FBI Endorses Local Police Coverup

http://Mediafilter.org/guest/Pages/August05.1996.17:28:16

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  • This Event Happened in Fairfax County, Virginia
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	On December 1, 1991, Tommy Burkett was found dead
in his Herndon, Virginia home with multiple injuries
a fractured jaw, a battered right ear, and abrasions
on his chest.  He also had a bullet wound to the head,
supposedly self-inflicted from a .357 Magnum that was
in the room.  The exit wound was 1/4" by 1/2".

The autopsy revealed no powder burns nor powder debris.
The gunÕs cylinder was unlatched,and there were no prints
on the gun or cartridges. The police did not talk to
witnesses who observed TommyÕs car being chased that
afternoon , saw his car returned to the house hours
after he was already dead, and observed other cars at the scene.. 

     
	The investigating officer from the Fairfax County Police lied
repeatedly concerning his activities; the medical examinerÕs signature
was forged on the report identifying manner and cause of death one day
prior to an autopsy; and the pathologist denied the existence of photos
of the injured right ear even though he had previously shown them to
TommyÕs father.  After appealing to the Virginia State Medical Examiner
and The Governor, the parents appealed to the Justice Department.

    
	The FBI at first refused to investigate, but after Janet Reno received over 4000 signatures
on a petition, they opened an investigation.    In their 20-month "investigation" they never
spoke to the investigating officer and accepted the word of the local medical examiner, Dr. Donald
Haut that his obviously forged signature was his own(Wm. Megary, the FBI supervisor, said "Anyone
can sign anyone's name to anything."). They took walls from the Burkett house which held blood 
spatter far removed from the death scene but did no DNA testing, although they did acknowledge it
was human blood and the pattern was consistent with gunshot injuries.  FBI investigator Robert
Pocica refused to accept tips from "Unsolved Mysteries" and refused to interview reporters who
had received threats after covering TommyÕs story.  He did not obtain or test the gun, nor did
he obtain and compare fingerprints collected by the expert hired by the family (the FCPD did no
fingerprinting other than the gun, did not test the gun, did not remove the supposed "fatal"
bullet from the wall nor do any other forensic tests). In short, the FBI followed the same script
as the FCPD with the obvious intention of clearing the local cops of any wrongdoing.
This is the pattern established by the  feds in cases like this. 

(See the "Primetime" segment of Dec. 13, 1995 on FBI investigations of local police misconduct.)

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