The truth behind a death in Silver Spring | Forensic Files

[Music] Silver Spring is part of Montgomery County in the state of Maryland USA it
has a population of about 70,000 people and is located about a 40-minute drive south of Maryland's largest city
Baltimore Silver Spring is also only about a 20-minute drive north from the nation's capital Washington DC Silver
Spring was the home of 19 year-old Keith Warren keith was tall handsome bright sociable and extremely likable it was
the summer of 1986 keith had just graduated from Kennedy High School and was looking forward to starting college
in North Carolina he was spending the summer enjoying time with friends and working two jobs Keith made friends
quickly and easily and in those first few months of the summer he had made friends with some disreputable people
some of whom were rumored to have involvement with drugs [Music] Keith Warren was born on the 9th of
April 1967 in Kansas his parents were Mary and Cleo Warren a few months after keeps birth the Warren family moved to
Durham North Carolina in August to 1977 Mary and Cleo divorced in 79 Mary moved to Silver Spring Maryland with Keith and
his younger sister Sheri Mary later remarried becoming Mary Kui on the Tuesday the 29th of July 1986 keith was
at home at 3810 Tremaine Terrace Silver Spring Keith still lived with his sister sherry and his mother Mary Kui
however he was preparing to move back to Durham to attend the North Carolina Central University
kake's father Cleo still resided in Dunn where he was a major in the Durham Police Department
Keith hoped to mend his relations with his father but had suffered since the divorce almost 10 years earlier that
Tuesday Keith received the phone call after which he left home to hang out with some friends when he hadn't
returned home the next day Mary started making some calls around 10:00 but she struck out no one had heard from case or
knew where he was Mary called the Wheaton Glenmont station of the Montgomery County Police she didn't have
any luck there either they said they couldn't take a report until Keith had been missing for 48 hours on Thursday
the 31st of July 1986 two days after Keith had gone missing EMTs and paramedics from the Kensington Fire and
Rescue station responded to a 911 call the call was made by Claudia Lawson who said there had been a suicide in the
basement of 14 6:55 time week drive Silver Spring this address is only about 320 meters west of Keith's house
the occupant of 14 655 time week drive was Chip win his girlfriend was the caller claudia lawson and there was a
second mantel present at the house with them paramedics knocked on the door but it took a while before anyone answered
chip Claudia and the other male were having a discussion amongst themselves when they did eventually answer
paramedics requested to be taken down to the victim chip Claudia and the other male said the victim wasn't in the
basement he was in the woods out the back of the house only a short distance away so paramedics requested to be shown
where exactly the victim was in the woods but chip and the other male declined they told Claudia to go as
Claudia escorted the paramedics she explained that she had been walking her dog through the woods and that's when
she came upon the victim hanging from a tree when they got to the scene they discovered the body of Keith Warren
there was nothing the paramedics could do him he'd already passed away they stayed back to preserve the scene and
awaited the arrival of the police officer Luther Leverett from the Wheaton Glenmont station of the Montgomery
County police arrived on scene not long after arriving he said why would this have to happen on my lunch
break detective Beasley attended the scene and to the Medical Examiner dr. John Rogers
was also notified after a quick look at the scene and taking a few photos detective Beasley and officer Leverett
ruled the death as a suicide the Medical Examiner dr. Rogers agreed the following
is what Officer Leverett wrote in his report of the incident and on reading his report word for word here
investigation by the Ryder officer Leverett revealed that the complainant Claudia Lawson while walking her dog
discovered the victim hanging from a tree the complainant returned home and summoned the police the rider arrived on
the scene and observed the body of a young black male hanging via rope with his feet on the ground in a sitting
posture Wheatley investigation was notified along with the County Coroner detective Beasley and dr. Rogers arrived
on the scene a neighborhood was conducted by the writer and detective Beasley and ID was made by Rodney Lee
Kendal 38 45 Tremaine Terrace a fellow classmate and attempted to notify the next of kin at the residence was
negative the next-door neighbor Barbara Nichols 38:12 Tremaine Terrace was shown a
picture of the victim and ID saying a work number for the mother was obtained into the neighbor Nichols called and
spoke with the mother and left a message to contact the writer examination of the
scene by dr. Rogers detective Beasley and to the writer showed no evidence of foul play the victim had in his pants
