by California attorney Elliot Blair suffered a severe skull fracture and bruising across his body before he died at a Mexican resort, a lawyer for the family said.
The mysterious death of the Orange County Public Defender at Las Rocas Resort and Spa in Rosarito Beach on January 14 was initially believed to be the result of an accidental fall by Mexican authorities.
However, his wife Kimberly Williams believes he was murdered and has requested that a second independent autopsy be performed in the United States.
Preliminary results revealed that Blair, 33, had more than 40 fractures to his head, mostly to the back of his skull and the left side of his face, attorney Case Barnett said. the New York Post.
Mr Barnett said the mail that the injuries suggest that Blair was beaten by several muggers and that he may have been “beaten and dragged”.
“It’s obvious to us and the experts we’ve talked to that this is a crime,” he said.
The second autopsy revealed several alarming inconsistencies in the Mexican authorities’ account of his death.
Blair’s head fractures were on the opposite side to where he was found slumped on concrete, Barnett said.
And a large black mark on his arm could have been a defensive wound, Barnett added.
Blair and his wife celebrated their first wedding anniversary with dancing and karaoke at the resort south of Tijuana the night he died.
(GoFundMe/Elliot Blair)
Mrs. Williams said that after leaving the Spash Baja bar and restaurant around 7 pm, two local police officers extorted them for money.
“The officer asked us where we were and what we were doing in Rosarito,” Williams told ABC News.
“Elliot told him we were on vacation. He asked us again for money. At that point, Elliot pulled out his Orange County Public Defender badge.
Mrs. Williams, who is also an attorney for the Orange County Public Defender’s Office, said the officers continued to demand money from them, and Blair ended up handing over about $160.
She said they got back to the resort and fell asleep next to each other just before midnight.
She awoke about two hours later to the devastating news from hotel staff that her husband had died after falling from a fourth-floor balcony.
The Baja California State Attorney General’s Office said Blair’s death “was the result of an unfortunate accident” from a fall.
Mexican authorities said there was no evidence of a struggle inside the hotel room and, according to a toxicology report, there was a “considerable” amount of alcohol in Blair’s body, the Baja California State Attorney’s Office added.
The cause of death was recorded as severe head trauma at the initial autopsy.
Mrs. Williams disputed that her husband was intoxicated that night.
