SAN FRANCISCO
After 7 months, man's death still a mystery
Study inconclusive if fall or attack caused his injuries
- Mike Weiss, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, May 25, 2006
After a seven-month investigation by the coroner and police, the San Francisco medical examiner has been unable to determine whether a San Francisco man found bleeding outside an art opening in October was the victim of a fatal accident or was slain.
In a 21-page report issued this week, the coroner said Barry Nielsen, 48, who had survived a long hospitalization for AIDS, died from injuries to his cervical spinal cord caused by blunt trauma to his head and neck.
But the medical examiner was not able to conclude whether Nielsen's injuries -- which included a quarter-inch-deep cut in the front of his scalp, bruises to his forehead, nose, mouth and eye, and devastating fractures of his vertebrae and spine -- were inflicted when he was forcefully struck, or whether he slipped while dancing on the sidewalk while acting as a greeter for an Open Studio event on Oct. 25.
Though the corner of Bryant and Mariposa streets was well-lighted by street lamps and light from a Muni yard on the night of Nielsen's death, and heavily trafficked with people attending the event, police were unable to locate any witnesses, including patrons of a crowded Starbucks across Mariposa Street.
The report by Assistant Medical Examiner Judy Melinek and initialed by Dr. Amy Hart, the chief medical examiner, was criticized by Eric Hallquist, Nielsen's former partner and his executor.
"I am absolutely not satisfied," Hallquist said. "I think the coroner bowed to pressure from the police. All along Dr. Melinek was telling me it was a suspected homicide, that she couldn't wrap her head around it any other way. The police just dragged out the quote unquote investigation -- which I don't really believe was one.
"But because there were no eyewitnesses, her final determination seemed reasonable to me. She was the only person in an official capacity who has been open and honest with me."
The coroner's office and the homicide unit denied that they had "negotiated a cause of death," as Hallquist claimed, and defended their work as careful and thorough.
"When we have a case where the friends and family have raised questions," said Stephen Gelman, the administrator for the medical examiner's office, "we typically have a very thorough investigation, with everybody looking at this and making sure our findings are accurate."
Lt. John Hennessey, head of the police homicide detail, agreed. "All I can tell you is we conducted an extremely thorough investigation. I don't know what else we can do to satisfy him," he said of Hallquist. "I know he may not be happy, but (the investigation) certainly represents a great deal of effort and a great deal of thought by both the medical examiner and homicide."
Hallquist's ire -- and that of other friends of Nielsen -- stems from the initial reaction of an officer who responded when Nielsen was found on the ground, bleeding from the head, his iPod still playing. That officer assumed Nielsen had fallen, as indeed his friends did, until doctors at San Francisco General Hospital said the injuries probably resulted from an attack.
"An emergency room physician told me his injuries are not consistent with a fall," Hallquist said. Specifically, he said, it was hard to understand how a fall could have resulted in both the cuts and bruises to Nielsen's face, and the crushing blow to the back of his neck and spine. "The injuries would be more consistent with an attack."
When Hallquist and others complained to the police, a possible-homicide investigation was begun several days later. As recently as March, Melinek, Hart and homicide Inspectors Holly Pera and Joseph Toomey visited the scene at 1890 Bryant St.
Although the police conducted many interviews, several potential witnesses said they were not approached by the police until long afterward. Helene Fried, an artists' consultant who ran to the Starbucks on Oct. 25 and alerted an officer on a coffee break of a man bleeding, said she was not interviewed until she contacted the police in February.
And David Warczak, a graphic designer who was one of two men who found Nielsen and called 911, said he also had to contact the police and offer a statement.
Both Fried and Warczak said their impressions at the time were that it appeared to them Nielsen had been attacked. "You could tell he didn't just fall," Warczak said. "He was crumpled."
E-mail Mike Weiss at mikeweiss@sfchronicle.com.
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