Dr. G: Medical Examiner - Season 2, Episode 5 - Burning Questions - Full Episode | Forensic Files

[MUSIC PLAYING] NARRATOR: A car in a parking garage bursts into flame. DALE REYNOLDS: The fire crews extinguish the fire.
They realize that there is a body in the car. NARRATOR: A promising young man is dead
and no one knows how or why. If he's dead when the fire started, that's very suspicious.
The thought of homicide was right from the beginning. NARRATOR: Then Dr. G investigates
a bizarre tale of distress. It was strange just because I couldn't understand why it took four days for somebody
to make it to the hospital. NARRATOR: And a natural hospital death that may not have been so natural.
RHONDA: My mom was being accused of murdering my dad. NARRATOR: Altered lives, baffling medical mysteries,
shocking revelations, these are the everyday cases of Dr. G, Medical Examiner. [MUSIC PLAYING]
NARRATOR: It's after midnight and Robert Terrible is celebrating in a bar in Orlando, Florida.
The last two days have been a peak experience for this newly minted electrical engineer
on his first professional job. MARIE: He was happy when he get his first job, because there was a lot of traveling involved.
And he wants to be going places. NARRATOR: He's the son of Haitian immigrants, who have watched his achievements with pride.
NARRATOR: In addition to being a good student. Robert is also a popular fraternity member.
And when he travels, he never misses a chance to connect with his fraternity brothers.
MARIE: Robert loved to go out with his friends. What was special about him is was the way he used to approach
people, the care inside. NARRATOR: Tomorrow, he'll sober up and go home to his parents in New York.
NARRATOR: But tonight, he's hanging with some local friends, cutting loose and drinking
more than he usually does. At 3:00 AM, Robert finally decides to call it a night.
There's only one problem. He has to drive back to his hotel. 45 minutes later, a parking attendant spots
a car with its engine running. In the passenger seat is a man apparently sleeping.
The attendant, however, does not wake the occupant and returns to his office. A half hour later, he gets the shock of his life.
[EXPLOSIONS] DALE REYNOLDS: Parking garage attendant starts hearing explosions, which I'd
believe to be probably popping sound which are tires exploding or glass breaking.
NARRATOR: The man's car is engulfed in flames. And the horrified attendant can't even
get near the vehicle. At that point, he called 9-1-1. 9-1-1 tells him to pull the fire alarm.
NARRATOR: Arriving on the scene, the Orlando Fire Department quickly puts out the fire.
When the smoke clears, investigators get their first clear look at what is for them a most uncommon sight.
To have a fire death in a car is unusual. NARRATOR: Less than 2% of all auto fires result in a death.
And most of those occur as a result of crashes. The reason-- when a car fire starts, an able-bodied person
inside will usually get out before being burned. Because the driver did not get out in time,
investigators immediately suspect that he was already dead when the fire started.
It is not uncommon for the body of a homicide victim to be burned in order to help destroy evidence
and thwart the investigation. Within an hour a team of specialists arrive at the scene to investigate
what could be a homicide. One is Dale Reynolds, an arson and bomb investigator with the Orlando Fire Department.
DALE REYNOLDS: I received a page from our dispatchers. Said that we had a car fire in a parking garage with a fatality.
We also asked for a homicide detective or someone from the violent crimes unit of the City
of Orlando Police Department. And then also we asked for CSTs, crime scene technicians,
because this is going to be a long, drawn out case. When we started an investigation of the external of the car,
of the parking garage, the area around him, we don't want to get around the body very much because we don't
want to destroy any evidence that the medical examiner may find. NARRATOR: Meanwhile chief medical examiner Jan
Garavaglia, better known as Dr. G, hears about the case during her morning commute.
DR GARAVAGLIA: I'm always listening to the radio. And I heard about it driving in that there was a car fire
in one of the garages downtown. And I thought, oh. And that there was a dead body in one of the cars.
