OH OH - William 'Bill' Comeans, 14, Columbus, 7 Jan 1980 - #1

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How about other paper boys? Some notes were delivered, as are papers. Eliminate the local competition? Big time guess here.....
 
I find it odd that he was strangled, but lived for 5 hours in the hospital. So what was the final cause of death? I always thought that if you came back from the edge of strangulation, you would likely recover as you caught your breath. So did he have a broken neck?
 
katydid23 said:
I find it odd that he was strangled, but lived for 5 hours in the hospital. So what was the final cause of death? I always thought that if you came back from the edge of strangulation, you would likely recover as you caught your breath. So did he have a broken neck?
Click to expand...

I'm trying right now to put together a timeline and case information sheet because this is all so confusing. I probably won't finish for a day or two though.

The five hours was after the second attack, which didn't kill him. After five hours, he woke up and walked home at one in the morning.

The third attack killed him. He appears to have lived for about two hours after that attack, dying around 11. COD: Cardiac arrest due to compression of the neck by ligature. MOD: Petechial hemorrhaging shows he was most likely strangled (as does the scarf found tied around his neck). I've seen nothing on any other damage like a broken neck. In this final attack, he may have been deprived of oxygen for too long for his heart to recover?
 
This is so devastating. This poor kid lived through such horrific attacks. he must have been so frightened after the second one. My heart goes out to his family. They must have been so sad to have it happen again and again. So tragic.
 
katydid23 said:
This is so devastating. This poor kid lived through such horrific attacks. he must have been so frightened after the second one. My heart goes out to his family. They must have been so sad to have it happen again and again. So tragic.
Click to expand...

They are still devastated , even today. :(
 
pdxmama said:
From the Franklin County Coroner's website (this is the count BC lived/ died in):

Is every person who dies in Franklin County taken to the Coroner's Office?
No. Ohio law requires the County Coroner to investigate the circumstances and determine the cause and manner of death of all deaths that are:
-The result of violence or other trauma.
-Suspicious and unusual in nature or foul play is suspected.
-Sudden and unexpected, when a person is in apparent good health.
-Not under the care of a physician.
-Unlawful or due to criminal neglect.

Will an autopsy be performed on every decedent on which the Coroner's Office has taken jurisdiction?

Autopsies are routinely performed to determine the cause and manner of death on all cases listed above. Autopsies are not routinely performed in cases where the death appears to be from natural causes, there is a significant amount of medical history or if there is no evidence of foul play.


Another bizarre twist it seems. I would say BC's death falls into all five of those categories. Why no autopsy?
Click to expand...

They might not have had those regulations in place at the time, I'm guessing. Or perhaps were overworked and lacked the ability to handle all? It is surprising that an autopsy wasn't done.
 
NineMilly said:
How about other paper boys? Some notes were delivered, as are papers. Eliminate the local competition? Big time guess here.....
Click to expand...

I actually think this is a pretty good theory. The paper boys could have been older teens that went to the same school which would explain how the notes got in his locker and how they could have been described as "men." The first two attacks happened on his route which would have been known to other paper boys.

The thing I'm stuck on is the aqua-colored car. It just seems like if there were kids with that type of car at his high school that they would be immediately suspected after his description of the car.
 
Here are four new scanned articles from the Columbus Library, all from the day after Bill was murdered. I haven't read them myself yet (a little thing called "work" is getting in the way :)), but maybe one of you has time. Have at it!

(1) Father finds son; says he was killed*
Publication: Columbus Dispatch
Date: Tuesday, January 8, 1980
Page: 7 C


(2) William Comeans, 14, dies at hospital; found along railroad tracks with an object around his neck
Publication: Columbus Citizen-Journal
Date: Tuesday, January 8, 1980
Page: 18 I


(3)Earlier threatening notes probed in death of strangled teenager William Comeans
Publication: Columbus Dispatch
Date: Wednesday, January 9, 1980
Page: 5 B


(4) Father says son's death not suicide
Publication: Columbus Citizen-Journal
Date: Wednesday, January 9, 1980
Page: 8 A
 
GoingByMyGut said:
Here are four new scanned articles from the Columbus Library, all from the day after Bill was murdered. I haven't read them myself yet (a little thing called "work" is getting in the way :)), but maybe one of you has time. Have at it!

