ own____ Construction. and were both very young when they were married due to an unplanned pregnancy. From the beginning, The Mother-in-law did not like their daughter-in-law. She didn't think her daughter-in-law was good enough for her son. They were married about six years when mom decided her son was going to build a house right next to her. Mom wanted to control their lives. This included feeding her daughter-in-law mixed drinks almost daily. (Mother-in-law and Father-In-Law are alcoholics) their daughter-in-law did not drink prior to this time, and with Mother-in-law’s encouragement, the daughter-in-law became a regular consumer of alcohol. Not daily; however, when she did drink, she got drunk.
Their son and my niece did not have the perfect marriage. He cheated; she cheated. Two months prior to my niece’s death, the rumor was the husband wanted a divorce, but he couldn't divorce her. Why? Because all of the newer equipment of the construction company was financed in my niece’s name. Also, Mother-in-law was mad at her daughter-in-law because she quit working for them and went to work for a local freight delivery company.
On _____, 2021 (according to the husband's family), Son woke up and found his wife dead on the kitchen floor. It took them 4 hours before they sent my sister's ex-husband (who isn't the wife’s biological father) to inform her mother that her daughter was dead. Most of the town knew before my sister knew. It was around 10:00 am. My sister went to the Mortuary around 1:00 to see her daughter, and she was told her body was already sent to the medical examiner.
She died on Tuesday, the autopsy was complete, and her body was back in town Thursday. Her funeral was held on Friday, and she was cremated on Saturday. My sister was not included in any of the funeral planning, and she was not able to get any information from the Police, Mortuary, or medical examiner. Also, never made my niece mention to any of us that loved her that she wanted to be cremated. The Mother-in-law said her daughter-in-law had told them this was her desire two weeks before she died. It was two weeks after her death that her mother was told the toxicology reports came back and said she died of alcohol poisoning.
Keep in mind that my niece would have been going to work that Tuesday morning. There is no way she would have drank enough alcohol to kill her before going to bed the night before.
At the funeral, as soon as my niece’s body was wheeled out, two carts of alcohol were wheeled in, and the party was on. My niece and her husband have two children. They were present for this "party."
Within a day, maybe two days, her husband deleted my niece’s Facebook account. He removed every picture of her from his Facebook and Instagram accounts. He removed every trace of her from their home, i.e., photos, clothes, interior decorations, everything. He threw away or burned it all. He would not allow my sister to have anything, not even gifts or photos. The day after she died, He (husband) went to where she worked and cleaned out her locker, and asked how to collect her life insurance.
After reading this, I did get more suspicious, and I applied to get the Police report. This is what it says:
On____, 2021, at 0507 hours, I, Deputy ___, was dispatched to a cardiac arrest; CPR in progress of a 30-year-old female at _______. I arrived on the scene at approximately 0517 hours along with the ambulance crew, ____City Officer ___, and Deputy ____.
Once we made entrance into the home, I observed in the dining room area, next to a couch, the husband performing CPR life-saving measures on a female subject. The female was identified by _____(husband) as his wife, _____. ______was wearing socks, black sweat pants, a shirt (that was pulled up), and a camo jacket.
I immediately took over CPR from____(husband). I observed that ____(Wife) was already in livor mortis, and rigor mortis had set in. I observed red patches on ____(Wife's) belly due to her shirt being pulled up. I observed that ____(Wife's) finger tip's were already dark purple in color. I saw that ____(Wife's) face was purpling and that there were white creases in her left side cheek area as though she had been lying face down on something to force the blood away from her cheek. (I learned that husband found his wife face down and had to roll her over to perform CPR) I observed ____(Wife's) lips were dark, and upon shining a light into her eyes, the pupils were nonresponsive. I felt ____(Wife's) finger tip's and they were cold to the touch even through my gloves.
At 0521 hours, we stopped life-saving measures and started the Death Investigation Checklist. Deputy___ and Officer ____ in securing the scene.
The husband's mother and father arrived soon after to assist with the two children who were home. The husband stated that one child had observed him performing CPR on his wife.
The husband and mom both stated that his wife did have alcohol abuse problems but no other medical issues. (Mother-in-law stated to Detectives she thought daughter-in-law might have gone to her garage since the light was on at around 0300 hours) His wife was on just on medication. The husband stated he last saw his wife at about 2100 hours the night before when she went out to smoke on their back porch, and he went to bed.
