Expert disputes suicide finding

COUNTY SHERIFF SAYS THE MEDICAL EXAMINER MADE A BIG MISTAKE -- BY RULING AN ALBUQUERQUE POLICE ...  More »

COUNTY SHERIFF SAYS THE MEDICAL EXAMINER MADE A BIG MISTAKE -- BY RULING AN ALBUQUERQUE POLICE OFFICER'S DEATH A SUICIDE. THE SHERIFF WANTS THE MEDICAL EXAMINER TO REVERSE THAT RULING AFTER A SECOND OPINION FOUND IT WAS AN ACCIDENTAL SHOOTING JEFF MAHER HAS OUR TOP STORY. JEFF. 'simply because somebody has a self- inflicted gunshot wound does not mean that it was a suicide' SHERIFF WHITE SAYS DR. ROSS ZUMWALT, THE CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER, RULED THAT LT. TODD PARKINS COMMITTED SUICIDE -- EVEN THOUGH ZUMWALT MADE IT CLEAR HE WAS NOT ENTIRELY SURE OF THAT. 'that's one of the things that upset me, you are in charge of that agency, if you're not sure, how can you make a phone call to that family and say I've just ruled in my office that your husband committed suicide even though I'm really not sure he did' AFTER O-M-I'S RULING -- WHITE SOUGHT A SECOND OPINION FROM DR. MICHAEL BADEN , WHO HOSTS H-B-O'S 'AUTOPSY', AND IS INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED AS AN EXPERT AUTOPSY INVESTIGATOR. BADEN SPEND THE PAST TWO MONTHS POURING OVER DOCUMENTS, AUTOPSY PHOTOS, AND REPORTS. HE CONCLUDED THAT LT. PARKINS DID NOT KILL HIMSELF -- BUT WAS INSTEAD THE VICTIM OF AN ACCIDENTAL SHOOTING. IN BADEN'S REPORT, HE POINTS OUT THAT WITH PARKINS, THERE WERE NO RED FLAGS -- NO HISTORY OF DEPRESSION, OR SUICIDE THREATS. HIS REPORT ALSO STATES THAT WITH MOST SUICIDES -- THE PERSON SHOOTS EITHER DIRECTLY IN THE HEAD, OR CENTER OF THE CHEST. PARKINS WAS SHOT IN THE UPPER SHOULDER. CHIEF SCHULTZ SAYS HE KNEW PARKINS VERY WELL -- AND KNEW O-M-I'S RULING WAS WRONG. 'todd had a lot of good things going on in his life, he had a beautiful family, he had been selected to go to the FBI national academy, he was really pumped up about that' THE SHERIFF SAYS IT'S UP TO THE MEDICAL EXAMINER TO CHANGE THE RULING. WE LEFT A MESSAGE WITH DR. ZUMWALT -- HE HAS NOT RETURNED OUR  « Less