(1) Father finds son; says he was killed*
Publication: Columbus Dispatch
Date: Tuesday, January 8, 1980
Page: 7 C

(2) William Comeans, 14, dies at hospital; found along railroad tracks with an object around his neck
Publication: Columbus Citizen-Journal
Date: Tuesday, January 8, 1980
Page: 18 I

(3) Earlier threatening notes probed in death of strangled teenager William Comeans
Publication: Columbus Dispatch
Date: Wednesday, January 9, 1980
Page: 5 B

(4) Father says son's death not suicide
Publication: Columbus Citizen-Journal
Date: Wednesday, January 9, 1980
Page: 8 A
Click to expand...

BBM - Key points from the first article:

"Sheriff's detectives were awaiting results from an autopsy..."

No description from the first assault. After the second assault, "William described the assailants as two male whites in their late teens or early 20s driving an older car."


So, the death certificate might be incorrect and there WAS an autopsy. Hmmm...

The description given after the second attack is in line with the possible theory that these were older students at his school.
 
And he does appreciate comments. This family needs our help in the worst way. I appreciate you guys trying to do what's right for this family. :blowkiss:
 
pdxmama said:
BBM - Key points from the first article:

"Sheriff's detectives were awaiting results from an autopsy..."

No description from the first assault. After the second assault, "William described the assailants as two male whites in their late teens or early 20s driving an older car."

So, the death certificate might be incorrect and there WAS an autopsy. Hmmm...

The description given after the second attack is in line with the possible theory that these were older students at his school.
Click to expand...

BBM1: That makes so much sense to me ... wish they specified re tox screen.

Misinformation is rampant. The death cert also gives birth year as 66 when it's 65. Even the Ohio Atty. Gen.’s website gets the DOB wrong (it should be 1/11, right, but it's down as 1/7, which is the date of the murder, but they have THAT down as 1/23!). Much to be sorted but I'm 2/3 of the way through a case info/timeline post. Just can't work on it during the day :)
 
GoingByMyGut said:
Here are four new scanned articles from the Columbus Library, all from the day after Bill was murdered. I haven't read them myself yet (a little thing called "work" is getting in the way :)), but maybe one of you has time. Have at it!

(1) Father finds son; says he was killed*
Publication: Columbus Dispatch
Date: Tuesday, January 8, 1980
Page: 7 C

(2) William Comeans, 14, dies at hospital; found along railroad tracks with an object around his neck
Publication: Columbus Citizen-Journal
Date: Tuesday, January 8, 1980
Page: 18 I

(3) Earlier threatening notes probed in death of strangled teenager William Comeans
Publication: Columbus Dispatch
Date: Wednesday, January 9, 1980
Page: 5 B

(4) Father says son's death not suicide
Publication: Columbus Citizen-Journal
Date: Wednesday, January 9, 1980
Page: 8 A
Click to expand...

BBM - Key points from this article:

This article says BC was found BC's father and brother, the previous article says he was found by his father and a neighbor.

"No signs of violence on the body"

"May (Sheriff's Sgt.) said Comeans previously had told authorities that he was the victim of abductions and threats. Investigators had found the reports to be unsubstantiated."

My questions:

Wouldn't a scarf, tied so tightly around someone's neck to where he had to be cut off, be a sign of violence?

I am shocked that the previous reports of assaults were found to be unsubstantiated. He was strangled to the point of unconsciousness (for 5 1/2 hours!) and had broken blood vessels in his face from the assault. Did they think he did that to himself? What am I missing??
 
GoingByMyGut said:
BBM1: That makes so much sense to me ... wish they specified re tox screen.

Misinformation is rampant. The death cert also gives birth year as 66 when it's 65. Even the Ohio Atty. Gen.’s website gets the DOB wrong (it should be 1/11, right, but it's down as 1/7, which is the date of the murder, but they have THAT down as 1/23!). Much to be sorted but I'm 2/3 of the way through a case info/timeline post. Just can't work on it during the day :)
Click to expand...

I see this a lot on official records. They find out the person's age and count back, in this case 14 years, without accounting for when their actual birthday is.
There is also misinformation about who actually found BC.
 
GoingByMyGut said:
Here are four new scanned articles from the Columbus Library, all from the day after Bill was murdered. I haven't read them myself yet (a little thing called "work" is getting in the way :)), but maybe one of you has time. Have at it!

