3 cases highlight troublesome coroner issues
They are three horrendous cases, but no one investigated until KOMO News started looking.
We tried to find answers, but the coroner - the man in charge - refuses to talk. When asked why, Lewis County Coroner Terry Wilson said, "My lawyer advised me not to."
That's the same reaction Wilson gave last year when we asked about the controversial Ronda Reynolds case. Now he says he'll never sit down for an interview. We wanted to know: What is he hiding?
We asked Lewis County for all coroner complaints since 2000. Three disturbing cases came to light, and in each case, Wilson dropped the ball every time.
Dead body left outside
In 2000, Dennis Bardsley's father, Charles Bardsley, died of a heart attack while en route to the hospital. The medic crew returned his body to his rural home for a deputy coroner to take control.
Bardsley's wife, Cindy Bardsley, recalls the night vividly.
"I said, 'Oh my God, Dennis, watch out. I think that's him right by the garbage can,'" she said.
The coroner's office decided to leave Charles Bardsley's body outside until the funeral home could get there. Hours later when his children arrived, they found their father's body, lying strapped to a backboard, on the ground in the driveway.
"I don't even think they should be in the coroner business," said Cindy Bardsley.
"He was covered from the waist up, laying on a board out there," recalled Dennis Bardsley.
Nine years later, the memory is still too harsh to remember without bringing tears. For more than six hours, Charles Bardsley's body lay outside. The family begged the deputy coroner at the house to move their father's body. He refused.
"Morally, I don't understand how anyone could allow that to happen," said Cindy Bardsley.
"I think it's completely wrong and it's just inhumane," Dennis Bardsley said.
Electronic equipment disappears
The second case involves David Brooks, who died of a heart attack.
He lived alone; his elderly parents live back East. But he had a good friend in landlady Doris Barney.
"Anytime we came over, Dave invited us in," Barney said. "He'd always (say), 'Sit down, my friend.'"
Barney and her husband were close to Brooks. They visited him regularly and knew his apartment was chock-full of valuable electronics.
"And when we came in after the coroners had been here, there was nothing on the desk," Barney said.
A neighbor who wished to remain anonymous confirmed that deputy coroners took boxes from the apartment and drove off in Brooks' truck.
"And I wondered, 'What are they going to do with it? Where are they taking it?"' the neighbor said.
Among the public records obtained by KOMO News was an undated coroner's inventory, which lists only some of Brooks' possessions. Brooks' parents said the coroner's office shipped them several boxes full of their son's things, including boxes filled with a wet blanket and towels, as well as rolls of toilet paper.
Gloria and David Brooks said they asked for their son's personal computer, VCR, or copier, printer - all of which were on that coroner's inventory, but never received them. Along with his digital camera, those items just disappeared.
"They just came and took it upon themselves to haul this stuff out," Barney said.
But when Barney tried to find out what happened to Brooks' possessions, she got nowhere with Wilson.
"I just felt like he had been violated," she said.
'Just so much lack of compassion'
But the most disturbing case is that of Matt Daarud.
Two years ago, a train hit and killed the 17 year old. The tracks were shut down so coroner's deputies could clean the site. But when family friend Connie Todd arrived four hours later, all emergency personnel were gone and she made a grisly discovery.
"It was very messy, very messy," Todd said. "There were many pieces of Matt out there, and I just kind of lost it."
Unable to reach the coroner's office, Todd feared Daarud's family would find the horrific site, so she started picking up pieces of Matt's tissue and bone -- some the size of dinner plates. Todd is still troubled by nightmares of that evening.
"How could they leave him out there like that?" she said.
It got worse. Todd said the coroner's office told her she would have to keep the remains overnight in her family freezer.
"So disrespectful, just so much lack of compassion," she said. "They took a really bad situation and made it a hundred times worse."
'I really find that offensive'
We brought all three cases to retired King County medical examiner Dr. Donald Reay.
"Those are outstandingly bad cases," he said.
Reay said a coroner or medical examiner's first obligation is to show respect for human remains.
"It's really inappropriate to bring the body and place it in the driveway in the public view -- I really find that offensive," he said.
Reay said a coroner is responsible for caring for the body and any personal items that may be part of a death investigation. But what about packing up an entire apartment?
"Certainly doesn't make any sense," Reay said. "(It) raises the question: how many other times has this occurred?"
We don't know, because coroner Terry Wilson isn't talking.
I asked him: "At any point in time will you talk to us about these issues?"
His answer? "No," as he shut the door.
And the Problem Solvers have learned that no one can make Wilson talk. He's been Lewis County's elected coroner since 1982 and answers only to the voters there - not the county commissioners, the prosecutor, or the sheriff.
His office comes up for re-election next year.
Read the reports
The following are the documents behind the three cases highlighted above: