Dr. G: Medical Examiner - Season 2, Episode 11 - A Lingering Question - Full Episode | Forensic Files

[MUSIC PLAYING] NARRATOR: A woman shoots her husband to death and claims self-defense.
He had been drinking. He became violent towards her. NARRATOR: But a few months later, Dr. G reopens the case
and makes an astounding discovery. He had a very high arsenic level in his blood.
He'd been poisoned. NARRATOR: Was someone trying to kill the man before he was shot?
Then, a father learns his long lost daughter is found naked and dead in the trailer
of a known sex offender. It really hurts, because we missed her through all these years.
NARRATOR: Was the death a father's worst nightmare come true? Whatever reason, she's in a comatose state.
It's just suspicious. NARRATOR: Altered lives, baffling medical mysteries, shocking revelations.
These are the everyday cases of Dr. G, medical examiner. In her 19 years as a medical examiner,
Dr. Jan Garavaglia has performed more than 6,000 autopsies. We've got about eight autopsies, a couple
homicides, a decomp coming in. NARRATOR: Her findings may bring closure for loved ones
or exonerate murder suspects. And at the end of every autopsy, she typically files the case away forever.
Except when there's a curious twist. You know, usually when we're done, we're done.
But you know, these things-- you know, an autopsy report's never written in stone.
NARRATOR: Sometimes months after Dr. G has filed a report, she discovers the real mystery has just begun.
Such was the case with the autopsy of Chinese immigrant, Tao Chen. As usual, Dr. G gets the primary facts from the morgue
investigator's report. It was a domestic violence. A man and his wife got into an argument.
NARRATOR: But this argument leads to far more than a scuffle. He had a gun. She had a gun, and she shot him.
NARRATOR: 10:30 PM, when police arrive, they find the husband dead, a bullet hole in his head and his body sprawled
across the front doorway. You're looking like he's going out the door, because he's--
that's how he falls, right outside the front door. NARRATOR: Inside the house, police find the victim's wife.
In a daze, she tries to explain what happened. She said she was in fear of her life
and she defended herself. NARRATOR: Her name is June Chen, and according to her statement,
the nightmare began earlier that evening after her husband, Tao, had been drinking for hours.
She says for many hours he had been drinking. He became violent towards her. He eventually went to go get a gun and began roaming the home,
screaming at her with a gun in his hand. NARRATOR: Cornered, she reaches for a revolver kept
in the house for protection, and in a desperate moment, she fires. She supposedly shot at him three times.
[GUNSHOTS] NARRATOR: One bullet hits Tao in the head, stopping him dead in his tracks.
We located the weapons that were involved. One was obviously used to commit the shooting,
and the other one was a semiautomatic pistol that the victim had but it had no magazine in it.
and it didn't appear to be fired at all. NARRATOR: Because June admits to shooting
her husband, though only in self-defense, police take her into custody. Sadly, it's one of more than 1,500 domestic homicide cases
reported in the US each year. And like many men involved in domestic violence, Tao Chen was no stranger to trouble.
Investigators soon discover that he has a criminal record, including assault and driving while intoxicated.
They pretty much terrorized everyone in the neighborhood, her included, and I think she was in fear of--
of getting brutalized by him again and just took action this time and fought back.
NARRATOR: Despite Tao's criminal record and June's claims of self-defense, police must approach
this homicide like any other. We really have to take her statement and decide, OK, what is she saying, and is it reasonable?
Is it going to hold up, or are there contradictions or inconsistencies in it? NARRATOR: Now it's up to Dr. G to confirm
whether June's statement stands up to the hard evidence found at autopsy. Let's see.
I need to clean his head a little bit. Do you have a-- NARRATOR: The gunshot wound itself will be
the focus of the external exam. All right. We'll try. Unless it's-- NARRATOR: First, more technicians X-ray the head
for bullet fragments, then clean the entry and exit wounds to allow closer inspection.
OK . Well, what we look for is the size of the wound, the shape of the wound, evidence that there was
any type of gunpowder residue on the wound or burning of the wound. NARRATOR: Gunpowder residue or burn marks around the wound
could indicate close range firing and would immediately contradict June's account to police.
