Questions about Dr. Meyer

Arielle

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I was just reading on the stungun thread and I noticed that some people refer to Dr. Meyer as the coronor and some refer to him as a forensic pathologist. Does anyone know for sure which he is? A coronor is an elected official, not always even an MD. A forensic pathogist has degrees in medicine and a specialty in pathology with a subspecialty in forensics. There is a huge difference between the two. IF he is indeed, the coronor and not a forensic pathologist, it would put a whole new spin on the autopsy findings, at least for me. I would have to rethink everything he said.
 
http://web.dailycamera.com/extra/ramsey/bios/witnesses/meyer.html
Boulder County Coroner John E. Meyer
Age: 52


Dr. John Meyer was elected coroner in 1986 — the first time a physician was actually picked to hold that post in Boulder. Trained as a forensic pathologist, Meyer quickly revamped the coroner's office, which previously had been run by morticians.
In the Ramsey case, Meyer ruled the slain girl's death a homicide — more specifically, asphyxia due to strangulation. The coroner's findings, including any estimated time of death, will be crucial to any prosecution in the Ramsey case.
 
From what I know, Dr. Meyer's title is/was Medical Examiner (coroner). Perhaps that gives us a clue?
 
tipper said:
http://web.dailycamera.com/extra/ramsey/bios/witnesses/meyer.html
Boulder County Coroner John E. Meyer
Age: 52


Dr. John Meyer was elected coroner in 1986 — the first time a physician was actually picked to hold that post in Boulder. Trained as a forensic pathologist, Meyer quickly revamped the coroner's office, which previously had been run by morticians.
In the Ramsey case, Meyer ruled the slain girl's death a homicide — more specifically, asphyxia due to strangulation. The coroner's findings, including any estimated time of death, will be crucial to any prosecution in the Ramsey case.


Thanks Tipper. That answers my question. He is both coroner and a trained forensic pathologist. Therefore, he probably knows what he is talking about when it comes to this case. That is not necessarily true because there are incomptetent people in all fields, but I am not going to assume that he is incompetent. So, I will take what he says in the autopsy report at face value.
 
Arielle said:
He is both coroner and a trained forensic pathologist. Therefore, he probably knows what he is talking about when it comes to this case. That is not necessarily true because there are incomptetent people in all fields, but I am not going to assume that he is incompetent.
Wrong assumption! Meyer is an incompetent buffoon. Many of the case problems that exist today were caused by Meyer. The man didn't even know enough to use a separate clipper on each fingernail to avoid cross contamination. He should have done a microscopic examination of EVERY mark on that girls body--he didn't. If he had, there would probably be no stungun debate. Maybe the marks on her back contain evidence that would reveal what caused them, like a splinter if they were caused by jabs from the paint stick.

Even Meyer's cause of death makes no sense at all. How can you "associate" strangulation with head trauma? When you associate one thing with another it means they are related, like dying of "blood loss associated with gunshot wound".

As far as this case goes, Meyer shares the same boat as Arndt.
 
Shylock said:
As far as this case goes, Meyer shares the same boat as Arndt.
No, he is not quite that bad. For a case that would obviously be scrutinized closely, he sure did a very-much less than thorough job though.
 
Given his situation, I think Dr. Meyer did the best he could under the circumstances. Cyril Wecht, if I recall correctly, even said he agreed with his work. If I had to fault Meyer, I only wish he'd have got to the place sooner (or had a replacement for himself) and that he'd done a temperature probe. So many faux pas in this case. I do hope that one day, something will show up that lets us know what happened to our precious child that fateful night.
 
I have always wondered why it took the coroner so long to get to the scene. Was there ever any explanation given for this?? Kathleen
 
Between the time JonBenet's body was found and when Dr. Meyer showed up around 8:30, her body was guarded by one of Meyer's assistants.

We must remember that Dr. Meyer also took notes...which we are not privy to. He goes into much more detail of JonBent's autopsy...notes he said he would use should this case go to a court of law.
 