pocket a picture ID school pass with the name Keith Warren the victim tied the rope to the base of a tree and made
several loops the other end of the rope was looped around the smaller tree and was thrown between the fork at the top
into the noose was made the victim apparently used the log to jump off and his body weight completed his intent
I'll leave officer leverets report there for now they'll read the rest later in the episode next let's hear the account
of Dulles lip Dallas lip was a firefighter with the Montgomery County and was also trained as an emergency
medical technician EMT he had previously been a firefighter in the United States
Air Force he was assigned to medic at Kensington Station on the 31st of July 1986 and was among the first responders
on scene prior to police arrived the following his Dallas lips account taken directly from his affidavit I was
assigned to medic 7 at Kensington station 25 and my unit was dispatched to an area in Silver Spring Maryland to
respond to a call reporting a possible attempted suicide by hanging when we arrived at the address given there was
no one waiting to guide us to the victim when we knocked on the door there was a
long pause before anyone answered the occupants two males and a female carried on some discussion among themselves
about whether any of them had called and to then told us the victim was back in the woods one of them reluctantly
escorted us to the site as we approached the site we determined from the appearance of the body that it was too
late to assist the victim as the color of the skin and the facial features indicated that the victim had been dead
for some time the paramedic went alone to investigate further while the rest of the team stayed back in order not to
disturb the soil our training as rescue workers taught us to be aware of potential criminal activity and preserve
the site for police investigation I was standing approximately 20 feet away from
the body from where I could carefully observe the scene while awaiting the arrival of police my training as an EMT
included training with respect to attempted hanging it struck me that this was not the typical scene of a suicide
by hanging first the body was hung from a small tree about four to six inches in
diameter hardly sufficient to support the weight of the body as the tree had bent over to the point that the victims
knees were flexed to approximately a 45 degree angle second there was nothing at
the scene for the victim to stand on or from which he could have jumped finally the Rope was fastened to the tree in an
unusual manner running from the victim's neck through a fork in the tree that would have been about eight to ten feet
off the ground had the tree being erect down to the base of the tree where it wrapped around the tree a few times and
then it went horizontally about one foot off the ground running across to a larger tree approximately 20 feet away
from the tree that suspended the victim the rope appeared to me to be arranged in a way more conducive to hoisting a
heavy load than for an attempted suicide in fact my impression at the time was that this looked like a lynching when
the police arrived the officer in charge of the fire rescue response spoke to the
police officer explaining what we had found our actions to that point endear unit identifications in case further
follow-up was required I was surprised that we heard nothing further we will leave Dallas lips affidavit
there no autopsy or toxicology tests were performed there was no crime scene examination witnesses report that the
area wasn't even roped off people were milling about and walking directly through the site
Antti wine coolers were located in the vicinity but they weren't taken as evidence there's no mention of them in
the police report at all Keith's car was found parked in the carpark of the georgian colony's
clubhouse Silver Spring where the community center swimming pool and tennis courts are located the walk from
the clubhouse to the tree is about 500 meters northwest police theorize that keith parked his car at the clubhouse
then walked to the tree with the 40-foot long rope he's back packed with some cassette tapes and the one where he then
killed himself in case you're wondering yes there were many closest spots to park his car that's your average
suburban neighborhood the reason why he decided the park where he did has never been able to be explained
police organized the Keefe's body to be removed from the scene and sent to Collins Funeral Home in Silver Spring
their protocol was to send the body to the closest funeral home however the closest funeral home were going to be
delayed getting to the scene so they contacted Collins which is the next closest case family state that the
police gave instructions to Colin's funeral home to have Keith's body embalmed immediately this is denied by
the montgomery police they state they did not order keeps body to be in bond and that the embalming was not done
until permission was given by Keith's family this is denied by Cates family who state they never gave permission for