Notifications were made to the Sheriff (0540), Chief Deputy (0540) County Attorney (0557), Detective ___(0557) Medical Examiner ____ _____ (0543)
I took initial pictures with Detective ____ arriving on the scene (0608) and conducting his own picture and evidence gathering. At this time, nothing at the home appeared suspicious as to _____ Passing.
Conclusion:
After our arrival at the scene, it was determined that this was an unattended death with unknown circumstances. Detective ____ arrived to conduct an initial investigation of the scene. The Mortuary was able to take possession of the body.
End Report.
In the medical examiner's report, it reports the manner of death was listed as an accident, with the immediate cause of death as acute and chronic ethanolism. The report also added there was no significant trauma contributory to the death.
Examination revealed an adult female without evidence of significant injury or lethal trauma. Postmortem toxicology showed significantly increased ethanol in postmortem blood and vitreous fluid. The circumstances surrounding death and findings at autopsy indicate the manner of death to be an accident.
Because of the above findings, the case will be closed.
Two more of the many emails I have received from concerned members of their community:
Hello Travis, my name is ____, and ____ gave me your email address, and I wanted to email you. I understand that ____ has been in touch with you regarding the death of her niece,
First off, I would like you to know that her niece married into a pretty high-profile family. We live in a relatively small community, and the ____ are most definitely one of the wealthier families in this community, and they have ties everywhere in town, they are one of the top contributors to local law enforcement, they are very close to our local doctor's law enforcement and even our local elected officials. _____ (victim's mother-in-law) is a very controlling person. It's her way or no way! Ever since _____ passed away, _____ mom has been banned from seeing her grandkid's and the kids are not allowed to talk about their mother; every trace of ____ existence was destroyed by her husband, and he also burned all of her belongings didn't save anything for her kids or family to hang on to and cherish.
Her funeral arrangements were planned and announced 4 hours after she was found dead on her kitchen floor! 4 freaking hours!! They said she died of ethanol poisoning, but that also doesn't make sense because she worked for a freight company as a truck driver she would have had to go to work that morning to drive her truck; she was a very responsible employee and took her job serious she knew she needed a career so she would be able to take care of herself and her children because she knew there were marital problems in her marriage, her husband had asked for a divorce.
It's been said that the victim's son told people at his school that the morning she was found dead that his dad was yelling at his mom (grandma), which controls everything in that family. She controls who they talk to, who they can date, or who can see any of her grandkids. It's super strange. Any other woman in this place that would have just been found dead on her kitchen floor would have been investigated people would have been questioned. Something is seriously wrong here. I know there are good cops in this town, far and few in between, but they do exist, and they have their opinions about this, but it's out of their hands. What can we do? Who can we write to?
To whom it may concern:
I feel the death of ___ ___ warrants an investigation. I knew her very well, yes, she drank, but a lot of people do. But she was a very responsible truck driver, Mother, and Wife. She would not be up drinking at 3 am before she was to be at work the following day. She took her job very seriously.
I attended ____ funeral, and the demeanor of her husband and in-laws reminded me of a backyard BBQ, especially when the pallet of alcohol was brought in afterward. Her husband did not shed a tear at her funeral. Then to hear he painted the inside of their house and removed all pictures and all of her belongings and deleted her Facebook account, almost like he was trying to erase his poor wife. Then I found out he went to a concert with a girl months after her funeral and the same girl moved in shortly after. In my opinion, his actions alone warrants an investigation. No person in their right mind moves another person months after their spouse's death. They usually grieve.
Maybe and hopefully, it will turn out her death wasn’t a murder, but the actions of her husband and in-laws are very suspicious.
Sincerely,
A concerned citizen.
Pallor Mortis: or postmortem paleness, is the result of the lack of capillary circulation once death has taken place and occurs almost immediately. This means Pallor Mortis is not a good indication of the time of death as bodies are often discovered at a later period.
The process of death begins with what is known as somatic death. This is the cessation of cardiopulmonary activity and subsequent brain death. Once somatic death has taken place, the supply of oxygen runs out, and all cells die. This is called cellular death.
Pallor Mortis accompanies cardiopulmonary activity cessation and brain death. However, one of the earliest indications of death in a clinical setting is the appearance of retinal vascular segmentation upon ophthalmoscopy, where the cessation of circulation within the retina occurs at the start of the last stages of the dying process. This explains pre-death blindness.
Rigor mortis: Following death, the body will turn stiff. The muscles become loose and limp, yet the entire body will stiffen after a couple of hours.