And I thought, oh boy. NARRATOR: As soon as the medical investigator finishes documenting the site and removes the body,
Investigator Reynolds begins his examination on the inside of the car. His primary objective-- find out the exact cause of the fire.
It is a tedious process. DALE REYNOLDS: We took samples of the carpet in the driver's seat area.
We took samples from the carpet behind the driver's seat, samples from the back seat passenger side.
And we took samples from the seat where the occupant was actually sitting. A lot of thoughts are going through your head
of all the possibilities. And when I get to work, he was waiting for me. NARRATOR: At the start of most cases,
Dr. G carefully reviews her medical investigator's field report. DR GARAVAGLIA: So what I have for information
is that there is a security guard. And he found a fellow who he thought was sleeping in the passenger side of the car.
And about 30 minutes later, he notices a car fire. My understanding is there was an explosion.
And sure enough, his car was on fire. It was consumed in flames. And there he is very badly charred inside his car.
NARRATOR: The scenario is rife with complex questions. What or who caused the fire?
And how could a young man burn to death in a parked car? Unless he was murdered.
At this point, we didn't know a lot. We didn't know who he was. So a lot of possibilities are going through your head.
Although we have the security guard stating that he saw a half hour before, I mean, I
don't necessarily believe that. And how does he know he's sleeping? How did he know he wasn't just dead in the car?
Or did this guy maybe kill him? Is he trying to cover something up? Did he really even go on his rounds?
Could be a million and one scenarios. I don't believe anybody. NARRATOR: While the list of unanswered questions
is daunting, Dr. G is confident of one thing, at least for now. The thought of homicide was right from the beginning.
NARRATOR: Next, Dr. G makes a discovery with ominous implications. DR GARAVAGLIA: Even if nobody did anything to him,
but he's asleep in the car and somebody else starts the fire, that's a homicide.
NARRATOR: When "Dr. G, Medical Examiner" continues. [MUSIC PLAYING] NARRATOR: The charred remains of an unidentified fire victim
are taken by lab techs to be X-rayed. One of the first things I'm going to do is doing full body X-rays.
Head to toe, we will X-ray that body. NARRATOR: Only hours earlier, the body was found in an Orlando parking garage
in a car engulfed in flames. Because of the fire's mysterious circumstances, foul play is strongly suspected.
Why is he there? What caused him not to get out of the fire? NARRATOR: Now it's up to Dr. G to find answers
to these and other complex questions. [MUSIC PLAYING] NARRATOR: One of the first priorities in a case involving
a fire victim is to determine the victim's physical condition at the moment the fire began.
DR GARAVAGLIA: I have to make a determination, was he alive or dead? If he's dead, when the fire started,
that's very suspicious. He might have been placed there and then the fire started to cover up evidence.
NARRATOR: Because it is nearly impossible to detect any injuries on charred remains externally,
Dr. G must rely on X-rays to show her what she cannot see. DR GARAVAGLIA: I have a man that is charred beyond recognition,
charred from the head to the toe. The external exam is more difficult because with all
that charring, with the skin being gone, I could easily miss a gunshot wound. NARRATOR: Dr. G examines the developed film.
And even before making a single incision, she can already draw one tentative conclusion.
On the X-rays, at least, there appears to be no sign of any trauma that could have led to the victim's
death before the fire. The only injuries Dr. G can see on the film are those sustained during the blaze.
When she examines the actual corpse, she is faced with one of forensic pathologies most
daunting challenges-- autopsying burn victims. DR GARAVAGLIA: I have no idea who he is.
I'm trying to figure out even if he's white, black. It's very difficult when you're black charred head to toe.
When I mean charred, I mean it's black. His skin in most areas have burnt off and the underlying muscle is blackened from the burning,
just like a charcoal briquette black. NARRATOR: During the external exam, one of Doctor G's first tasks is to analyze
the body's unique burn pattern. Burn patterns can confirm whether or not the victim was motionless while the fire burned.