abundant Keith's family hadn't even been notified of his death at this point they
had no idea what it happened they weren't notified until hours later embalming is the art of preserving human
remains by treating them with chemicals to prevent decomposition Mary cuy was at
work and she did receive a call from the neighbor who officer Leverett spoke to Barbara Nichols Mary worked as a
pathologist at Walter Reed Army Medical Center Barbara was upset on the phone but
wouldn't tell Mary why all she would say is that Mary had to contact officer Leverett Mary made the call however she
was told Leverett was busy on another job and wouldn't be available for at least two hours there was two hours
later now about five hours in total since Keith's body was found that Officer Leverett visited Mary at work he
informed her Keith had committed suicide and asked if there were any reasons why
he would want to end his life Mary was distraught she couldn't think of any reason for Keith to commit
suicide he had never displayed any signs of suicidal behavior he had never harmed their attempted to
harm himself had never even threatened to harm himself he didn't suffer from depression he was a happy teenager
looking forward to college in her distraught State Mary tried the search for a reason and thought back to any
disagreements they may have been officer Leverett placed this information in his
report which all read the rest of nia again misses word for word dr. Rogers released the body to Collins funeral
home address 500 University Boulevard Silver Spring no autopsy was ordered all evidence indicated suicide on July 29th
86 the father called and told the son that he would be in Maryland on July 31st to take the car back that was the
last day anyone in the family saw or heard from the son the victim felt that his father showed no love towards him
and that his father was very demanding while visiting his father nearing one year ago the son had a nervous breakdown
and spent four days in the hospital the mother went to North Carolina and picked
up her son and brought him back to Maryland shortly thereafter the father bought the son a Corvette which the
mother fears gave the son a new temptation in life friends girls etc the son lost his job on the 21st of this
month the car insurance was due in nine days that's the end of officer leverets report Keith's family spoke to his
employer Keith hadn't been fired he voluntarily left because he had secured another job
it's unknown where Leverett got the information that Keith had been fired from as he was leaving Leverett handed
Mary a business card from Colin's funeral home and told her to contact them after 9:00 a.m. the next day Mary
called her brother who lived in North Carolina he immediately made the trip to Silver Spring and arrived at the funeral
home about 1:00 a.m. they denied him entry hey Mary made two more attempts to get in and see Keith
however they continued to be denied access a note in the police file from detective Beasley states that he called
the funeral home at 10:00 a.m. the next day the 1st of August when he was informed the body had been processed
Mary and Keith's uncle weren't allowed in to see Keith until later that afternoon the first of August the
embalming of Keith's body had already been completed by then Mary requested Kate's clothes
however the funeral home informed her they had destroyed the clothes he was wearing at the time of his death as
Kate's body was severely decomposed and had deteriorated his clothes Keith's uncle then met with officer
levar Leverett handed him a brown bag containing the 40-foot long rope although the police kept the noose as
evidence he also gave him the empty wine coolers a pair of brown boots that Leverett said keith was wearing
he's jacket and a backpack containing some of his favorite cassette tapes Kate's shirt pants and underwear were
not handed over the police confirming what the funeral home had said they had to be thrown out due to being destroyed
by severe decomposition dr. John Rogers the county medical examiner also completed a report about Keith's death
he listed the time of death as 2:05 p.m. on the 30th of July the day before Kate
was found the report says he was first notified by police communications at 2:10 p.m. the 31st of July and keith was
pronounced dead by officer Leverett at 3 p.m. the 31st of July cause of death asphyxiation as a consequence of hanging
the body of his report states and misses work forward the deceased was depressed
last year this spring he graduated from high school he sister stated she hadn't seen him for about one week this
afternoon he was found by a person walking through the woods hanging by the neck with a half sisal rope from a tree
police and I were notified and responded he had a lot of green glow flyers around
him but only a few small maggots in the mouth and probably had been dead since the last p.m. that was the full and
complete report of the County Medical Examiner dr. John Rogers Keith sanely sister Sheri was not contacted by dr.
