TX TX - Col Philip Shue, 54, San Antonio, 16 Apr 2003

[Sulamith]

I have been a subscriber to BrainScratch before I heard of Philip Shue's death. From that YouTube channel I found out that WS had a thread about Shue.. I am going to copy and paste my comment I left on BrainScratch's channel.

Sulamith[video=youtube;rJQy_21POv4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJQy_21POv4&lc=z13tut0qhvaqtlyl523rirnbgnfgvncyk04[/video]
I have a few comments about the Autopsy Report. He was not wearing a diaper. Only a small amount of white fibers and gel-like material, consistent with diaper material were found on his skin. He was wearing regular jockey shorts.A tab with cartoon characters of a sun and moon was also found under his jockey shorts. As far as I know, Depend adult diapers do not have cartoon characters on them but I did find out that ADULT baby diapers used in a diaper fetish do have baby prints on them. Stated under the "Findings" section of the report: ". . . self-prescribed Lidocaine cream 10 days prior to death." Why? Where is the section of the autopsy that lists medications used, if any? The report states that he had a reported history of psychiatric problems. That is vague. Was he on any medications? And, "Reported active cell phone in car." Also the statement about the witnesses seeing Shue make a deliberate turn to leave highway and crash into a tree. I find putting those statements under the "Findings" part of the report strange. I agree that it is strange that there is no anatomical chart for the Medical Examiner to sketch the injuries. Maybe there are pages missing from the report that CBS news posted.

 

[mrevilguy]

Hi there,

This is my first time posting. I mean no offense to Mrs. Shue. I do have an alternative theory as to what happened, but I am wholly unfamiliar with this case outside of the 48 Hours episode, the Brainscratch, and the posts here on Websleuths. Please correct me if I make any errors, or let me know if something in my logic does not add up. I am a big fan of Hegel's Logic, which has led to my thoughts on this.

I agree that this was a botched investigation, and has led to much travesty in this case. I've seen that in so many other cases, and my heart goes out to those impacted. I do not think suicide should have been declared as the cause of death. There are too many holes. However, there are certain aspects that problematize homicide as a cause of death too. Both suicide and homicide as causes of death are problematic. In these cases, why do we hold onto the less problematic of the two, instead of seeking out a third way?

A third way would take the context of both sides seriously: the psychiatric history that certain individuals say point to suicide, including recent bouts of depression, paranoia, as well as the suicidal ideation of driving into a tree on the way to work, and the context that points to homicide, such as the insurance policy taken out on his life by his ex-wife, the letters, etc. Evidence itself can swing back and forth to support both ways (e.g. the duct tape could be evidence of him being tortured, or evidence of him faking him being tortured), but context does not swing in this way. Thus it is important to develop a theory that takes all context, rather than mere evidence, into consideration, leading to this third way.

I think one thing that must not be forgotten is that homicide and suicide are not the only two ways to die.

There is a third way: a freak accident. That is, what if Colonel Shue did 'fake' being tortured in order to bring down his ex-wife (or at least to get the life policy removed before he started a new life in a new home), but had never planned on killing himself. His death might very well have been a freak accident. He might have drove into the trees to make it look like a serious accident, but did not have the intention of dying.

For me, this interpretation is favorable because it helps to clear up a few discrepancies with the evidence, rather than forcing them to swing one way or another. First, a freak accident would help to explain why the anesthetic Lidocaine was in his body: he inserted Lidocaine via his nipples and chest through a needle in order that he wouldn't feel the pain when he cut off his nipples and sliced his chest. If he had survived the crash, and claimed to have been tortured by his ex-wife, nobody would have thought to test him for chemicals in his body. Nobody would have known that he had given himself Lidocaine. Only an autopsy would have discovered this, and he never intended his body to be subject to an autopsy on that day. It was only through a tragically fatal accident that this chemical was discovered.

Paranoia and fear drives people to do great things outside normal life. If he had truly feared his life to be in danger from his ex-wife, I do not think it totally inconceivable to consider that he may have done these things to himself in order to convince a judge that his life is in danger, and to force the insurance company to remove the policy on his life.

Second, this explains why he was wearing a seat-belt. Why would you wear a seat-belt if you were planning on killing yourself by driving into a tree?

Third, his psychiatrist noted that he had dreamt months earlier about killing himself by driving into a tree. This proves nothing. Yet, if he's thinking about a way to seriously injure himself, in order to show he was tortured and beaten and was frantically trying to escape, it might occur to him to do exactly this, drive into a tree, especially if he had already been familiar with that idea, previously as a form of suicidal ideation, even if he wasn't planning on actually killing himself.

Fourth, thinking in terms of statistics, if he had been kidnapped and tortured, probability is he wouldn't have escaped. As one user mentioned already, why would they have let him escape? He's worth $1,000,000 to them. I doubt they would have let him out of their sight.

Fifth, if he indeed wanted to fake being tortured, the pinky finger is the finger to remove. It's the least useful. Why would torturers cut off only the pinky and nothing else? It's possible, but unlikely.

Sixth, this would help to explain the discrepancies with the tape on his wrists and legs. It's been noted that the tape doesn't resemble the sort of tape that would result from escaping from bondage. Indeed, the tape-job did seem strange and self-inflicted from the detail-focused autopsy. But if he was planning on being found alive, there wouldn't have been an autopsy, and he could have just ripped the tape off himself and given it to the authorities as evidence without worrying about how it looked. It's only due to a freak accident that his body was put under the minute, detailed gaze of the coroner, something he never intended to happen.

Now, admittedly, there are two things in particular that do not support an accidental death. An accidental death doesn't explain the right-side head trauma (unless he beat himself with a weapon, which seems a bit excessive, even in the context of this already bizarre case). However, I'm not totally convinced that those injuries would not have been inflicted in the crash. Finally, this does not account for the blue van that was witnessed, but of course, this piece of evidence relies on the accuracy of that witness, which I have no further information on.

Take care,
MrEvilGuy

 

[Krimi]

A lot of unanswered questions: 1) Where had Shue been between the time the left home and the collision with the tree ? 2) Where had the widow been ? 3) Shue and Tracy - were they really so happily married ? 4) The lawsuit(s) by Tracy were for more money - strictly mercenary in nature 5) The Ex took the 5th - generally a sign of potential guilt 6) How many "warning" letters were received ? Where were they postmarked from ? Investigations involving "anonymous" letters show that this type of correspondence is almost always sent by someone close to the recipient - Tracy ? 7) Did Tracy ever communicate with the Ex ? Perhaps the two felt they had a grievance against the Col and worked together for their perceived mutual financial benefit ? 8) The Ex had to have been receiving at least half of the Col's retirement per the divorce.For a LC that would probably be about 3000 / mo, but a million dollar insurance benefit would be tax free. Tracy get's DIC, a very good retirement and close to 2 million dollars. More than one person stood to gain from the Col's death.
I think the women worked to do the Col in and settle some personal grievances - and then skirmished with each other over the cash. Murder.

 

[jeangenie]

Podcast GenerationWhy with Shue episode: Death Of Colonel Shue.

 

[Mikes0805]

I’m hoping there are people here who still have interest in the Dr. Shue case. I used to work for him while in the Air Force in the early 90’s, his wife worked in the same department and I know her as well. Would love to compare notes, had some interesting interactions.