The posterior back and buttocks and backs of the legs are not charred as much, not burnt as much,
because they're up against the seat and there's less oxygen getting to that. NARRATOR: The lack of burning in these areas
proves that the victim never moved after the car ignited, another possible indication that he may have been
dead before the fire started. DR GARAVAGLIA: Well, that was all consistent with him sitting in that seat
when the fire was going on. NARRATOR: In burn cases, there are specific parts of the body
that can reveal even stronger indicators of when a person died-- the nose and mouth.
DR GARAVAGLIA: What we're going to look for is was he breathing? Was he breathing the products of combustion?
It would be carbon monoxide that he's breathing. And he'd be breathing hot gases.
And he'd be breathing a lot of sooty material. NARRATOR: If she finds no soot, it's a sure sign
that the victim was not alive. There's only one problem-- there is soot. We find that sooty material inside his mouth, his nose.
NARRATOR: It's important, but not conclusive. The soot in the mouth and the nose
could simply mean that the smoke from the intense contained fire drifted into the open cavities rather than the victim
breathing them in. The only way Dr. G can know for sure is to inspect the respiratory tract from the inside.
She begins with the y incision and after opening the rib cage finds that for the most part,
the victim's internal organs were not affected by the heat. Once we get past that layer of charring
and even the deeper muscles, it's going to look fine. NARRATOR: Dr. G takes fluid samples
from the victim for toxicology tests and then begins her search inside the body's cavity.
Because the death is a suspected homicide, she looks carefully once again for any signs of foul play
or trauma, which may not have been perceivable on the X-rays, such as internal bleeding
or perhaps even strangulation. DR GARAVAGLIA: I removed some of the char to see if there's evidence of strangulation
by hemorrhages in those muscles. NARRATOR: But here, too, she finds nothing out of the ordinary and no sign of injuries
indicating that the victim may have been restrained. DR GARAVAGLIA: No evidence of strangulation.
No blood in the pleural cavities. No evidence of any type of trauma to the chest or abdomen.
NARRATOR: But then she opens the respiratory tract. Within seconds, she uncovers something
that contradicts almost every previous assumption in the case. There is soot in the victim's trachea and lungs.
There's soot all the way down. There was soot all the way into the mainstream bronchi,
going into each right and left lung. And when you cut the lungs, there's soot even in the tissue
of the lung itself. That soot has gone all the way down into his lung tissue. NARRATOR: This finding is undeniable.
The victim was alive during the fire. Without a doubt, he's breathing that sooty material in there.
Once I saw on that sooty material that he inhaled down his trachea into his lungs.
I know he's alive when that fire occurred. NARRATOR: Coming up next, the victim is identified
and his family learns of his horrendous death. DR GARAVAGLIA: They were kind of lost.
They came here from New York. Nobody was telling them anything. It's just heart wrenching what they're having to go through.
NARRATOR: When "Dr. G, Medical Examiner" continues. [MUSIC PLAYING] NARRATOR: Dr. G has completed the autopsy
of an unidentified young man found dead in a car fire. Her original hypothesis-- that he was dead before
flames engulfed his car-- has been shattered by the discovery of soot deep inside the victim's lungs, clear proof that he was
alive after the fire started. Without a doubt, he's breathing that sooty material in there.
NARRATOR: With this finding, she can now determine the cause of death. DR GARAVAGLIA: He died from inhalation injuries
due to a conflagration, meaning a huge fire. And an explosion was heard and that
was consistent with everything that I found. NARRATOR: In other words, the vapor and smoke from the fire
itself caused the victim's respiratory system to fail. What she still doesn't know is the manner of death.
Was it a homicide or something else? DR GARAVAGLIA: Well, why is he there in the passenger seat?
How did this fire get started? What's he doing there? And why didn't he get out?
