Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 13

B-4 Pittshurch Post-Gazette: Tuesdav. March 23. 1W LOCAL Trail cold in killing of East Hills Homicide or suicide? Perper says jail death was suspicious even before mom interv ened Allegheny County Coroner Dr. Joshua A Perper said yesterday that his office had doubts from the start about the death of a county jail inmate March 9. But Perper said he wasn't able to convey to Leatrice Floyd, the mother of inmate Seth Floyd, that her son's death was a possible homicide because of a request from county police, who had not finished their investigation.

"The mother kept saying it was not a suicide," Perper said. "I kept saying, 'I'm telling you, I didn't make a determination of The county coroner's office listed the manner of death as homicide Friday, when county police arrested two inmates, Melvin Good-wine, 26, and Shawn Burton, 25, and charged them in Floyd's death. Before that, the coroner's office listed the manner of death as pending, Perper said. A frustrated Leatnce Floyd, who lives in Los Angeles, requested a second autopsy, performed by forensic pathologist and former county coroner Dr. Cyril H.

Wecht after she refused to believe that her 300-pound son had hanged himself with shoelaces. She said Warden Charles Kozakiewicz told her that Seth Floyd died "from his own hand." Kozakiewicz said yesterday that he talked with Mrs. Floyd once and described her son's death as an "apparent suicide" based on the initial information he received from police after the body was taken to the morgue. Mrs. Floyd said she was not told there was anything suspicious about her son's death until she met with Perper after she came to Pittsburgh last Tuesday for the second autopsy.

But even before that, Perper said, senior forensic pathologist Dr. Leon Rozin who conducted the first autopsy had his own doubts about Seth Floyd's death and listed it as pending as a result. Those doubts, he said, stemmed from bruises on the inmate's body and the fact that it was partly covered by a mattress when it was found. "Even for the inexperienced pathologist, it was not a suicide," Rozin said. Lt.

John Brennan of the county homicide squad said his detectives doubted suicide from the start. "Right away, it looked like a homicide," he said. "It was very suspicious from the very beginning." Perper called the autopsy by Wecht who concluded that Floyd's death was not a suicide a "total noncontributory effort" because the coroner's office already knew as much. That drew a sharp response from Wecht. "That is an incredibly self-serving, arrogant, completely inaccurate statement that is designed, really, to cover his ass," Wecht said.

He suggested that the coroner's office did not take a harder look at Floyd's case until Mrs. Floyd insisted on the second autopsy and he discussed his findings with Rozin. "If it hadn't been for the mother, if it hadn't been for lawyer Jimmy Ecker and a second examination of the body, it would have gone down as a suicide," Wecht suggested. "If homicide was so clear to everyone, how come the body was released to the funeral home? How come nothing was being done and the mother was told unequivocally that it was a suicide?" By Michael A. Fuoco Post-Gazette Staff Writer The trail to the killer of George Rudolph could be 22 weeks old.

A 17-day gap between the last time the East Hills youth was seen alive and when his nude body was discovered Sunday has compounded the probe of his strangulation death, investigators said yesterday. "Some of the most vital things about this case we don't know," said Cmdr. Ronald Freeman of the Investigations Branch. "We don't know why he was killed, how many people killed him, when he was killed or where he was killed." The body of the 16-year-old was discovered about 4:15 p.m. Sunday in a ravine near a basketball court adjacent to East Hills Elementary School.

One of a group of children playing football in the area found the body when he went to retrieve a ball that was thrown into the ravine, Freeman said. The coroner's office said Ru Spring cleaning rU iuiu.juv turn i i Psychiatric hospital attacks Vatican PRIEST FROM PAGE B-l Vs. dolph, of Wilner Drive, died of ligature strangulation, meaning something was tied around his neck to cut off his breathing. Investigators would not comment on what may have been used in the strangulation. Because the body was frozen, an approximate time of death could not be determined, Coroner Dr.

Joshua Perper said. Whether Rudolph was killed where his body was found or was strangled elsewhere and his body was dumped in the ravine is not known, Freeman said. Rudolph last spoke with a family member by phone about 3 a.m. on March 4, according to Freeman. Nothing in the call indicated he was in trouble, police said.

"After that, we lost contact until the corpse is found in the gully," Freeman said. Investigators believe Rudolph was killed not long after the 3 a.m. call. "That's what we're 1 I i 5 4 i 3 Vis A. HEWS DIGEST find body Sheraden hill Three teen-agers looking for cans on a wooded hillside in Shera-: den last night instead found the body of a young black woman.

Police initially thought the wom-t an had been shot in the head, but later said she appeared to have been beaten. An autopsy was set for this morning. Police said the body was beneath I rubbish about 20 feet down a hill- side near the intersection of Glen Mawr and Converse streets. Cmdr. Ron Freeman said he believes the body had been there for at least two 'days.