But after a thorough examination, Dr. G finds no such evidence. The wound was definitely distant.
She had stated that she was on the other side of the room, so that seemed to fit.
NARRATOR: Then as she measures the exact locations of the entrance and exit wounds Dr. G
discovers something peculiar about the bullet's trajectory. DR. G: The gunshot wound's on the side of the head
slightly towards the back, and the trajectory goes from slightly back to front, which is odd if he is the aggressor towards her.
It makes us suspicious that it was just self-defense. NARRATOR: But while the slight back to front angle
is unusual in the self-defense shooting, it doesn't necessarily fly in the face of June's story.
If her husband were dodging furniture or reacting to the first bullet out of her gun,
his head could be turned aside. The bullet's path may suggest June is lying, but it's not enough to prove it.
To discredit a defendant's version, that's where you do have to turn to what do you know.
What do you have in hand as tangible, hard evidence? NARRATOR: By the end of the external exam,
Dr. G has yet to find any hard evidence that reveals whether June truly acted in self-defense
against a violent husband. Gosh. I was worried I really wasn't adding much to the criminal investigation.
NARRATOR: Without forensic proof, an innocent woman could go to jail, or a guilty woman could go free.
Coming up next, toxicology tests catapult the case in a new direction. Could June have something to hide?
I have these forensic facts, and that just puts the old antenna up. NARRATOR: When "Dr. G, Medical Examiner" continues.
[MUSIC PLAYING] [SAW WHIRRING] Dr. G's assistants remove the cranium of homicide victim, Tao Chen.
His wife, June, has admitted to shooting him in the head the previous evening. She claims it was self-defense, but prosecutors
aren't yet convinced. That is, from her version of events, that he was threatening her, and that he was
verbally abusive and drinking. NARRATOR: Now prosecutors are counting on Dr. G to find definitive clues in the internal exam,
clues that could determine if June is a victim or a murderer. First, Dr. G takes a close look at Tao's brain.
It's pretty clear why he died. He has a bullet that went through his head. It doesn't take a genius to figure that one out.
NARRATOR: After diagramming the damage to the brain, she continues with a routine inspection
of Tao's other organs. 560. NARRATOR: As expected, there's little else of note, save for a hint of natural disease.
He had a little bit of coronary artery disease, but not very much. NARRATOR: And a curious finding in his stomach.
He had some, you know, pinkish material in his stomach contents. Huh. You know, maybe Pepto-Bismol, something along that line.
But not really much else that I could find. NARRATOR: At the end of the internal exam,
Dr. G still has no medical evidence that clearly contradicts June's story of self-defense.
And I thought that that was-- that was it for this case. So we'll step back-- NARRATOR: Before ending the autopsy,
Dr. G takes samples for a standard toxicology screen. DR. G: We'll take the eye fluid.
We'll take blood, and we'll take urine and bile. There are possibly history of drinking,
and so we were going to do our routine toxicology. NARRATOR: But when the tests return the results
contain disconcerting new evidence. While June claims she used the gun because her husband turned
violent after heavy drinking, the tox report reveals a glaring contradiction. There is no alcohol in Tao's body.
Toxicology was negative. She said he was drinking, and we didn't have any alcohol
at all in his system. NARRATOR: This hard evidence deepens prosecutors doubts about June.
The autopsy results clearly show there were no narcotics and no alcohol in his system.
Right there, we know that she's lying. NARRATOR: Now investigators must re-evaluate
every piece of evidence from the crime scene. The position of the victim's body,
the empty magazine in his pistol, the slightly back to front angle of the bullet wound.
Together with the negative tox results, the clues suggest a chilling possibility.
The shooting may have been a cold-blooded murder. With the cumulative evidence, prosecutors resolve
to take the case to court. We decided to indict her on the murder charge. NARRATOR: But one in three women accused of murdering
their husbands are acquitted, many in killings involving self-defense. And in the case of The State versus June Chen,
much of the evidence is not clear cut. We need to make sure that we can counter any defense
and make sure that our evidence will hold beyond the reasonable doubt. NARRATOR: For Dr. G, the case is over.