A lot of that wasn't answered by just doing the autopsy. [MUSIC PLAYING] DR GARAVAGLIA: Right after the autopsy,
I listed the things that I do know, all my facts. And then just say, well, we're going to pend this.
We're going to have to pend it for the arson investigation. We're going to have to pend it for the toxicology.
NARRATOR: But while Dr. G awaits these results, the homicide detectives uncover another lead.
A cell phone is salvaged from the wreckage and police managed to identify the victim
through phone records. They immediately contact his family. The victim's name is Robert Paul Terrible.
PERLOW: I got a phone call around 4:00 o'clock, do you know Robert Paul? And because we found a body--
or we found a cell phone. And right then and there, I just knew it was him. DR GARAVAGLIA: The mother and the aunt came.
And I felt so bad for them. They were kind of lost. They came here from New York.
Nobody was telling them anything. It's just heart wrenching what they're having to go through.
But you know what? The main thing is they just want the truth. They just want to know that somebody
cares and is going to try to get the answers for them. And I think after talking to me they
felt confident that I was going to give him the answers, the best I could. NARRATOR: Dr. G then learned from the family
that the night of his death Robert had been out at a party with some of his college fraternity brothers
who live in the Orlando area. It's not much, but at least now Dr. G knows who the victim is and some of the circumstances
leading up to his death. It takes several more months for the preliminary results
of the arson investigation to arrive. DALE REYNOLDS: Our job is to find the origin
and the cause of the fire. And I would say in 80% of our cases, we know what caused them.
The point of origin was somewhere in the driver's seat at seat level, the area of the dash.
But we couldn't come up with a definitive cause. NARRATOR: But they are fairly certain that the fire was not
set by any person, including Robert. We could not find any evidence that would support an arson finding.
DR GARAVAGLIA: They're pretty emphatic that an accelerant wasn't used. And they don't believe it was a fire
that was started by anyone. DALE REYNOLDS: We cut samples. They were all tested for ignitable liquids.
None found. So that's key. I mean that to me rules out homicide for me. NARRATOR: But it leaves the arson investigation
with only theories. There are many things. The car could have shorted out. Without the ability to prove a theory, we don't want to say.
NARRATOR: Although Dr. G may never know how the fire began, she hopes that the toxicology results
will help shed light on the other remaining mystery-- why Robert didn't get out of the car once it started burning.
We didn't have trauma, but maybe we've got something chemically that's causing him
not to leave. NARRATOR: Something such as a drug overdose. But it's an implication that Robert Terrible's
family denies emphatically. Their son does not use drugs. DR GARAVAGLIA: I'm looking for drugs of abuse.
I didn't expect any after talking to his family. He's a really nice kid. But sometimes the family doesn't know.
And so, you know, you always sometimes get a little surprise. NARRATOR: However, in this case, toxicology tests prove
that Robert's family is right. He did not use any illicit substances on the night of his death.
But he did apparently drink quite a bit. His toxicology showed him to be very intoxicated,
slightly over a 0.2 milligrams per deciliter of ethanol in his blood. And driving while intoxicated, just to give you a rough idea,
is 0.08. So very highly intoxicated. NARRATOR: With the toxicology report in hand,
Dr. G now believes she can explain why Robert Terrible did not get out of the burning car.
He was too intoxicated to escape the fire. It is the key that enables Dr. G to explain
the tragic circumstances that led to Robert Terrible's death. After a long day of business meetings,
Robert goes out for drinks with college fraternity friends. It was kind of unusual that he was out doing that.
He's very alcohol kind of naive in that he doesn't drink much alcohol. NARRATOR: By the time he leaves the bar,
Robert's blood alcohol level is very high, over twice the legal limit. At the garage, he gets in the car, starts the ignition,
and turns the air on to keep him cool on a hot Orlando evening. But he quickly realizes he's too drunk to drive.
He then does what many would consider prudent. He puts the car into park and decides to sleep it off.