Rogers and did not speak to the police at the time and she was only a minor plus she was out of the state when Keith
thought Cheri later inquired how dr. Rogers was able to write in his report that she said she hadn't seen Keith for
about one week when she in fact hadn't spoken to anyone Cheri was told that this information came from an
undocumented third party Leverett had written in his report that Keith had been hospitalized the previous year and
dr. Rogers touched on it very briefly in his report mentioning Keith was depressed last year the incident they
were referring to occurred in July 1995 one year prior to Kate's death keith was
hospitalized at Duke University Medical Center he had returned to North Carolina
to visit his father they became involved in an argument over issues relating to the family breakdown which left Keith
extremely distraught stressed and struggling to cope with the family issues so he was hospitalized for a few
days nowhere in his hospital discharge papers does it mention the word depression or
suicidal the treating doctor wrote that he had treated Keith through adjustment disorder resulting from severe family
discord involving his near divorced biological parents Keith didn't leave a suicide note he had
never talked about suicide or made a previous attempt his friends and family said he was happy in the time leading up
to his death that he loved life and was looking forward to college crime scene was not examined and no
autopsy was conducted so it was this previous incident at the hospital the fact Keith had just lost his job and a
$2,000 car insurance payment was looming which he couldn't pay and the factor Kate's father was threatening to take
his car off him that police and the medical examiner used to justify their ruling of suicide the fact Keith lost
his job is in dispute by his family the police didn't receive this information until they had already ruled the death
of suicide and sent Keith's body to the funeral home although in officer leverets notes that Keith's family
obtained from the police file years later there is the following handwritten note made at the scene by Leverett
Beasley knew of mental problems from one year ago at scene no mention is the source of info on mental background at
scene it's unknown how Detective Beasley knew this information or where he got it
from as Keith's family were told that neither Leverett nor Beasley had any prior interaction with Keith this
information didn't make leverets report the police told Mary Kui Kate's death was an open-and-shut case he had hung
himself one month after Kate's death his auntie and grandmother wished to be taken to
the site of Keith's suicide in order to pray Rodney Kendall knew the site well he'd gone to school with Keith and you
heard his name mentioned in leverets report earlier as making identification of Keith's body he actually went to the
site while keith was still in the tree to make that ID so he took Kate's auntie and grandmother to the site so they
could pray only when they arrived Rodney found that the tree was no longer there Mary Cooley immediately contacted
the police and spoke with detective Beasley he told her we cut the tree down we are holding it for evidence Mary
wanted to know why the tree had been cut down for evidence if the case was an open-and-shut suicide and was now closed
she wasn't given an answer other than that was evidence detective Beasley confirmed that case was closed and would
not be reopened he told Mary she needed to start worrying about raising the only
child she had left Mary always had a hard time believing Keith had killed himself in the
following years she raised her concerns repeatedly to Montgomery County police in particular
detective Beasley they refused to reopen or to re-examine the case Mary was told
if you had been a better mother this wouldn't have happened another comment made about Mary was she
is an emotionally distraught mother who cannot come to terms with her son's death Mary wasn't alone though Dallas
lit the EMT who was one of the first on scene said in his affidavit that he was convinced that wasn't a suicide the
scene just didn't look right to him photos had been taken of the scene but no one was allowed to see them as they
were classified to the Montgomery County Police photo archives eventually Mary reluctantly accepted capes death was a
suicide and tried to move on as best she could six years later on what would have been
Kate's 25th birthday the 9th of April 1992 Mary arrived home from work there was a manila envelope addressed to her
on the front porch there was no return address Mary opened the folder and was shocked to find five crime-scene photos