Livor mortis: This is the last phase of death. When the heart stops pumping, the blood is pulled by gravity and begins to collect in certain areas depending on the position of the body. Lividity begins with the skin where the blood has settled, giving it a bright red tone. After a few hours, the color changes from red to blue or purple. This can take about 6-8 hours.
If the Police were dispatched at 0507 hours, and it takes Rigor Mortis a couple of hours to set in, and the Deputy noticed she had Rigor Mortis and Livor Mortis. A couple of questions, what time did she really die? So the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were both up at 3 am? Another thing, to hold a CDL license, you get random drug/alcohol tested. And, It would be pretty hard to be drinking at 3 am that heavy and have to be at work at 5 am to drive a truck and deliver freight around town. Suicide wasn't an issue; _____ didn't suffer from depression or any mental problems. That anyone told me. Family said she was always in good spirts.
Understanding the Dangers of Alcohol Overdose
Five Common Signs of Late-Stage Alcoholism
Because of the inherent dangers of late-stage alcoholism, the ability to identify it is critical to any possible recovery. Contrary to many opinions, it is never too late to treat alcoholism and begin to reverse its negative effects. Here are five signs that can help you identify when you or a loved one has entered late-stage alcoholism.
Risky behavior. Because alcoholism affects decision-making abilities, an addict might take dangerous risks. Drinking and driving or binge drinking are examples of this behavior.
Damaging relationships. Alcohol abuse can cause a person to neglect important relationships and responsibilities. They might miss work or lie to loved ones. This also isolates the addict.
Severe withdrawal. By the final stage of alcoholism, the brain is dependent on alcohol. Trying to stop drinking might cause reactions such as tremors, anxiety, and even seizures.
Physical changes. Late-stage alcoholism can cause physical symptoms. Extreme weight changes, puffy face, low energy, red eyes, shaky hands, and lax hygiene are all serious warning signs.
The development of alcohol-related illnesses. Over time, alcohol scars the liver, causing cirrhosis. Brain damage is also possible, leading to blurred vision or trouble walking. Late-stage addiction can also cause heart attacks, strokes, and various types of cancer.
Alcoholism progresses through different stages, eventually leading to dependency and addiction. Late-stage alcoholism is the final stage of alcohol use disorder. People at this stage often suffer great mental and physical hardships as a result of their addiction. If not treated, late-stage alcoholism may even result in death.
Late-stage alcoholics are dangerously dependent on alcohol, making alcohol withdrawal very uncomfortable and painful. Because of this, it is hard to stop drinking without help. Luckily, alcohol addiction is always a treatable condition. This is why it is important to recognize the signs that late-stage alcohol brings with it. The five red flags we’ve discussed can detect when ‘simple dependence’ has become an emergency.
According to the husband, his wife had no other medical problems, and everyone else I talked too claims she was a responsible mother, worker, volunteer firefighter, and truck driver. You could depend on her for just about anything.
Update: June 29th, 2022
I just received a message saying, "I talked with my sister, and she remembers her in-laws taking down the video surveillance cameras before her daughter's death." Then one afternoon after her daughter's death, when the victim's mother was over at her in-law's home, she said she noticed her in-laws putting the security cameras back up. The victim's mother said she is 1000% sure about this!
If they were doing an upgrade on their security cameras, this was a shitty time to be doing it! If that's what they were doing, of course. This keeps getting more and more suspicious! I think it's time the family hires a Private Investigator and starts looking into this hard and fast before these people destroy what little evidence is left.
Update: July 12th, 2022
There are still so many things that don't make sense in this case. So, I went for a ride to look at the outside of where this incident occurred. The police report says the mother-in-law thought her daughter-in-law might have gone to her garage since the light was on at around 0300 hours. But, for that to happen the mother-in-law would need to have X-ray vision because the house does NOT have a window in the garage. (Seen in the picture below)
How did the police miss this? They walked passed that wall several times going in and out of that house, and they didn’t notice there wasn’t a window on the garage? That missing window is pretty damn obvious. And another thing their office is in between the two houses, that building blocks the view also. This is some of the worst police work I have seen! You don't take someone's word and say okay, that's good enough for me case closed! This is unacceptable no matter who you are or the circumstance, especially in a death case.
Update: July 18th, 2022
From the beginning, I was told about some of the husband's Facebook posts after his wife's death and that I needed to read them. I did; a few people also took screenshots of them and emailed them to me, saying, "does this look like a grieving man?!" and "who says things like this after their wife's death?"
I feel like there is something off and should be investigated. Comment your opinions below about this case, I would like to hear them.
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