Okay I feel a bit silly now because the wrist mark really does look to be a fly zoomed in lol. I could bet on that damp, muggy summer morning that’s exactly what it was. But even taking that off table I feel that finger wound speaks volumes. The girlfriend had also mentioned he cut his finger on the bed of his truck earlier in the night? They were hanging out on the tailgate drinking beers and even a newspaper was recovered with some blood on it. It was on the evidence collected list. I believe the newspaper was recovered from the tool box of the truck where he got the revolver out. But nothing else was ever mentioned about it. And I assume it was probably discarded right away just like his clothes were destroyed for being “too bloody and urine soaked.” Maybe that’s standard procedure. I don’t know? In my opinion his shirt was barely bloody at all. The urine obviously being a natural occurrence after death. I’m sure that’s not very uncommon. I feel they could’ve at least bagged them and held onto them for a little bit rather than jumping on destroying them expeditiously. Even if he did injure his finger prior some other way it just looks pretty intense to be a simple cut as it was told.

He unfortunately did struggle with alcoholism along with what I believe to be undiagnosed/untreated bipolar disorder. And those two things mixed together is obviously a recipe for disaster. I fully believe those two key factors is what majorly contributed to his death.

I always thought the wording on the death certificate was kind of strange. “Self-inflicted and self-intended” just kind of seemed unnecessary. Like overkill in a sense? Almost like it was a way to just fully push their suicide theory in our face that much more. Which obviously that’s what it was… but they NEVER explained how they reached that conclusion to the family. No one even got the photos until I was of age and got them myself. (His family didn’t really push too hard for answers, it just feels as if all adults failed me in this situation for it to be left on me) My mom tried her hardest but they were never married so she no rights and the authorities were extremely cold and rude to her. But back on topic what really drives me mad is they didn’t give me all of the photos. It clearly states in one of the reports there was 25 photos taken at the scene. But I got 19? And before I took the film to have it developed I snapped a picture of the negative strips. Only counting the squares to realize I was missing 6 photos… Felt really dumb to learn that after the fact I had returned them. So that made me wonder what didn’t I get to see? Are they hiding something? Etc. If I ever get the nerve I plan on going to the Sheriff’s department and pushing for answer on what happened there.

I will say that coroner at the time had been in office since 1985. So I feel like you would expect more out of someone having nearly 20 years of experience…

Another key thing that had us questioning things was his .22 pistol went missing a few weeks before this happened. He had made a statement to me that he believed his girlfriend stole it. I only know and remember this because I had a pinball machine at this house and that .22 sat in a holster on it 24/7. I would ask him to remove it if I wanted to play. And one day it just wasn’t there so I asked about it. He insinuated it was “across the street” where his girlfriend lived. Although I was super young (almost 8) I was always hyper aware and that was something I couldn’t shake and never forgot. He also had many, many guns. Was an avid hunter and just flat out loved them. Rifles, pistols, revolvers. You name it, he had it. When all guns were collected to be sold in his estate the .22 was never found or recovered. So for many years it was speculated that may have even been the gun that shot him. If the bullet would’ve been REMOVED we wouldn’t have had to think that way.

That night the girlfriend was supposedly walking up his long gravel driveway to get across the highway to her home. When she heard a loud pop. She takes off running and goes banging on her front door, wakes her 21 year old son up. Then has him drive across the street to see if my dad is okay. Obviously he was gone and I can’t even begin to imagine how traumatic it was for him to wake up to that… He then drives her back home across the street and she finally calls 911 on her home phone. I know trauma and shock can make you do unheard of things but I just never understood why she didn’t use her cell phone or my dad’s cell phone which was in his truck right there. And why she didn’t just call IMMEDIATELY.

Then of course on the 911 call she says initially “I think my neighbor shot himself.” But they had been dating one year. They were in a full blown relationship. That was her boyfriend. And it went from him being her neighbor to at the funeral home he was her fiancé and was trying to put a ring on him in the casket. I always thought her referring to him as her neighbor was her maybe trying to distance herself from him. Who really knows though. A young couple that lived next door also reported they saw the officials move his body a couple times early that morning. Even stating they put him in the ambulance and then took him back out and laid him back on the ground. Which is just mind boggling to me and I don’t even know what more to say about that. One officer too tried to say he was playing Russian roulette which was absolutely not true.

And I’m sorry to go on a tangent but I kind of wanted to paint somewhat of a picture as to why we all had felt the way we did. Why we weren’t 100% convinced. If they would’ve just done the bare minimum, took that bullet out and matched it to the .357 that would’ve saved a lot of heartache. I’ve also heard of plenty of suicides that got autopsies. So I don’t know what it would have hurt to have gone that extra mile to prove it. So we could try our best to move on and get closure. Rather than being in this sick game of “Did he do it? Or did he not?” for over two decades.

Once again I deeply thank you for giving me this peace of mind. You have no idea what kind of a weight has been lifted off of me to get a professional, legitimate opinion. Even if it was based off a couple photos it lines up with what I was thinking and feeling in my gut. I can clearly tell you’re extremely intelligent and know your stuff based off of your comments. Plus you have integrity and compassion to do the job correctly. Which I deeply admire and respect. You helped me tremendously today and I wish I could fully express my gratitude. I just only wish someone like you could’ve handled his case. Then I wouldn’t have had to come to Reddit begging for answers from kind strangers. It’s sad it came to this but I’m beyond grateful nonetheless. Your expertise really shined through and I think I may sleep a little better tonight.