DALE REYNOLDS: He's probably too tall to sleep behind the steering wheel. We theorize that he got out of the car,
walked around to the passenger seat, you know, kind of scooched down in the seat
and got where he was comfortable so he could sleep. NARRATOR: Within the half hour, a fire breaks
out somewhere under the dash. DR GARAVAGLIA: It's not a smoldering fire. It's fairly fast fire.
NARRATOR: The fire quickly engulfs the passenger side where Robert is sleeping. Because he has excessive alcohol in his system
and he is not usually a heavy drinker, Robert remains unconscious. Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant.
So that would delay him being aroused from a fire. NARRATOR: The fire consumes the vehicle
and Robert along with it. The car's tires explode, which alerts the garage attendant, who calls 9-1-1.
But for Robert, it is too late. The searing vapors he breathes in burn his trachea
and fill his lungs with blackened soot, which causes his respiratory system to fail before the fire
is even extinguished. He had a lot of burning to his posterior pharynx, or back of his throat.
And then the complete charring, I felt he died from the inhalation injuries associated with thermal burns.
To have a fire death in a car is unusual, especially this one where there is no violent act.
He just died because he was sleeping in the car while it burned. NARRATOR: Although questions remain,
Dr. G is confident in her conclusion. Even though they feel they don't know the exact reason
for the fire in that car, I feel that we have enough evidence-- we have a preponderance of evidence-- saying
that it's an accidental death. It's an accidental fire. And that it's just a tragedy.
He was just a good kid sleeping it off, and a tragedy occurred. NARRATOR: But death, no matter what the circumstances,
always leave survivors with the same difficult questions. Life can change completely in seconds.
NARRATOR: Coming up next, what appears to be a natural hospital death may turn out to be anything but natural.
This roommate is making allegations that the wife murdered him, that she strangled him.
NARRATOR: When "Dr. G, Medical Examiner" continues. [MUSIC PLAYING] NARRATOR: 58-year-old Nick Blazge
is in critical condition. And for a week, he's been fighting to stay alive despite his failing kidneys.
Before this illness struck, things had been looking up for the retired truck driver.
He had just asked his ex-wife Joyce to marry him again, hoping to pick up where they left off 14 years earlier.
She was his first love. And there wouldn't be any other. NARRATOR: But their wedding is not to be.
On the seventh day in the intensive care unit, Nick finally loses his battle. The only one with them at the end,
his ex-wife Joyce, at least that's what she believes. The hospital records his death as natural due to kidney
disease. But Nick's roommate has a very different opinion. And the next morning, what he tells
the nurse changes everything. This roommate is making allegations that the wife murdered him, that she strangled him.
I was stuck with very little information at that point. So I said, OK, you know, bring it in.
I'm not going to just ignore it. Let's look into it. NARRATOR: There's just one problem.
Nick's body has already been sent to the funeral home where it is set to be embalmed.
DR GARAVAGLIA: They drain your blood out. They put preservatives in you. They put cotton in your eyes.
They wire your mouth shut. They stick a probe into your abdominal cavity, like blindly,
and stick embalming fluid in there. So there's a lot of trauma that occurs to the body
that then makes my job harder. NARRATOR: Just as the morticians are ready to begin the phone rings.
[PHONE RINGING] It is Investigator Guiroga of the medical examiner's office ordering
them to halt any and all procedures on the body. HENRY QUIROGA: It was a close call.
He was set to be prepared. And that would have made things difficult. NARRATOR: As the body of Nick Blazge
is transported to the Bexar County Morgue, Dr. G reviews the details of the accusation made
by Nick's hospital roommate. According to Quiroga's report, the roommate was in a semi-sedated state that evening behind a curtain.
HENRY QUIROGA: He had heard some kind of gasping, possibly struggling to breathe.
Gradually the breathing became more ragged. NARRATOR: The disturbing sounds suddenly stopped.
The roommate claims he then saw Joyce rush past his bed and into the hallway. HENRY QUIROGA: She told the nurse, He's gone, he's gone.