She hands over the final autopsy report and wishes the prosecutors good luck. DR. G: At this point, it's not my job.
I can't say anything more forensically. The prosecutor and the police have to put the pieces of the puzzle together on this one, not me.
NARRATOR: A few months pass, filled with other autopsies, other families, other mysteries.
Car accident like [INAUDIBLE]. Playing with the water's very therapeutic. [SAW BUZZING]
That's interesting. NARRATOR: The case of Tao and June Chen fades into the flow.
Until one afternoon, Dr. G receives a jarring phone call from the district attorney's office.
DR. G: I get a call from the prosecutor on this case, and she asked if there's any chance that he
could have been poisoned. NARRATOR: The prosecutor explains that the question arose while interviewing
potential witnesses for the trial. We did locate a cousin who let us know that the deceased had been very
ill very recently to his death. NARRATOR: The cousin had seen Tao suffering inexplicably
from diarrhea and nausea, starting about two weeks before his death. Dr. G and the prosecutor agree.
Tao being poisoned before getting shot sounds like a figment of a grieving family's imagination.
DR. G: I've been down this road before. People always accusing somebody of poisoning somebody,
and it always ends up to be a dead end. NARRATOR: But then Dr. G recalls the Pepto-Bismol
in Tao's stomach, a piece of evidence that might corroborate the cousin's story.
[RETCHING] He also gave history that he was very weak, that he was having some neurologic symptoms,
and that just puts the old antenna up. That's pretty classic for arsenic poisoning.
Right. NARRATOR: There was only one way to put this bizarre notion to the test, run another tox screen.
Arsenic is something we don't routinely test for. It's not commonly seen. NARRATOR: The 33rd element in the periodic table, arsenic
is a heavy metal whose compounds are found in everything from rat poison to laundry detergent.
Yeah. Arsenic kills you by several different ways. It's all on the cellular or molecular level.
NARRATOR: Protein molecules vital to the body's every function are destroyed under the attack of the much
smaller arsenic molecules. And it causes the protein to malfunction and your enzymes malfunction, and your cells don't work.
NARRATOR: First popularized in the Middle Ages as the king of poisons and the poison of kings,
arsenic was known for being tasteless, and hence, easy to slip into meals or a glass of wine.
Acute arsenic poisoning could cause heart failure and paralysis, but death was hardly easy.
Even if a huge amount's given to you, you probably aren't going to die for 12 to 24 hours.
It's just very slow. I mean, it's hard to put up with-- with-- you know, the lingering.
NARRATOR: A man possibly poisoned, then shot to death by his wife. The prospect is intriguing, but Dr. G remains skeptical.
Poisonings are very, very rare. I really was thinking we weren't going to get any positive results here.
OK. NARRATOR: Coming up next, frustrations mount when the tox screen comes back with unusable results.
The person inside me, you just want to scream. NARRATOR: When "Dr. G, Medical Examiner" continues.
[MUSIC PLAYING] Three weeks have gone by since Dr. G ordered a second toxicology test
for shooting victim, Tao Chen. His wife, June, is facing trial for the killing, though she claims it was in self-defense.
And now prosecutors have found a witness who believes there's more to Tao's death.
They think he'd been poisoned prior to being shot. I've got to figure it out. NARRATOR: If the new tests turn out positive for arsenic,
it could suggest that Tao Chen's life had been in danger long before he was shot.
The lab results finally arrive, and Dr. G can't believe her eyes. Well, low and behold, we get the test back and it is high.
If I hadn't found a cause of death, I would have said it was an arsenic. NARRATOR: Tao Chen has 4.7 unit grams
of arsenic in every milliliter of his urine, 94 times the normal amount. Somebody really wanted that guy dead.
NARRATOR: Dr. G immediately calls the DA's office, where prosecutors are equally shocked at the news.
These were unusually high arsenic levels. Not something that would have just appeared
in a normal person's body. NARRATOR: The arsenic levels could indicate that someone tried to murder Tao weeks before his wife shot him.
