On August 2, many news outlets reported that the autopsy of Thomas Matthew Crooks had been released by the Butler County Coroner’s Office. The fact is that mainstream media are late to the party, and the Butler County Coroner’s Office released the cause and manner of death of Thomas Matthew Crooks to AbleChild nearly two weeks earlier on July 21.
Unfortunately, what the mainstream media don’t understand is that the cause and manner of death are not an autopsy, and although an autopsy has already been conducted on the alleged body of Thomas Matthew Crooks, the results of that autopsy may never see the light of day.
That’s right. Along with so many other aspects of this “investigation,” the public may never get to know the details of the alleged assassin’s autopsy. And although the autopsy shuffle is interesting, the questions regarding chain of custody of that body that need to be asked of the Butler County coroner, William F. Young III, are even more compelling. So let’s first recap the case of the missing autopsy.
Ablechild contacted the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office to obtain a copy of the autopsy, and here’s what we learned. According to news reports, apparently, at some point early Sunday morning, July 14, the alleged shooter’s body was transferred to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office for autopsy. What transportation did the Butler County coroner use? Nobody knows. The autopsy was conducted (no one will say when), and the autopsy was completed (no one knows when), and results were sent to the coroner’s office in Butler County (nobody knows the date).
Here’s where the results of the autopsy being publicly released get muddled. Apparently, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania mandates that Allegheny County release full autopsy reports to journalists and the public. Yeah! But not so fast. When requested by AbleChild, the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office refused to release the autopsy because — wait for it — “the autopsy was completed and commissioned [paid for] by Butler County and all information relating to the case must go through Butler County.” Huh? Because Butler County paid for the autopsy, Allegheny County cannot make public the autopsy? You can’t make this up.
Though great efforts were made, AbleChild could not find any change in Pennsylvania law or regulations that exempts release of Allegheny County autopsies because another county paid for them. Furthermore, the Butler County coroner will not release the autopsy to anyone other than the next of kin (who have remained silent except for the father stating, “I gotta pee”) and legal representatives, falling back on a single court case: Penn Jersey Advance, Inc. v. Grim, 962 A.2d 632 (Pa. 2009). The “Right to Know” laws in Pennsylvania apparently mean nothing.
Is anyone surprised that the autopsy is apparently a commonwealth secret? Nothing regarding the physical evidence surrounding this case has been made public. So the Butler County coroner (who may or may not have a medical/legal/investigative background and usually is an elected position) has some explaining to do.
AbleChild left messages for an interview with William F. Young III, the Butler County coroner, but they have not been returned. Because the coroner will not take our questions, we’ll make them public. Maybe somebody can provide some answers.
First, according to a July 17, 2024, article in the Butler Eagle newspaper by Eddie Trizzino, “the Butler County Coroner William F. Young III, was unable to attend the campaign rally for former President Trump on Saturday July 13, because of other engagements, but he found himself at the Butler Farm Show grounds after midnight Sunday to examine the victim who was shot at the rally.” The article points out that “the coroner and another deputy later returned after 6 a.m. to the American Glass Research (AGR) International building, where he climbed onto its roof to confirm the death of Thomas Matthew Crooks.” Really?
The coroner and his deputy “returned after 6 a.m. … to the AGR building…where he climbed onto its roof to confirm the death[.]” Hmmm. That’s odd, leaving one to wonder about many things. First, assuming that no one moved the body of the alleged shooter (that chain of custody thing), that means that the body lay on the AGR building roof from when the alleged assassin was shot, six-thirtyish P.M., July 13, until twelve hours later at 6 A.M.–ish, July 14. Did the coroner get instructions to come back to the crime scene the next morning? By whom? The FBI and the Secret Service? Why? What was going on at the crime scene that the coroner was denied access to the crime scene and the victim’s body? Plus the coroner released the death certificate, testifying that he identified and determined the cause of death on the thirteenth day of July. That is not true, because he returned to the crime scene at 6 A.M. on July 14.
Further, if the body lay on the AGR building roof all night, who (what law enforcement entity) would be tasked with securing the building? Please don’t say the Secret Service or the FBI. Seriously, this is all about chain of custody. Certainly, the body of the alleged would-be assassin did not remain on the roof all night without some law enforcement security. We need to know who that was.
Next, given that the alleged assassin did not have any identification on his person, by what method did the coroner identify the body? Further, the FBI has announced that it identified the alleged weapon used in the shooting by serial number. When the coroner climbed up on the roof at 6 A.M., was the weapon still on the roof, undisturbed, and part of the crime scene? Did the coroner take photographs of the body on the roof (crime scene)?
Finally, there are photographs of FBI personnel hosing off the roof of the AGR building. Did the coroner request that the FBI take this action? If so, why would the coroner request that the investigative body remove evidence from a crime scene it was investigating. This seems odd. Was there no other outside entity available to the coroner?
Naturally, there are many questions about the coroner’s actions regarding the crime scene. But AbleChild is interested in knowing the results of the autopsy to rule out any mental health medications that may have been in the alleged shooter’s system at the time of death. Too often, these killers have been medicated with serious psychiatric mind-altering drugs. Although the FBI reports that the alleged shooter was not suffering from a mental illness or medicated, the autopsy and toxicology report would put the matter to bed.
Clearly, there were numerous failures on July 13. Must the failure to provide the public with important physical evidence about the alleged shooter be added? The public needs to know whether a projectile was removed from the body of the alleged shooter, and did that projectile match the reported sniper’s weapon? Is the wound to the alleged victim’s head indicative of the alleged trajectory of the sniper’s bullet? These are basic questions that may be answered by the autopsy results…or not. Either way, the public has a right to know.
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