showing Keith hanging from the tree after getting over the initial trauma of seeing the pictures Mary noticed several
things that unsettled her one she didn't recognize any of the clothes keith was wearing she had never seen him wearing
them before and she had never come across them while doing his washing - keith was not wearing the brown boots
officer Leverett had given to Kate's uncle at the station after his death he was wearing white running shoes 3 Mary
had not spoken to Dallas lip at this point and only had Leverett account but it looked like keith had jumped off a
log and his body weight completed his intent as stated in leverets report Mary was surprised to see Chiefs feet
touching the ground almost in a sitting position with the tree bent under the complicated rope set up
she formed the same view as Dallas lit it looked like he had been hoisted when Mary went to the police with the photos
that was shocked to see them that was supposed to be classified they weren't the original photos that were copies but
they couldn't explain how or why they were delivered to Mary's porch the Montgomery County police refused to
reopen the investigation against stating it was an open-and-shut case however the photos convinced Mary
something wasn't right she requested to see the trees taken from the scene that police took as evidence she was told
that wouldn't be possible several reasons have been given over the years one was that the tree was destroyed in a
fire the other was that it had been lost however detective Beasley denoise the tree was even cut down he told The
Washington Post years later quote I cut down the notch on the tree where the rope had been thrown over I kept it for
two years and disposed of it Rodney Kendall and Keith's family are adamant the entire tree was cut down within one
month of Kate's death we can't tell today it's a completely different sight houses have been built
up when the trees once were the photos weren't the only thing delivered to Mary that day there was also a note to go
with them the note said that mark Finley and Laurent Berman would be next Mary recognized these names they were
friends of Keith Mark Findlay found out about the threatening note he contacted Mary and left a message on
her answering machine he said I'll be by to see you I need to unload rumors were
circulating that Mark had allegedly been bragging that he had put Kate's body up
on the tree mark never did get around to see Mary and four months after the photos and note appeared on Mary's porch
mark Findlay was dead killed him what was called a freak bike accident his bicycle hit the curb and he
fell off and died it occurred in the early hours of the morning no one else involved no one at fault no witnesses
Perry White a paramedic called to the scene of mark's accident is of the opinion that the injuries suffered by
Marc enter the damage to his bike were much too great for him to have simply fallen off bus there were no rash burns
on his hands common from people who fall off a bike as they try to break their fall perry was of the opinion that Marc
had been hit by a car but the death was officially ruled a freak accident and no
autopsy was performed by order of the state's chief medical examiner's office Ultimo Maryland after receiving the
photos in 1992 Mary continued to lobby the Montgomery County police various elected officials and even the FBI to
reopen the investigation indicates death every time her requests were denied the
FBI referred her back to the County Police as there were no violations of federal law
local media took a renewed interest in the case and it was even featured on the television show unsolved mysteries but
head of the Montgomery County Major Crimes Division Lieutenant FEMEN said to the media we have seen nothing that
indicates that death was anything other than a suicide if mrs. Kui brings us some new evidence
we would gladly look at it he went on to say that Montgomery police had conducted
three internal reviews of the case each review determined to Kate's death to be a suicide
they found a no evidence case had been hoisted instated that cater wouldn't have needed to jump off anything as the
manner in which someone can kill themselves by hanging is limitless Mary Kui responded saying they never treated
my son's death as a crime scene they treated it as a sideshow after seeing the photos left on Mary's
porch Kate's father Cleo a police officer of 21 years at the time in Durham North Carolina offered a $5,000
reward for any information about Keith's death the office of the state's chief medical examiner is in Baltimore and dr.