Kathleen said:
I have always wondered why it took the coroner so long to get to the scene. Was there ever any explanation given for this?? Kathleen


Pg 28, PMPT pb:

Meanwhile, Detective Jim Byfield had obtained a search warrant, and by 8:00 P.M. the police were allowed to begin searching the crime scene. Twenty minutes after they began, coroner John Meyer arrived.

Just my opinion.
 
Dr Meyer is a forensic pathologist and hardly a buffon. He's done thousands of autopsies and well trained for what he does.
 
I would never say he was a bufoon and I don't doubt his credentials or training, but I do think his performance in this case may have been less than stellar.
 
Toth said:
I would never say he was a bufoon and I don't doubt his credentials or training, but I do think his performance in this case may have been less than stellar.

I think his testimony at trial might exceed his written autopsy report. I hope we find out some day.
 
LovelyPigeon said:
Dr Meyer is a forensic pathologist and hardly a buffon. He's done thousands of autopsies and well trained for what he does.
I guess you must be impressed by titles. Meyer made more mistakes on the case then can be counted. The man didn't even have the common sense to use a separate clipper on each fingernail to avoid cross contamination. Would you like to bet he didn't have the brains to use a CLEAN clipper either? That's probably where the DNA contamination came from.
You want to find the donor of the "mysterous DNA" under JB's fingernails?--Check the janitor who cleans up in Meyer's lab. He probably spotted the clippers on a bench one night while cleaning and used then to trim a hang-nail.

Meyer is an embarrassment to the field of forensic pathology.
 
And who would you quote for this "information" about clippers?

Contamination? what contamination? Have you not heard that the testing of the 2nd spot of blood on JonBenét's panties yielded a male DNA sample complete enough for CODIS comparison?

Those old rumors about clippers and contamination are way lame.
 
Off the top of my head, I can't give you the exact book reference, but it is in a book that hasn't been disputed about this fact, that the ME used clippers, during the autopsy/death investigation on his part, on JB's fingernails.
 
It seems to me to be unfair to pick on John Meyer, especially since we don't know the whole story. All of the information he obtained from the body of JonBenet is not in the autopsy report.

For instance, there's been criticizm about him not taking the body temperature of JonBenet as soon as arrived at the scene. This of course might of helped estimate time of death. But perhaps he did get the temperatures and the information has been withheld from the public. Meyer entered the house at 8:20 P.M. on the 26th and left 10 minutes later. However, his assistant, Patricia Dunn, stayed after Meyer left, and perhaps she obtained the body temperatures.

Just my opinion.
 
Imon, I think the clippers story has never been confirmed. I'm not of a mind to look it up right now, but I think it's in PMPT and the source of the story not named.

I'm also not inclined to search ST's book at the moment, but I don't think he made any such claim in his book.

The male DNA sample obtained from the first spot of blood tested (and the nail clippings too, I'd guess) apparently gave an incomplete *read* and therefore speculation began that it must have been contaminated somehow. The unknown, mysterious "somehow" led to more speculation.

The testing of the 2nd drop of blood yielded a more complete read of male DNA, which we have only recently learned about.
 
Maybe Pam Paugh was the source of the nail clipper info. Here's an excerpt from her 12/30/98 WROW interview:

Question: Does the DNA under those fingernails actually match the DNA that was found in the panties?

Pam: "Well, from what I know, the DNA under the fingernails, when it was collected, and ummm, I saw JonBenet's body (obviously) -- her fingernails had been removed fairly deeply into the nail bed ummm I would say about, oh on a child about an eighth of an inch from what we would call the half moon... ummm.. and later to find out though that when the fingernails were being removed the instruments that were used were not clean and nor were they taken out of a sealed sanitized package. They actually used previously used clippers and files and so forth so it was not known if THEY contaminated them or what--- so that had to be put aside as not useable.


http://webdollie.tripod.com/pressrelease1.htm

Obviously, desperation drove the Ramseys to insist that the "not useable" be declared "useable."
 

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