(1) Father finds son; says he was killed*
Publication: Columbus Dispatch
Date: Tuesday, January 8, 1980
Page: 7 C

(2) William Comeans, 14, dies at hospital; found along railroad tracks with an object around his neck
Publication: Columbus Citizen-Journal
Date: Tuesday, January 8, 1980
Page: 18 I

(3) Earlier threatening notes probed in death of strangled teenager William Comeans
Publication: Columbus Dispatch
Date: Wednesday, January 9, 1980
Page: 5 B

(4) Father says son's death not suicide
Publication: Columbus Citizen-Journal
Date: Wednesday, January 9, 1980
Page: 8 A
Click to expand...

BBM - Key points:

Not much new info here but I thought this quote was interesting, "The handwritten notes were being compared to the youths own handwriting."

I'm really getting a picture here that LE suspected BC was not being truthful about the assaults and really felt he was doing these things to himself for whatever reason. I'm betting that many things weren't investigated in this case until it was too late. How sad.

No knew info as far as I can tell in the fourth article. I'm still waiting for the library to send the ones I requested.
 
Tulessa said:
And he does appreciate comments. This family needs our help in the worst way. I appreciate you guys trying to do what's right for this family. :blowkiss:
Click to expand...

Hi Tulessa, Have you been in contact with the family?
 
Original posts TBM:
pdxmama said:
My questions:

Wouldn't a scarf, tied so tightly around someone's neck to where he had to be cut off, be a sign of violence?

I am shocked that the previous reports of assaults were found to be unsubstantiated. He was strangled to the point of unconsciousness (for 5 1/2 hours!) and had broken blood vessels in his face from the assault. Did they think he did that to himself? What am I missing??
Click to expand...

BBM1: I had the same Q re a "sign of a struggle" actually. How do you take that as not involving a struggle?

BBM2: Right ... maybe it depends on when he reported the crime? whether he saw a doctor? Whether LE saw the injuries? Decades ago, when domestic violence was just beginning to be handled differently, women who were battered were told to take photos of their injuries and to see a doctor to get their injuries documented before going to LE. IOW, if they went to LE after healing, and LE could not see the injuries, they only had hearsay, not evidence, to use to substantiate the beatings. Could this be happening here? A technical meaning? Remember, no witnesses, no description. "Unsubstantiated" doesn't mean "we don't believe you" necessarily. Just no documentation? Not trying to be a cheery LE supporter, here, but who knows where the truth lies. Did we read anything like that anywhere else?
 
pdxmama said:
BBM - Key points:

Not much new info here but I thought this quote was interesting, "The handwritten notes were being compared to the youths own handwriting."

I'm really getting a picture here that LE suspected BC was not being truthful about the assaults and really felt he was doing these things to himself for whatever reason. I'm betting that many things weren't investigated in this case until it was too late. How sad.

No knew info as far as I can tell in the fourth article. I'm still waiting for the library to send the ones I requested.
Click to expand...

BBM: Whoa. Def. sounds like a case of, "unless we can see it ourselves, you're crazy." Goes along with the FBI personality investigation thing we read about earlier. Very upsetting if it took the murder to get them to believe ...
 
GoingByMyGut said:
Original posts TBM:


BBM1: I had the same Q re a "sign of a struggle" actually. How do you take that as not involving a struggle?

BBM2: Right ... maybe it depends on when he reported the crime? whether he saw a doctor? Whether LE saw the injuries? Decades ago, when domestic violence was just beginning to be handled differently, women who were battered were told to take photos of their injuries and to see a doctor to get their injuries documented before going to LE. IOW, if they went to LE after healing, and LE could not see the injuries, they only had hearsay, not evidence, to use to substantiate the beatings. Could this be happening here? A technical meaning? Remember, no witnesses, no description. "Unsubstantiated" doesn't mean "we don't believe you" necessarily. Just no documentation? Not trying to be a cheery LE supporter, here, but who knows where the truth lies. Did we read anything like that anywhere else?
Click to expand...

BBM - That's a good point. I also have to keep reminding myself that this happened 34 years ago and bullying itself was seen in an entirely different way. Definitely not taken as seriously as it is now so if they thought this was a case of bullying I could see them disregarding it as just something kids do.
 
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