When prosecutors also consider the back to front head wound and June's apparent lie about his drinking, they have to ask,
was Tao intentionally poisoned before he was shot? Based on the investigation thus far, Dr. G and the prosecutors
hypothesized the following. About two weeks before the fatal night, Tao begins experiencing severe nausea and diarrhea.
Toxicology suggests that these symptoms were from ingesting arsenic. Perhaps the arsenic came from a household toxin
such as crushed rat poison. Certainly him taking Pepto-Bismol was probably trying to get over that--
that kind of GI upset. NARRATOR: But the medication is no match for arsenic. It attacks Tao's body on the molecular level,
destroying the functions of his proteins and cells. Day by day, Tao grows weaker, but he does not die.
It's not a quick way to kill somebody over time. It's-- it's just kind of a slow, lingering thing.
NARRATOR: Prosecutors believe that if June can be tied to the poisoning, they can also suggest that the lingering
nature of the illness finally drove her to the edge and made her reach for the gun.
Something must have triggered if she shot him. [GUNSHOTS] NARRATOR: The bullet enters Tao's head
just above his right ear, and he collapses in his doorway, dead. The arsenic in Tao's body appears
to be reasonable circumstantial evidence for prosecutors. They were thrilled, because I thought, you know,
now we can put some premeditation into this gunshot wound. Legally, that changes everything for them.
If they can show that she was poisoning him, they can show that she'd been thinking about killing him.
NARRATOR: Dr. G prepares to support this theory by presenting the tox results in court.
But just days before the trial, prosecutors deliver a shocking message. I was not allowed to mention the very toxic level of arsenic
that was in his body. NARRATOR: After pursuing the poisoning theory in depth, investigators had hit a brick wall.
While the tox results proved without a doubt that Tao had ingested arsenic, they
could find no physical evidence that his wife had personally intentionally fed it to him.
Just because you prepare someone's food doesn't mean that you're poisoning them.
Having poison in a home doesn't necessarily mean anything. NARRATOR: With no tangible link between June, the arsenic,
and the shooting, their theory, based solely on circumstantial evidence, is inadmissible in court.
The jury could never be told about the poisoning. There is no way to introduce evidence
that we believe that the defendant was poisoning her husband. That is highly prejudicial.
A jury is clearly going to listen to that and be moved by that. But if we don't have it established
beyond a reasonable doubt, it's not going to meet the standard of proof. NARRATOR: Instructed not to mention
a word about the poison, Dr. G takes the witness stand. The trial is a surreal version of what she imagined.
The DA asked me specific things that kind of go against her story. Did the toxicology show alcohol?
What was the angle of the gunshot wound? NARRATOR: The jury returns its verdict.
Guilty, not of murder but manslaughter committed in self-defense. June Chen receives eight years probation and a $12,000 fine.
I don't believe she spent a day in jail. NARRATOR: Dr. G must face a hard reality
that even forensics has its limitations under the burden of proof. I cannot say forensically that she did it.
I can't prove that she did it. But, you know, in our legal system, we don't want to wrongly accused people of things
unless we have, uh, proof. NARRATOR: Dr. G closes the books on this case for the second
and the last time. It's a reminder of how in a medical examiner's job, there's no such thing as the final word.
I love it when you know exactly what happened and who did it, and the forensic evidence
points to somebody clearly. But that's-- you know, that's not all the time. NARRATOR: Coming up next, a life-long runaway
turns up dead in the home of a sex offender. Did he kill her? I don't know. She's naked on the floor.
I wanted to find out how did it happen. NARRATOR: Can Dr. G put an end to the father's
dark nightmares? When "Dr. G, Medical Examiner" continues. [MUSIC PLAYING] I'll come and get you.
I'll be there in a-- I'm putting my seat belt on. NARRATOR: It's Monday night in Orlando, Florida,
and Dr. G's got a hot date to cheer on her oldest son and his basketball game. As a mother, Dr. G makes it a top priority to support
her sons in everything they do. Your whole focus in life is to keep your kids from being
a lost soul, and you do everything you can to to know they're loved and they have a place.
