If You Only Knew by M. William Phelps Page B

collecting that, for several experienced detectives, had a rotten odor to it. Even the officers present on the night the 911 call came in had issues with the way Don’s legs were crossed, with a cup of water in the living room, as well as Billie Jean Rogers’s overall demeanor. Usurping all of that, however, on the previous day, August 30, 2000, an explosive piece of information had come into the TPD, sparking the call to the medical examiner in the first place.
    Bottom line: If cops did not sometimes rely on instinct, then very few murders would ever be solved. Here, now, the TPD not only had a “feeling” that Don’s death was no accident, the information Zimmerman had collected on August 30 was enough to warrant an entire new look—by everyone—into the death of Don Rogers.
    â€œWe’re investigating this case from a different perspective,” Don Tullock, the lead detective, told Dr. Dragovic during a phone call to the medical examiner at some point after Don’s death. “We’d like you to take another look at it.”
    â€œI can assure you that the lab does not dispose of the blood or vitreous fluid samples it collects. . . .”
    â€œThat’s great. We are actively investigating this matter currently,” Tullock concluded.
    That phone call was followed up by a fax.
    The fax was followed by a phone call from Tullock to the chief investigator for the medical examiner’s office, Michael Dowd.
    â€œMike, listen, we have information . . . that foul play was involved.”
    â€œThis is how it started,” Dr. Dragovic later explained, “this whole process of reevaluation.”
    The TPD had been informed the OCME had signed off on accidental death due to alcohol intoxication. With the fax and the phone call, they were asking the medical examiner to go back and look again and take into account all that they had discovered (on top of that explosive information on August 30) and give a second opinion. Although it’s not routine, there are plenty of instances when medical examiners change their opinions based on what investigators find out in the field. When a pathologist puts a death into the context of a law enforcement investigation and what cops have uncovered, some things that might not have made sense when initially conducting an autopsy now become quite clear.
    After talking to the TPD, Dragovic found Ortiz-Reyes and sat down to have a chat.
    â€œListen, we have a very big surprise here and we are going to have more information regarding the Rogers case [coming in].” This conversation took place before Ortiz-Reyes had changed his opinion. “So hold on here with this for now.”
    Ortiz-Reyes said later the medical examiner, as often happens when there are “surprises” in cases, then “took over.”
    Dr. Dragovic said he wanted Ortiz-Reyes to have a look at some of the police reports issued in Don Rogers’s death. The TPD had developed some important information that was now imperative to the cause of death.
    â€œThey’re telling me,” Dragovic explained to Ortiz-Reyes, “that they have some information indicating that Mr. Rogers’s death was not accidental or by natural causes. It was foul play. They even have a few suspects and they’re investigating along those lines.”
    Ortiz-Reyes was obviously interested in this.
    â€œI told them to continue and keep us informed.”
    Ortiz-Reyes said he understood.
    The other possibility that Dragovic and Ortiz-Reyes talked about was that regardless what the studies showed and the “experts” reported regarding alcohol intake for severe, chronic alcoholics, Ortiz-Reyes later explained, “There are cases reported in which people were driving with higher than .5 of alcohol. So a .44 . . . it’s like having a snack for them, for somebody that’s used to drinking. . . .”
    Ortiz-Reyes went on to agree that it was even possible