Autopsy Investigation Concludes: No Substantiation of Allegations Against Medical Examiner

DEBARYLIFE – The District 1 Medical Examiner Dr. Deanna Oleske’s office was accused of “butchering” and mishandling bodies during autopsy. The Medical Examiners Commission and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement both concluded after conducting investigations into the claims that the allegations were unfounded due to insufficient evidence.

“There is a lack of evidence to sustain grounds for discipline,” as specified by state law, according to the Medical Examiners Commission analysis. Furthermore, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement concluded that there was “a lack of evidence to show that a criminal violation occurred” in a separate inquiry into a criminal complaint alleging “abuse of a dead body.”

Dr. Barbara C. Wolf, Chair of the Medical Examiners Commission, submitted a letter to District 1 State Attorney Ginger Madden on March 1, 2024, outlining the MEC’s conclusions.

The State Attorney’s Office presented material, according to Wolf’s staff’s investigation in the communication, “concerning allegations of negligence in the performance of her duties as a medical examiner.”

In her description, Wolf’s staff made contact with the Pensacola Memorial Gardens and Funeral Home, Waters & Hibbert Funeral Home, and Trahan Family Funeral Home, among other funeral facilities in the Pensacola region.

The directors and owners of those funeral establishments wrote letters to the Escambia County commissioners a year ago, voicing their worries about the District 1 Medical Examiner’s Office and the state of the remains following an autopsy.

SEE MORE: Escambia County Easter Sunday Incident Results in One in Custody, Two Still Sought by Authorities

They said, among other things, that the remains weren’t as clean as they should have been, that the bodies were transferred in ripped, leaky bags and that there was debris in the bags along with the body cavities.

According to Wolf, to support claims made in the communication, her staff asked the funeral homes for specific names and/or case numbers. The MEC staff stated that after receiving a list of nine names, they contacted the District 1 Medical Examiner’s Office and asked for all relevant case data.

“We found no evidence to support a violation of Florida Administrative Code, Rule 11G, Chapter 406, Florida Statutes, or the Practice Guidelines for Florida Medical Examiners,” Wolf wrote in her letter to Madden. “MEC staff and I thoroughly reviewed all of the information and medical examiner documentation of these nine cases.”

According to the law Wolf cited, when medical examiners are accused of improperly disposing of human remains, the state must look into the claims and establish whether any misconduct has taken place.

The FDLE also looked into a complaint of “abuse of a dead body” that Montague Haight, a widower from Pensacola, submitted last year regarding the state of his late husband’s body. According to the investigation, there was no criminal offense.

Richard Hutson’s body was “cut down all of his limbs to the bone or past,” his chest was wide open, and it did not look like a standard “Y” incision had been made, according to Haight’s letter to then-Escambia County Commissioner Robert Bender.

Furthermore, according to him, Hutson’s scalp was still pulled over his face and his skull was slashed from ear to ear on the back. Haight claimed that Hutson’s physical state “stole” his final chance to say goodbye.

SEE MORE: Latest Update: Gulf Beach Highway Brush Fire Containment Reaches 30%

But according to records the Medical Examiner’s Office received after a public records request, Hutson’s face was unharmed in the “exit photo,” which was a shot of his head and face taken at the office before he was sent to Trahan Funeral Home, according to FDLE.

Since “nothing had been done to them during the autopsy,” the Medical Examiner’s Office informed FDLE that no pictures of Hutson’s limbs had been taken.

While Trahan and Haight claim that no medical treatments were done on Hutson’s body at the funeral home, they also claim that no photos of Hutson in the state Haight described were taken.

“No further action was taken” because the FDLE concluded there was insufficient evidence to establish a criminal breach, citing “conflicting information” and “lack of evidence” to support the charges.

Why were the D1 Medical Examiners Office investigations initiated?
Letters detailing multiple grievances regarding the Medical Examiner’s Office were addressed to Escambia County commissioners in April 2023 by the owners and directors of Pensacola Memorial Gardens and Funeral Home, Waters & Hibbert, and Trahan Family Funeral Home.

Their issues included the condition of bodies after autopsy being “butchered,” unclean, and placed in bags that leak, as well as delays with filing paperwork or listing misleading or inaccurate causes of death. Most of the accusations, according to the Medical Examiner’s Office, were “not substantiated.”

Before writing the letters, Escambia County Commissioner Steven Barry and three other funeral directors from Pensacola met at a restaurant owned by one of Barry’s family members, according to Richard “Rick” Bailey, Jr., owner and funeral director of Waters& Hibbert. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the commissioner’s ongoing concerns.

In the past: funeral companies have complained to Escambia County that autopsies are “butchering” remains.

Although the state handles complaints against medical examiners, Bailey claimed that during that meeting, Barry and another funeral director urged them to write letters to the commission detailing their grievances.

The funeral home directors claimed they never meant for their letters to be seen by the public, but after they were forwarded to the county, they became public information. Commissioner Jeff Bergosh of Escambia County then put excerpts of the letters on his blog, where he talks about county matters.

At the time, there was a plan to construct a new, multi-million dollar Medical Examiner’s Office facility in Santa Rosa County, but the commissioners of Escambia County were fighting back against it.

Since its establishment, District 1’s principal facility has been in Escambia County, which is home to the highest number of individual users of medical examiner services throughout the four counties.

SEE MORE: Escambia County Firefighter Assaulted by Dog While Assisting at RV Crash; Driver Taken Into Custody

Since then, the new facility in Santa Rosa County has been approved for construction by the Escambia Commissioners.

Then-commissioner Robert Bender claimed to have received Haight’s letter in May 2023 expressing his concerns regarding his husband’s medical care.

The Medical Examiners Commission and FDLE investigated the issues raised in the letters.

Medical Examiner’s defamation lawsuit against Funeral Homes ongoing
In June 2023, District 1 Medical Examiner Dr. Deanna Oleske filed a lawsuit against two of the funeral home directors who wrote letters.

It accuses Jerald Mitchell, director of Pensacola Memorial Gardens and Funeral Home, and Richard Trahan, director of Trahan Family Funeral Home, of libel and/or defamation, tortious interference, and civil conspiracy.

In the lawsuit, Oleske said the men’s claims were politically motivated to influence where the new medical examiner’s facility would be built.

Both Mitchell and Trahan deny the allegations and are arguing to have the lawsuit dismissed.

In response to Oleske’s allegations, the defendants have been hit with a move for default by Oleske’s attorneys. However, the two insist they have “zealously” defended themselves against the charges and that their opinions about the Medical Examiner’s Office’s handling of bodies were not maliciously expressed.

The next hearing in the lawsuit is scheduled for April 12, in Escambia County court.