But you know, ultimately, you don't know how they're going to turn out. NARRATOR: Even tonight as she enjoys
spending time with her sons-- Get it, [INAUDIBLE]. NARRATOR: --just a few miles away in a trailer park
on the outskirts of Orlando, someone else has lost their child forever in a possible rape and murder.
She doesn't know it yet, but this will be Dr. G's first case in the morning. [BUZZER]
Tuesday, 8:00 AM. [INAUDIBLE] NARRATOR: Dr. G's work begins with a review of the reports on Mildred Robinson,
the woman found last night. OK. So this is our mystery case of the day. She's 44 years old.
She's found in a trailer, a travel trailer, on the floor, unclothed and dead. NARRATOR: Apparently a drifter, Mildred had died suddenly,
naked and with no witnesses. Under the circumstances, police must assume the worst, a rape and murder.
And in this case, the owner of the trailer who found the body could be their leading suspect.
His name is Jesse Burke, and he tells police that he brought the victim home three
nights ago from a local bar. I guess they start shacking up. They supposedly had sex.
He did not even know her actual name. He called her Lisa. NARRATOR: When the weekend is over,
Burke claims he went to work and left Mildred alone in the trailer. He says that she was fine at that time.
Or at least that's his story. NARRATOR: And that's the last time anyone sees Mildred alive.
Burke's statement could be true, but then police discover a highly suspicious fact about him.
At the time that this death was reported, we had a sexual misconduct allegation against him.
He had a history of sexual offenses. Did he kill her? I don't know. She's naked on the floor.
As of right now, we have to treat her as a homicide until I can prove otherwise.
NARRATOR: When delving into any autopsy, it's critical that Dr. G first learn as much as possible
about the decedent's history. In Mildred's case, that means first taking an inventory of her possessions, all of which
fit into a single bag. DR. G: So what does she have? 50, 60, 70, 80, 88 cents. We're trying to get a glimpse of who she is,
what she is, what's she doing? NARRATOR: Even for her family, understanding Mildred
has been a lifelong challenge. Most tragically, she had been running from home for more than 20 years.
It's just the way she wanted to live. She did not want anyone to keep track of her per-say,
or put her in an environment that she didn't control. DR. G: Oh, look at this. NARRATOR: Dr. G also finds a diabetic kit
in Mildred's purse complete with a glucose monitor and insulin syringe. So she may-- you know, we're thinking she's got diabetes,
but a lot of people have diabetes. And you certainly couldn't be murdered with diabetes.
NARRATOR: And though there are no illicit drugs in Mildred's bag, substance abuse is always a possibility among those
with transient lifestyles. So what or who did kill Mildred? How did it happen? I wanted to find out if there was any foul play,
or if she was involved in something that led to her demise. [MUSIC PLAYING] OK. Let me get fresh gloves on, and we're going to have to move her
out a little bit, [INAUDIBLE]. NARRATOR: Because Mildred was found in the home of a sex offender, Dr. G begins her external exam
with a rape kit. You know, we say rape kit. All that means is gathering evidence for a sexual assault.
NARRATOR: Using gynecologist tools such as a speculum or plastic spreader, Dr. G searches
for residual signs of a rape. After a thorough exam, however, she can only come to one conclusion.
I'll tell visually that there's no trauma there. And she has no trauma. NARRATOR: Without trauma, there is no way to prove
whether Mildred was raped. Instead, she must look for evidence of murder. Mildred's body has no stab or bullet wounds,
but there's one common type of murder-related trauma that's surprisingly hard to detect.
Strangulation. Yeah, I can see finger marks, but I don't always. You could strangle somebody with a soft cloth
and not see the marks. NARRATOR: Dr. G finds no external injuries on Mildred's neck, but there's only one way to completely
rule out strangulation. I have to do a very thorough neck dissection. NARRATOR: Dr. G performs the standard Y-incision, exposing
Mildred's chest cavity, and quickly homes in on Mildred's neck muscles to see if they've bled from the pressure
of a strangler's hands. So I take out the muscles and I reflect them by layers, one by one.