And then promptly left the hospital. The nurse thought that was a little strange.
NARRATOR: According to the Department of Justice, almost 15% of all murders are committed by a member
of the victim's family-- a fact known all too well to Dr. G and her investigators.
It sounded like it might have been credible. So I take it seriously. The morning after my dad passed away,
I got a phone call. And it was the medical examiner telling me that some accusations had been made, that my mom was being
accused of murdering my dad. NARRATOR: The phone call provides Dr. G with a far different portrait
of the reengaged couple. RHONDA: I don't remember a lot of good times. I had noticed a lot of arguing between my mom and my dad,
a lot of just little mean looks. NARRATOR: They eventually divorced. But Joyce never quite left the picture.
RHONDA: My mom had remarried. And when she would get tired of this guy, she would move back and forth.
And my dad always took her back. I honestly thought my dad was fool. NARRATOR: At first blush, the couple's
stormy past could lend credence to the roommate's accusations. Did Nick Blazge die of natural causes
as the hospital believes? Or did his ex-wife give mother nature a little push? HENRY QUIROGA: That's definitely something that needs to be
looked into and investigated. RHONDA: We had a couple family members that actually questioned it.
Could this have happened? NARRATOR: Coming up, the bizarre accident that started it all.
DR GARAVAGLIA: I realize that his natural disease may not quite be so natural. NARRATOR: When "Dr. G, Medical Examiner" continues.
[MUSIC PLAYING] NARRATOR: Before conducting her autopsy, Dr. G reviews The large volume of records.
She's received about Nick Blazge's 1-week hospital stay. DR GARAVAGLIA: They had enough CAT scans and examinations that
show that the problem was the renal failure, the acute renal failure. NARRATOR: According to doctors, the 58-year-old
died of advanced kidney disease in the hospital. But his hospital roommate says that Nick's ex-wife
is responsible for his death. Now Dr. G has a murder investigation on her hands.
DR GARAVAGLIA: He believes that the deceased's ex-wife had smothered him with a pillow.
NARRATOR: Unlike the majority of autopsies, Dr. G will not be cutting Nick Blazge
open to examine his organs. The medical records already give her a complete picture
of his internal diseases. DR GARAVAGLIA: He had had such a good workup, I really didn't need to do an internal exam
to look for more trauma. NARRATOR: Instead, she'll concentrate on the outside of the body in a search for signs of foul play.
The first thing she spots is a huge wound on Nick's back. Now, we've got a little bit of abrasion there.
NARRATOR: Nick has a serious 2 by 3/4 inch bruise behind his left shoulder. Linear abrasions here maybe from a fall.
NARRATOR: The mysterious wound is clearly not related to the alleged murder. But Dr. G wants to get to the bottom of it
before continuing the exam. She returns to her investigator's report and discovers there's more to Nick's story.
HENRY QUIROGA: This deceased had actually suffered an accidental fall four days before he
was admitted to the hospital. NARRATOR: The fall happened in the apartment he shared with his ex-wife, Joyce.
It is the day of his accident. And Nick's only health problem is a slight flu bug.
Getting up from the couch, he feels faint and falls onto a coffee table, smashing his left shoulder.
In terrible pain, he drags himself over to the couch to lie down. And there he will remain for four days unable to get up
and suffering from what he believes is simply a flu. Day in and day out, Nick's only sustenance are
the ice cubes Joyce feeds him. And that's the extent of the medical attention he receives.
Eventually, he begins drifting in and out of consciousness. HENRY QUIROGA: It was strange just because I guess I couldn't
understand why it took four days for somebody who was kind of incapacitated to make it to the hospital.