John smiley was now performing the role although he wasn't in the role at the time of Kate's death he confirmed with
the media that Maryland law gives the state medical examiner discretion in deciding when an autopsy should be
performed however since he had taken over he had decided that autopsies are now required in all cases of suicides
involving teenagers and young adults regarding case specific case doctor smilax said an autopsy would not have
eliminated all questions in this case but it would have at least eliminated the criticisms about one not having been
done a spokesman for Montgomery police said the department was conducting an internal review as to how the photos
came to be placed on Mary's porch he said it was a puzzle and a mystery and admitted the photo lab had sloppy
record-keeping convinced something was seriously wrong with her son's case Mary Cooley sought the assistance of a
social group they became interested in Kate's case and helped raise money to have Keith's body exhumed from his North
Carolina grave they hired an independent pathologist to conduct an autopsy that independent pathologist was dr. Asador
of metal arcus the autopsy was conducted on the 26th of May 1994 eight years after Kate's death at Lehigh Valley
Hospital Center in Allentown Pennsylvania dr. Michael arcus had been the medical examiner for Warren County
Pennsylvania for eight years at that point he would go on to remain in that role for another 17 years he testified
at a number of high-profile cases including that of serial killer Charles Cullen he was known by his colleagues as
extremely knowledgeable and a very thorough his findings were as follows and this is
taken directly from parts of his report the autopsy findings on an anatomic basis showed a body hanging from a tree
limb with feet touching the ground and the knees bent there is nothing in the autopsy findings which will distinguish
whether he was alive or dead when the hanging occurred the clinical history is in contention between the investigators
and the family the scene investigation into the handling of the body immediately afterward was inappropriate
and not in accordance with accepted standards of a good medical legal investigation system subsequent
toxicological findings after exclamation and complete autopsy of the body as well
as preliminary literature review indicate the presence of substances which would not expect it to be found in
a body that has been buried even taking into consideration that eight years that
it was interred such substances are not normal constituents of embalming fluids or decompositional affect the substance
that most stands out is trichloroethane also found was dot chloro ethane ethylene zine xylene and toluene
trichloroethane is commonly found in degreases dry cleaning agents glue into paint removers ethyl benzene xylene and
toluene are often found together in gasoline the level of trichloroethane found in keeps blood and liver were at a
fatal level the level of dichloroethane was at a toxic level based on the levels
noted I do not believe he would have had the ability to hang himself and for that
matter he would in all likelihood not even have the ability to make a decision about hanging himself it is even
possible that he may have been dead and subsequently hung by others to make it look like a suicide he may also have
been near death unconscious and hung by others if he did it to himself then I would think that the utensils
used in terms of canisters rags etc would have been noted by the investigators when they arrived at the
scene by this scenario one would presuppose that he put the noose about his neck in
the manner in which he was found and then used the suspect substances until he passed there at which point they're
hanging would cause his death under the circumstances in a good medical legal investigation system a case such as
Keith Warren's must be considered and investigated as a homicide until proven otherwise
the funeral director handling the case was queried by representatives of the family and deniers having infused the
body with anything other than embalming fluid the substances recovered from ether found in various solvents paints
lacquers thinners and similar substances the possibility of groundwater contamination was entertained by this
pathologist however so far as we know there is no such in termination of the cemetery the volton casket was sealed
and personally I do not believe that the distribution levels would have been as found on Keith
unfortunately the casket broke in the process of their excavation and keith was placed in a new casket and
transported to allen tear neck there are no fractures or dislocations or hemorrhages the tongue larynx laryngeal
cartilages hyoid bone and soft tissues of the neck as well as the cervical vertebral column visually are without
note there are no undue hemorrhages in the region of the ligature groove no hemorrhages are noted about the neck
cause of death is undetermined in spite of decedent found hanging from tree limb with feet touching the ground
and knees bent it is undetermined because toxicological findings are incompatible with the autopsy findings
and in fact do not support a hanging diagnosis we will leave the autopsy report there so the substances found in
Keith's body bothered dr. May helices further investigation was conducted by him to ascertain if those chemicals
could have come from the embalming fluids dr. Mason the toxicologist informed the doctor metal arcus these
chemicals were highly unlikely to be found in embalming fluid he had never encountered them before
from embalming fluids during his career as a preliminary checked three embalming
chemical companies were canvassed Arlington Chemical Company Dodge Chemical Company and the goal to bond
the company each said no those chemicals found in Keith don't form part of embalming food and even if they did it
would be very remote they were getting to the blood and liver Keith was embalmed at Collins funeral home
enquiries with them revealed that in 1986 they were using embalming fluids produced by Pierce royal bond company
and Dodge chemical company both companies provided affidavits declaring their embalming fluids do not contain
any of the substances found in Keith's body dr. Mason also confirmed that higher
levels of trichloroethylene were found in Keith's brain at levels three times higher than found in his liver and blood
as the trichloroethane was widely distributed through Keith's body his brain liver and blood
dr. Mason is of the belief the chemicals were in his body before Kate's death a quote from dr. metal arcus the presence
of these substances they have no business being there they are not products of decomposition and are
thoroughly distributed throughout the body the possibility exists that this young man was incapable of hanging
himself you need to put the district attorney on notice of these things after the results of the autopsy were released
Mary cuy told the Montgomery Journal I always wondered how he got on the tree and why he was wearing someone else's
clothes I would hope that this case would be looked at again but Montgomery County police chief Clarence Edwards
said a new investigation would not be granted however he did say he would pass the full autopsy report on to the Major
Crimes Division for review a spokeswoman for the department told The Morning Call
newspaper that a copy of the autopsy report would also be sent to the state medical examiner's office for review dr.