He said police were investigating the death as a homicide. The wom-; an appeared to be in her mid-20s to I early 30s, Freeman said. I The youths found the body short-; ly before 9 p.m. Democrats oust Bertani Lawyer Dante G. Bertani was dumped last night as chairman of 1 the Westmoreland County Demo-cratic Party.

Bertani, 61, director of the West-: moreland County public defender's office, had held the post for almost 12 years. He was ousted in a 124-112 vote at the parry's spring conven-; tion at Greensburg Salem High School. Bertani was challenged on the grounds that party bylaws forbid of- fleers from serving if they run for political office. Bertani has filed for the state Supreme Court. Bertani of North Huntingdon had asked to take a leave of ab-' sence until after the May 18 prima-' ry, but that request was voted down.

He also was unsuccessful in getting party members to change the organization's bylaws. Cathryn Mikolay of Deny Township, party vice chairwoman, will serve as interim chairwoman. PAT buses to detour Some Port Authority Transit buses will make minor detours starting today. From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., 54C North Side-Oakland-South Side inbound buses will have to go around Bigelow Boulevard near the University of Pittsburgh during the annual Greek Week Chariot Race.

From 10:30 a.m. to noon next Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, 11C Perrv Highwav. 11D Perrvs-ville Avenue, HE Fineview and 11F View outbound buses will be in the vicinity of Heinz Downtown, during the School Time Concerts by the Pittsburgh Symphony. 2 held in fatal stabbing Two 19-year-old Homewood men face trial on charges of beating and stabbing a man to death over a $200 drug debt. Police testified at an inquest yesterday that Marcus Gould, 34, was asleep on the couch in his home on Finance Street, Homewood, on March 10, when Daryl Johnson of Kelly Street and Matheno Drew of Jonathan Court kicked in door.

I Johnson and Bey wanted to talk about a $200 cocaine debt Gould supposedly owed Johnson, Detective Patrick McCauley testified. I After a discussion, Johnson and left, walked three blocks and decided that they might not have made their point forcefully enough. They went back to "rough up" Could, Johnson told police later, -McCauley said, i New Wilkinsburg chief Wilkinsburg Council last night 'appointed Thomas Curry, a 20-year Veteran of the borough's police Jorce, to temporarily replace Dan Kearick, who resigned last month as police chief to take the same position in Collier. Curry will be paid the equivalent pf $38,521 a year. The borough plans to conduct a nationwide search for a permanent chief.

Pothole line extended Because the "Blizzard of '93" 3cept maintenance workers busy blowing snow instead of patching potholes, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has extended the toll-free "Pothole Hotline" lor an extra week, to April 9. The hotlines PennDOT has set Hp for the past 13 years are open Statewide from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The number for Allegheny County is 800-242-0688. Penn-pOT says to call only is a pothole is dn a state-owned road, and to be repared to provide a specific ocation.

Suspect waives hearing A Penn Hills woman charged forging absence excuses for Several Linton Middle School students yesterday waived her right to 'a preliminary hearing. The case against Rebecca 38, of Royal Drive, will go to iCommon Pleas Court. i Macioce, who is free on her own Recognizance, also was accused of 'buying a case of beer for a middle School student. Noted 'Mark Sauer, president of the Pittsburgh Pirates, has been appointed to the board of West Penn AAA. r.

'i Sf. i '(4 i St I Signature appeared to agree that the St. Luke report was filled with contradictions. He charged that the hospital was unfit under canon law to give expert opinion on the mental health of priests because its philosophy of treatment was unchristian. After Cipolla refused doctors' orders to engage in sexual fantasies because they would be sinful, St.

Luke labeled his refusal a psychological problem, Capponi said. "Since its foundation in 1981, St. Luke Institute has been grounded in the Christian principles enunciated by Jesus Christ To say that St. Luke Institute is not Christian is like saying a flower can exist without sunlight," the Rev. Canice Connors, president of St.

Luke, said in a statement to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "While we must respect the confidential nature of the records of all of our patients, because Father Cipolla has chosen to make his record public, we can say that there was more than sufficient evidence, according to our lengthy and scientific evaluation procedures, to recommend to the Diocese of Pittsburgh that Father Cipolla be treated at St. John Vianney psychiatric hospital," Connors said. "For the Signature to declare that St Luke did not discover any evidence that Father Cipolla was a pedophile could be entirely correct and still lead to a recommendation against working with children based on other diagnoses." The Signature has wronged the hospital, he said. "At no point in the process of reaching its verdict about Father Cipolla was the Signature in touch with any of the members of the staff of St.