[MUSIC PLAYING] NARRATOR: The account of the accident gives Dr. G new insight into what likely
triggered the kidney failure recorded in Nick's hospital record. His 4-day ordeal on his couch caused
him to develop a rare medical condition known as rhabdomyolysis. Rhabdomyolysis is a fancy word for the breakdown
of your muscles. NARRATOR: When a person lies stationary for an extended period of time, their skeletal muscles
can begin to physically deteriorate, especially muscles weakened by injury. As these muscles break down, the muscle cells often
release proteins called myoglobin into the bloodstream, proteins toxic to the kidneys.
DR GARAVAGLIA: The kidneys aren't functioning. They can't filter the toxic substances out of your body.
You're building more and more fluid up in your body too. And that fluid goes all sorts of places.
It goes into your skin, subcutaneous tissue. It goes into your lungs. You have difficulty breathing.
NARRATOR: In Nick's case, these toxins run unchecked through the body, ultimately resulting
in multiple organ failure. DR GARAVAGLIA: I suspect he probably had some chronic alcohol problem, immobility and just
lying there, maybe some dehydration kind of all combined to cause rhabdomyolysis.
NARRATOR: The investigator's account coupled with Dr. G's findings provide a stunning revelation.
I realize that his natural disease may not quite be so natural. NARRATOR: Rhabdomyolysis, while potentially fatal,
is preventable in the early stages. If Nick had gotten medical attention sooner,
his condition could have been reversed. And according to Henry Quiroga's report,
Joyce was there with him at home during his entire time on the couch. And he's getting sicker and sicker and sicker.
And that was important, because, you know, why do you just leave somebody? NARRATOR: If his ex-wife stood by while he suffered,
it would lend weight to the roommate's murder accusation. Dr. G will have to collect more details
about what Joyce did or did not do during Nick's 4-day ordeal. But for now, she still must reach a forensic conclusion
on the original question. Did Joyce murder her ex-husband in his hospital room? Coming up, the hunt for signs of murder
and surprising new details about Nick's accident. RHONDA: I believe my dad would be-- was
very vocal with the paramedics. NARRATOR: When "Dr. G, Medical Examiner" continuous.
[MUSIC PLAYING] NARRATOR: Dr. G returns to the main reason for her autopsy-- the hunt for physical evidence of strangulation or suffocation
that would prove Nick Blazge was murdered. The man spent four entire days and nights
injured on his couch, while his ex-wife stood by. And now this same woman has been accused of finishing
him off in the hospital. Dr. G prepares to inspect the one area that will tell her
if these accusations are true. DR GARAVAGLIA: So the things I was looking for was any kind of trauma on the neck, any type of injury
to the neck. Nothing, just nothing. NARRATOR: It's clear that Nick wasn't strangled
with a cord or anyone's hands. Still, there's another readily accessible weapon in every hospital room--
pillows. Pillows are often used in suffocation because they're soft surface leaves no marks on the body--
at least, that's what killers think. But for the medical examiner, such a suffocation
would indeed leave clues, literally right under the victim's nose. DR GARAVAGLIA: I will look to see
if there is any pillow fibers. I'll look to see if there's any marks on the inside of his mouth.
NARRATOR: Yet after a thorough examination, Dr. G can find no traces of cloth fibers and no signs
that any pressure has been applied to his mouth or nose. DR GARAVAGLIA: Nothing to indicate that he and any kind
of foul play or pressure in his mouth, no marks on the outside or inside the lips.
NARRATOR: There is no evidence that Nick was either strangled or suffocated. Dr. G is now certain--
Nick's hospital roommate is wrong. Joyce did not murder her ex-husband. Most likely what the roommate heard
was simply the last labored gasps of a dying man. RHONDA: I was very thankful that Dr. G
could tell just from looking that nothing had been done like that. NARRATOR: Dr. G's autopsy is finished.
But one looming question remains unanswered. Why did Nick spend four days on his couch
without getting medical attention, especially since his ex-wife was with him the whole time.
The medical investigators soon uncover the last remaining piece of the puzzle-- an emergency response report filed
just one day after Nick's fall. It reveals that in fact Joyce did call 9-1-1 and that it was Nick himself who refused treatment.