I was going to take the neck out then. OK. [INAUDIBLE] NARRATOR: Dr. G also pays close attention to the tiny bones
that can fracture during strangulation, such as the thyroid cartilage or Adam's apple, and the U-shaped hyoid bone,
about the size of a wishbone. I look at that little bone that holds your tongue muscle that sits underneath your mandible.
NARRATOR: Every bone she examines, however, is intact. I don't see any break there.
We often see that. The thyroid cartilage, the back of it sometimes breaks. I don't see that.
She doesn't have anything with their neck. You couldn't even make up the fact that she was strangled.
[SAW BUZZING] NARRATOR: As a final step, she also looks inside Mildred's skull to see if there's
damage from a fatal blow that had left no external marks. But after a thorough search, she still comes up empty handed.
I don't see a thing. I look for trauma externally. I look for trauma in her neck, and I
look for trauma in her head as if she'd had a blow to the head. None of it was there.
NARRATOR: But if trauma didn't cut Mildred's life short, what did? Until she finds an answer for the grieving family,
her job is far from over. To truly discount that she was murdered, I have to find the real cause of death.
So what really killed her? NARRATOR: With foul play looking unlikely, she must now turn to the next prime suspect in a sudden death
like Mildred's, drugs. Coming up next, Dr. G uncovers disturbing signs of an overdose.
Because this lung is not looking good. NARRATOR: When "Dr. G, Medical Examiner" continues.
[MUSIC PLAYING] How we doing over here? NARRATOR: Dr. G removes Mildred Robinson's organs one by one
in an attempt to solve the mystery of her sudden death. Could have been a homicide, but she
has absolutely no trauma. NARRATOR: Last night, Mildred was found naked and dead in the trailer
home of a known sex offender. Surprisingly, Dr. G has found no evidence so far of a rape or murder.
And now she is suspicious of another cause of death. You know, a drug possibility is another thought.
Because, you know, a drifter-- you know, I don't know really what her lifestyle is.
NARRATOR: According to her father, Mildred's life was that of a typical runaway,
unstable, unpredictable, and traumatizing to her family from when she first left home as a teenager.
When she disappeared, we chased her all over this United States. We'd get close, and all of a sudden, poof.
Like a puff of smoke, it's gone. NARRATOR: Then 18 years after she vanished, Mildred's father's nightmare seems to come to an end
when out of the blue she reaches out with a phone call. Hey, dad. NARRATOR: Her parents take her back in, no questions asked.
She never told us everything about what she'd been doing. All I saw then was my daughter, you know?
That was my daughter. And I-- we'd looked for her for years, and I finally had her again.
NARRATOR: But just five years after returning home, Mildred runs away again. And when she's found next, only 60 miles from her father's
house, she is found dead. It was very important for me to find out how she died,
because there was a lot of people who-- who felt that she had used drugs. And she had always swore to me and her stepmother
she was not a drug user. And we'd always believed her on that one subject. NARRATOR: Will Dr. G's findings prove the father right,
or reveal that Mildred had turned to drug abuse? Oh. You're so good. NARRATOR: As the internal exam continues,
Dr. G searches Mildred's organs for any abnormalities that could indicate a drug overdose
or other cause of death. OK. The heart-- the heart is 350. She doesn't have any coronary artery disease, no narrowing.
Her vessels look good. NARRATOR: Mildred's heart appears to be healthy, but her lungs are another matter.
Because this lung is not looking good. And this is 775. Her lungs are very heavy, and I thought, well, that goes
along with a drug overdose. NARRATOR: In drug overdoses, the patient often falls into a coma while vomiting
and inhales the vomit rather than spitting it out. She was probably unconscious and a lot
of her stomach contents was going into her lungs. NARRATOR: Then another organ reveals
a second disturbing clue about Mildred's death. Huh. She's got a lot of urine. She's got a very distended bladder,
and I sometimes see that with drug overdoses. NARRATOR: Urine often accumulates in the bladders of drug users who fall
unconscious in an overdose. DR. G: Whatever reason, she's in a comatose state. NARRATOR: Despite what she told her father,
could Mildred have started taking drugs and ultimately died from an accidental or suicidal
overdose? To find out, Dr. G takes fluid samples from Mildred's body to send to the toxicology lab.