smile ech and if he felt there was some discrepancy between the autopsy and the outcome of the police investigation then
the case would be reopened dr. smile akka did review the autopsy report at the state medical examiner's
office in Baltimore in January 1995 he released his findings Keith Warren committed suicide contradicting the
findings of dr. Michael Argus dr. smile act ruled that the chemicals were injected into Keith's body after his
death he said in his report quote it is my opinion that the toxicological findings are consistent with the effects
of the embalming and body preparation process the absence of any physical injury on the body supports the
conclusion that Keith Warren's hanging was a self-inflicted act dr. smilax specifically mentioned sanfino a solvent
that is applied to the skin to decontaminate bodies as being the source of the chemicals although Mary cuy said
a representative from savino told her that their product does not end it never has contained the chemicals found in
capes body Mary didn't believe Kate's death was necessarily a homicide she accepted it was possible he could have
accidentally overdosed with other teens who then panicked and staged a suicide to avoid any trouble with the law Mary
hired an attorney to file a civil action lawsuit against Montgomery County citing
police negligence and violations of both hers and Keith's civil rights unfortunately the attorney she had filed
the suit three months after the statute of limitations on civil rights violations had passed so the lawsuit was
dismissed in 1999 Mary petition to the Montgomery County State's Attorney Douglas Ganz law to look into the case
after spending two years going over the case documents and tracking down old witnesses Gensler agreed to reopen the
case obeah it was left as inactive so it wasn't being looked at but if further information came to life then it would
be investigated Gaines law said it seemed to me there were a lot of open ends loose ends
regarding the investigation clearly circumstances surrounding keeps death had not been fully investigated we still
don't know definitively what happened on that day in February 2003 Gaines was sent a letter in response to a request
for an update on Keith's case I'll read from that letter now in coordination with the Sheriff's Office for Montgomery
County Maryland a very thorough investigation was conducted it remains unsolved precisely how Keith Warren died
on July 31 1986 as we previously discussed many witnesses were put before the grand jury in regards to mr.
Warren's death given the confidential nature of grand jury proceedings we are not able to share specific details with
you however I want to reassure you that the case remains open albeit in an inactive status and if any new leads
materialized we will pursue them silent Douglas gancelot Montgomery County State's Attorney the grand jury was news
to keeps family they weren't aware that had been one never notified they weren't
called to attend or give evidence at the grand jury as the letter says the proceedings of a grand jury are
confidential so we have no idea who was called and what evidence was given in a media interview
gansler said we reopen to the case we use the grand jury we examined all the leads we talked to all possible
witnesses and came to a conclusion of in conclusiveness there are very strong arguments having looked at everything in
this case that Keith Warren died of suicide but there are equally strong arguments to suggest that he did not die
of suicide that he was killed or died accidentally and then was put on the tree afterwards then he was asked if it
was his opinion that police botched the case he replied under today's guidelines
and procedures this would have been botched still the Montgomery County Police maintained they were happy with
their investigation and to their determination that Keith's death was a suicide Kate's family requested that the cause
of Kate's death on his certificate at least be changed to undetermined however the state medical examiner's office
refused doctor smile AK was no longer the state's chief medical examiner he died of a heart attack in 2001 Keith's
family continued their fight in February 2012 dr. Muhammad Ali ala Bayati a toxicologist and pathologist conducted
an investigation into Keith Warren's death he has over 25 years experience in both fields and has served as an expert
witness in many medical legal cases he has published over 50 articles in medical and scientific journals after
completing a thorough investigation of all of the evidence he wrote in his report the following Keith had a lethal
level of trichloroethane and a toxic level of chloromethane in his blood brain liver kidney and
muscles the concentrations and the pattern of the chemical distribution in tissues
indicate Keith received these chemicals about 1 to 2 hours prior to his death via ingestion and they were likely mixed
