Autopsy clears dad of murder

A 1999 autopsy concluded Rebecca Long was shaken to death. New findings point to pneumonia as the cause. Charges are dropped.

St. Petersburg Times
April 26, 2002
By CARY DAVIS

http://www.sptimes.com/2002/04/26/Pasco/Autopsy_clears_dad_of.shtml

In September 1999, this was the truth: Rebecca Long, age 7 months, died from "blunt traumatic head and neck injuries."

"If you had a doll, you'd be shaking the doll so hard to have the head fly off," assistant medical examiner Marie Hansen said at the time. Her findings led a grand jury to indict Rebecca's father, David Raymond Long, on first-degree murder charges.

Today, this is the truth: Rebecca died of pneumonia.

If you're baffled by these contradictory conclusions, you're not alone.

"I don't know," said prosecutor Mike Halkitis, asked Thursday to explain how one agency, the Pinellas-Pasco Medical Examiner's Office, could make such conflicting findings. "How can one report say there was head trauma and no pneumonia, and another say there was pneumonia and no head trauma?"

On Thursday, prosecutors dropped the murder charge against Long, saying they are more confident in the recent autopsy conducted by 6th Circuit medical examiner Jon Thogmartin that concluded Rebecca died of natural causes.

"There's nothing there," Halkitis said. "It's not even a close call."

David Long, 35, of Holiday, heard the good news from his wife Thursday afternoon.

"I was very relieved," said Long, who has always maintained his innocence.

He has been free on $50,000 bail since November 1999.

Thursday's announcement invites comparisons to another high-profile case that collapsed after the Medical Examiner's Office reversed its original findings.

Prosecutors were forced to drop criminal charges against the Church of Scientology two years ago after former medical examiner Joan Wood declared that the death of Lisa McPherson was an accident. Wood originally concluded that McPherson died of complications from dehydration in 1995 after spending 17 days in the care of fellow Scientologists.

Wood, who approved the first autopsy of Rebecca Long, resigned after prosecutors blamed her for botching the McPherson case.

State Attorney Bernie McCabe said the new autopsy results in Rebecca's death might cast doubt on other conclusions reached by Hansen and Wood.

"We're looking at some other cases," McCabe said, declining to elaborate.

Rebecca died March 7, 1998, and although Hansen's autopsy concluded days later that the child suffered traumatic head and neck injuries, Long wasn't arrested for 18 months.

During that time, the lead investigator on the case, Pasco sheriff's Detective Jeff Bousquet, battled with the Medical Examiner's Office over the cause of Rebecca's death. Hansen's conclusion that Rebecca died from shaken baby syndrome wasn't supported by the evidence, Bousquet said in a deposition. He maintained he did not have probable cause to arrest Long.

"I just didn't think he did it," Bousquet said Thursday. "I definitely took a lot of heat for supporting the family.

"I feel for the family. They went through a lot."

In September 1999, prosecutors convened a grand jury and secured a first-degree murder indictment against Long.

The case was scheduled to go to trial next month. But Halkitis still needed to take the deposition of the defense's medical expert. He called Thogmartin, who took over for Wood in late 2000, to "pick his brain."

Thogmartin reviewed the case and called an outside expert, who agreed the child was not murdered. Then Thogmartin called Halkitis with the news.

"There was no evidence of (internal bleeding in the brain)," Halkitis said. "And the lungs were filled with pneumonia."

Rebecca's death certificate, Halkitis said, has been changed to reflect the new findings. It now says the child, who was born three months premature, died of bronchial pneumonia.

Long's attorney, Mina Morgan, criticized the Medical Examiner's Office on Thursday, saying they initially overlooked evidence pointing to a natural death because they wanted to hold someone criminally responsible.

"I think the Medical Examiner's Office came to this case with an agenda rather than as objective scientists," Morgan said.

Thogmartin could not be reached for comment Thursday. Wood, who snubbed several subpoenaes for depositions in the case, has not been heard from in more than a year.

Said Hansen: "In science, you always have to leave open the possibility that new information may show something different."

Long's wife, Teresa, has continued to stand by her husband, accompanying him to every court hearing and clutching his hand as lawyers discussed his case.

"And I'd do it again," she said Thursday. "God does answer prayers."

-- Cary Davis covers courts in west Pasco County. He can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6236 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6236. His e-mail address is cbdavis@sptimes.com.

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