DR. G: This is an awfully big needle. NARRATOR: But it can take up to eight weeks
to get toxicological results back from the lab, and those weeks can feel like years
to parents anxious for answers. I can't do anything about it. I'm just going to have to wait and wait and wait.
NARRATOR: Aware of the family's grief, Dr. G isn't content to wait for the results.
What we have to do is test somehow what is going on with her. NARRATOR: And there's one test she can conduct right here
in the morgue, a test that could give Mildred's father some answers. Coming up next, a deadly secret from Mildred's past stuns
Dr. G. You don't usually see people who just give up. [MUSIC PLAYING] Okey dokey.
NARRATOR: Dr. G prepares to conduct a special toxicology test on Mildred Robinson right in the morgue.
[INAUDIBLE] NARRATOR: A lifelong runaway, Mildred arrived the night before with little more than a few clothes, loose
change, and a diabetic kit in her bag. Like the hundreds of other drifters who'd come to Dr. G,
Mildred's internal exam has revealed signs of a drug overdose. She's got a lot of urine, very heavy lungs.
NARRATOR: But despite Mildred's checkered past, her father wants desperately to believe she's an exception.
I still had to go with a feeling that it was not drugs. It was just a natural death.
NARRATOR: Now as the agonizing wait for tox results begins, Dr. G hopes to find some answers sooner while Mildred's
body is still in her care. Here's how we'll do it. Put-- NARRATOR: Because Mildred Robinson was a diabetic,
Dr. G decides to try one of the only fluid tests she can perform in the morgue, a glucose check.
People can have high glucoses and not die. But what we have to do is test somehow
what's her level of glucose, what is going on with her? NARRATOR: Glucose, or blood sugar,
is the body's primary energy source. In healthy people, these molecules are produced during digestion and carried into cells
by a hormone called insulin. Some diabetics lack the insulin to convert glucose into fuel.
And without supplemental insulin or other measures, the amount of sugar in the blood can rise catastrophically,
causing damage to the nervous system and even triggering a fatal coma. Normally, doctors check a diabetic patient's glucose
levels with a drop of their blood, but Mildred has been dead for more than 12 hours
and her blood is starting to grow old. Because I can't determine the blood levels anymore.
NARRATOR: Instead, Dr. G chooses a body fluid that's better protected from decomposition,
inside the eye. It will be difficult, but what we'll do is we will check the eye fluid.
We're testing the fluid that's in the back of your eye. It's the fluid that's between your lens and your retina.
That gives us a little window, a little snapshot into what was going on at the time you died.
NARRATOR: To take that snapshot, Dr. G's idea is to use a chemical test strip. It's a beautiful little test.
There's little test squares on them, and, you know, basically it's a chemical reaction
that changes that color. NARRATOR: Dr. G dropped some of Mildred's eye fluid on the strip.
The square will remain white if the glucose level is normal. If it is high, it will turn purple.
She waits for the chemical reaction to take place then compares the result to a standard color chart
on the casing of the strips. Yeah but look. It's turning purple. NARRATOR: The eye fluid has turned the square deep purple.
She's got a large amount of glucose, very heavy glucose. That's dangerous diabetes.
NARRATOR: But then the strip reveals another shocking fact. Mildred's body chemistry contains
a high level of a toxic substance called ketones. It's pretty high. NARRATOR: Ketones are not illicit drugs.
Instead, they are an acidic substance made inside the body, and the key component in a life threatening condition
called diabetic ketoacidosis. Diabetic ketoacidosis is seen in diabetics who are dependent on insulin to get
that glucose into their cells. NARRATOR: Without insulin the body begins to break down fat and protein
for fuel instead of glucose. The process releases ketones, which turn the blood dangerously acidic, totally disrupting
the body's control of fluid levels and nerve functions. In some diabetics, this critical chain reaction
is triggered when the patient does not take his or her insulin. DR. G: Now if you just go into the hospital
with diabetic ketoacidosis that-- you're going to be saved. But there's still a mortality rate, you know, 2%.