with alcoholic drinks the ingestion of high doses of these chemicals led to vomiting diarrhea central nervous system
depression and aspiration pneumonia anthe wine cooler bottles were found in the densely wooded area where keepers
found hanging from a tree alcohol increases the absorption of trichloroethane and dichloromethane from
the gastrointestinal tract which explains the presence of high concentrations of these chemicals in
cakes tissues both chemicals are very soluble in alcohol autopsy studies of suicide hanging cases have shown
injuries to the neck soft tissues bones and organs in the majority of cases and bleeding in the soft tissues of the neck
in all cases the autopsy showed no hemorrhages soft tissue injury dislocation or fractures in Kate's neck
the lack of bleeding and injury in Kate's neck can be explained by the following medical evidence Keith died as
a result of ingesting a lethal dose of chemicals Keith's body was lifted and put in a hanging position a few hours
after his death when the muscles of the neck became stiff due to rigor mortis in
1992 Kate's mother received five crime-scene photos showing Keith who was hanging from a tree she noticed that
keith was not wearing his own clothing which indicates that key information for the investigation was missed it is
likely that Keith's body was washed after death and these clothes were changed because they became dirty with
vomit and possibly with fecal materials due to the lethal doses of chemicals mixed with alcohol that keith ingested
embalming Keith's body also interfered with the collection of important medical evidence the police and the County
Medical Examiner missed the cause of death in cage case because they did not conduct the required standard medical
legal investigation in his case we will end the doctor's report there despite these findings nothing has changed the
state medical examiner's office still refused to change the cause of death on caged certificate Montgomery County
police are still happy with their investigation and determination of suicide and will not reinvestigate
officer Leverett retired from the montgomery county police in March 2000 after pleading guilty to assaulting his
girlfriend second-degree assault beat her choked her and banged her head against the wall during an argument as
reported by The Washington Post he was subsequently charged with violating a protective order he was immediately
suspended by montgomery county police before retiring chip Winn is dead from a drug overdose he was the boyfriend of
Claudia Lawson who made the normal monk call chief lived in the house keith was found behind claudia lawson and the
second male present in the house that day are still alive Lawrence Berman the other male named
along with mark Finley in the note delivered with keeps crime-scene photos - Mary is still alive the noose was
never given to Kate's family Montgomery police actually admit that has been lost
possibly throwing up Mary Kui passed away in 2009 currently Mary's daughter Shari Warren is still trying to have the
cause of death changed on Kate's death certificate she'll be happy to be met halfway and had the cause of death
changed to undetermined [Music] you

Case 43: Keith Warren

Silver Spring is part of Montgomery County in the state of Maryland, USA. It has a population of about 70 thousand people and is located about a 40-minute drive south of Maryland’s largest city, Baltimore. Silver Spring is also only about a 20-minute drive north from the nation’s capital. Washington DC…

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research and writing – Anonymous Host Production, scoring – Mike Migas Additional scoring – Andrew Joslyn

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RESOURCES

For all credits and sources please visit https://www.casefilepodcast.com/case-43-keith-warren

Brief Summary

Keith Warren's death in 1986 was ruled a suicide, but evidence suggests foul play and mishandling of the investigation.

Key points

The Disappearance of Keith Warren. Keith Warren, a bright young man, goes missing after a night out with friends.
The Tragic Discovery. Keith's body is found hanging in the woods, leading to a swift ruling of suicide.
Controversial Investigation. The investigation into Keith's death raises questions about the ruling of suicide.
Family's Struggle for Answers. Mary Kui fights to understand the circumstances surrounding her son's death.
Mary's Discovery. Mary finds shocking crime-scene photos of her son, raising new questions about his death.
Controversial Autopsy Findings. An independent autopsy reveals chemicals in Keith's body, suggesting foul play.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Why would this have to happen on my lunch break?

Officer's reaction upon arriving at the scene

4:38WatchNov 19, 2018

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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