With this report and her findings, Dr. G is finally able to piece together Nick Blazge's last days.
When Nick falls that day, he enjoys his back. It is not a fatal wound by any means.
But it is enough to force him to lie motionless on the couch. DR GARAVAGLIA: Skin breaks down and there are pressure sores.
And that was from his prolonged immobility. NARRATOR: Joyce, rather than acting neglectful,
she begged him to go to the doctor and even calls 9-1-1. Paramedics arrive and attempt to take
Nick into the emergency room. But he resists, insisting that he merely has a flu bug.
Legally, emergency medical teams are not allowed to treat anyone who is unwilling to be helped.
RHONDA: She told my dad, you know, you've got to go. You've got to have this looked at.
You're hurt. NARRATOR: With Nick's stubborn refusals, the paramedics can do nothing but leave.
Nick continues to lie on his couch day in and day out. His muscles begin to atrophy.
As they deteriorate, they release proteins into his bloodstream that are toxic to his kidneys,
triggering the disease rhabdomyolysis. On the fourth day, Nick loses consciousness
and Joyce again calls paramedics. This time, the unconscious Nick is in no condition to object.
DR GARAVAGLIA: He wouldn't go to the hospital until he was so out of it, she could get EMS to take him.
NARRATOR: But they are too late. There is no way to medically remove the toxic proteins that have now spread
throughout his bloodstream. System-wide organ failure is inevitable. Ultimately, they realize that there was not much
else they could do for him. NARRATOR: After seven days in the hospital, Nick's kidneys no longer filter toxins from his bloodstream.
Fluid builds up in his lungs, making it hard to breathe. His heart begins to fail.
And his final gasps are overheard by the roommate. DR GARAVAGLIA: The guy is in and out of consciousness.
He's just heard some breathing. And oftentimes what we call agonal breathing, your last breath, maybe that's what he's hearing.
A lot of these people are on medication, and they think they're hearing things and seeing
things that aren't occurring. NARRATOR: Nick's kidneys finally give out, and he dies of multiple organ failure.
RHONDA: Dr. G had confirmed that it was the toxins that had shut everything down, that there had not
been any foul play involved. NARRATOR: In the end, Dr. G concludes that Nick's death was
not homicide as suspected by the roommate, nor natural as deemed by the hospital, but accidental.
DR GARAVAGLIA: The bottom line is the fall is what caused him to go into the rhabdomyolysis, which
ultimately caused him to die. If I had known what the outcome would be, I would have kicked them into high gear
to get him to a hospital. It's been very difficult coping with his passing. My father and I had been very close.
So that was-- it was just phenomenal, his loss. [MUSIC PLAYING]

Recent college grad Robert Terrible is out drinking at a club with friends celebrating. At 3am, he realizes he better call it a night and heads to the nearby garage where he parked his car. A Florida medical examiner takes viewers through puzzling cases while explaining procedures and conclusions.

Brief Summary

Robert Terrible died in a car fire due to intoxication; Nick Blazge's death was accidental after a fall and neglect.

Key points

A Mysterious Car Fire. A car in a parking garage bursts into flames, revealing a dead body inside.
The Investigation Begins. Dr. G investigates the bizarre circumstances surrounding a young man's death in a car fire.
Tragic Discovery. Toxicology results reveal Robert was highly intoxicated, explaining why he couldn't escape the fire.
A Tragic Turn of Events. Nick Blazge's health declines rapidly after a fall, leading to unexpected accusations.
Murder Accusations Arise. Nick's roommate claims his ex-wife murdered him, sparking a deeper investigation.
The Truth About Nick's Death. Dr. G concludes Nick's death was accidental, not homicide or natural causes.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

The thought of homicide was right from the beginning.

NARRATOR reflects on the initial suspicion of foul play.

0:34WatchMay 25, 2021

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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