And if you don't do anything about it, it's got a very high mortality rate if you're going to ignore it.
And it looks like she ignored it. NARRATOR: Now based on the findings from this simple test,
Dr. G can finally explain how Mildred Robinson died so suddenly. Late Friday evening after a few hours at a bar,
Mildred goes to spend the night in the trailer of a man she just met. Unbeknownst to her, he is a convicted sex offender.
But the weekend passes and he does not assault Mildred. Instead, he goes to work, leaving her in bed.
Alone in the trailer, something catastrophic is happening in Mildred's body. It needs insulin, but she has none.
After her last dose she never bothered to refill her prescription. She's run out of insulin and her blood glucose
is getting higher and higher and higher to the point where she's getting very thirsty.
And she's urinating a lot, because that glucose is being-- trying to be flushed out of her system.
NARRATOR: With no insulin available, Mildred's body is breaking down proteins and fats
instead of glucose for fuel. Her blood becomes loaded with acidic byproducts, the ketones, which start affecting nerve
signals all over her body. DR. G: She's probably going to start vomiting. At some point during this vomiting,
she aspirates her-- some of her vomit, because I see evidence of aspiration in her lung.
NARRATOR: She also gets flushed and feverish until eventually she slips into a coma.
And with no one nearby to take her to the hospital, she dies alone. Not as a victim of rape or murder or a drug overdose,
but as a direct result of her serious condition. She died from diabetic ketoacidosis.
NARRATOR: To Mildred's father Dr. G's findings bring some measure of peace. There was nothing--
no substance abuse at all. And I was so relieved on that basis. NARRATOR: Ultimately, the complete toxicology results
verified Dr. G's theory. There are no drugs in Mildred system, and glucose levels are sky high at 696, almost 10 times
the norm. Still, there's one lingering question for Dr. G. I'm a big believer in everybody has a choice to live
the life that they-- they want. But why-- why would she give up? Why did she stop taking her insulin?
NARRATOR: It's a question that even Mildred's father may never be able to answer.
I don't know whether she stopped taking insulin because she gave up on herself or life.
In my mind I like to think that since she passed away in Orlando, which is only approximately 60 miles
from where we live here, and I think sometimes that maybe she was working herself way back to this area.
So I won't ever think that she gave up on herself. [MUSIC PLAYING] SINGER: She don't want money--
DR. G: I feel for the parents. SINGER: --she don't want no thing. DR. G: That's a tragic ending to know
that your child died that way. It's not something you'd wish for your children. SINGER: --leave me the same.
Races alone. Tonight she's walking in that street to feel the moonlight. She has something greater up her sleeve.
MAN (WHISPERS): Atlas.

When the husband, Tao Chen, is shot to death by his wife Jun, she claims she pulled the trigger in self-defense when a drunken Tao came after her with a gun.

A Florida medical examiner takes viewers through puzzling cases while explaining procedures and conclusions.

Brief Summary

Dr. G investigates a shooting death and a mysterious overdose, revealing arsenic poisoning and untreated diabetes as key factors in both cases.

Key points

A Shocking Discovery. Dr. G reopens a case and finds high arsenic levels in the victim's blood.
The Case of June Chen. June claims self-defense after shooting her husband, but evidence suggests otherwise.
Toxicology Tests Reveal Truth. Toxicology tests show no alcohol in the victim's system, contradicting June's claims.
Arsenic Levels Shock Prosecutors. Dr. G discovers high arsenic levels in the victim, indicating possible poisoning.
Trial Verdict. June Chen is found guilty of manslaughter, not murder, in a controversial case.
Mildred's Mysterious Death. Mildred Robinson is found dead in a trailer, raising questions about her demise.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

It really hurts, because we missed her through all these years.

A father reflects on his lost daughter.

0:44WatchJun 1, 2021

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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