Luke Institute. Because of that lack of contact, I am deeply disappointed in the process leading to the Signature's decision," Connors said. "At the current time our canon lawyers are researching how St. Luke might redress what we consider an injustice to the Institute by the Signature." Furthermore, Connors said, "Our civil attorneys are preparing briefs about the defamatory nature of statements about St Luke Institute in the Capponi brief." The U.S. Catholic bishops are probably at least as upset about the Signature's decision as the hospital is, says an expert on the Catholic hierarchy.

"St. Luke's is considered the best place in the country" for evaluating priests accused of molesting minors, said the Rev. Thomas Reese of the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. "This decision could cause a serious problem for bishops who have relied heavily on this institute to help them deal with priests who have this problem." The Rev. Ladislas Orsy, a canon lawyer at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C, said that on the face of it, St.

Luke Institute did not appear to have a right to redress from the Signature. "My first reaction is that all they can do is scream and yell. I really do not know what they can do in canon law because they were not in any way parties to this decision," Orsy said. Capponi could not be reached to comment. John Conte, the Beaver County attorney representing Cipolla in the upcoming lawsuit said St.

Luke had no grounds for suing Capponi because legal briefs are protected. "They have no case," he said. mi A- looiang ai, rreeman saia. Since November, Rudolph had participated in the Community Intensive Supervision Program (CISP), which provides counseling and recreational activities to juvenile offenders, ages 10 to 18. Beverly Bush, administrative assistant for the Juvenile Division of Common Pleas Court, said she did not know why Rudolph had been placed in the program.

Juveniles in the program continue to live at home and attend their regular, school, but report to the centers seven days a week, from 2 to 10 p.m. Rudolph's family did not report him missing because they incorrectly assumed CISP would make a missing person report, police said. Staff writer Matthew P. Smith contributed to this report. Family of Muer cuts hunt MUER FROM PAGE B-l "At this time, my family and the Drummey family would like to thank the hundreds of people who called and gave of themselves in our search.

For those who prayed and those who, watching the seas in Jiope and became our eyes, we thank you." She said volunteers who want to continue searching would be coordinated by AirScan a security and surveillance company that had been conducting a round-the-clock air search with planes equipped with infrared sensors. The sensors can detect temperature differences in the water of a half-degree centigrade, sensitive enough for a boat hull or a person to show up clearly on a display screen, said company President John Man-sur. "We can see an armadillo crossing a road from 3,000 feet." He said the search would continue to focus on a roughly area about 80 miles wide and stretching from Cape Canaveral to Brunswick. Ga. The search area was determined by a Coast Guard computer program that predicts where a boat might be found based on its last known position, wind speed, ocean currents and other factors, Mansur said.

He said Mueis fiberglass sailboat was towing a small inflatable boat and also was equipped with a life raft. Mansur said it's possible the boat could still be afloat, powerless and without a mast. But he said it's more likely that the four, if still alive, would be in a life raft, which would be much harder to locate. "There's a lot of ocean out there," he said. Muer owns 22 restaurants in Michigan, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C, including the Grand Concourse at Station Square.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Robert PavuchakPost-Gazette Barber Angelo Capecci starts his spring cleaning yesterday by hosing off the barber pole outside his shop on State Street in the Wilson section of Clairton. Florida lottery winner stays calm WINNER FROM PAGE B-l games and support senior citizen programs. "There's only so much discretionary income out there," he said, noting there are several hundred outlets around the state offering a chance at jackpots in Florida, New York, New Jersey and elsewhere. He said other states already had legislation banning sale within their borders of tickets directly and indirectly for other states' games, including Pennsylvania's.

A lottery bill containing a ban proposed by Rep. Leo Trich, D-Washington, cleared the House Appropriations Committee yesterday. Legislation has been introduced in Harrisburg that would ban such out-of-state lottery sales. that companies such as Pic-A-State were siphoning funds that would otherwise go to Pennsylvania Russell's winning ticket came through Pic-A-State, a New Jersey-based firm that has outlets around Pennsylvania enabling residents to place orders in out-of-state lotteries. Legislation has been introduced in Harrisburg that would ban such out-of-state lottery sales.

Charles Kline, executive director of the Pennsylvania Lottery, said he wished Russell happiness, but that he wanted to prevent similar winners in the future. He contended Man ingests drugs during chase, dies lieved that the arresting officers whom he could not identify had acted properly. "I am satisfied the officers acted prudently and appropriately," Adams said. "Their response was to secure him and take him to the station, which was two minutes away. Immediately upon seeing him become ill, they called paramedics.

Under the circumstances, they acted. nroDerly." OVERDOSE FROM PAGE B-l cardiac arrest and died at 12:31 p.m., he said. Hospital tests and an autopsy showed evidence of marijuana as well as cocaine in Streeter's body, he said. Streeter's right eye also was blackened, he had bruises on his face and head, and one hand was scratched, Perper said. "I don't think there was any brutality involved," he said.

He said he called a rare press conference yesterday to detail his findings, however, because Streeter was the fourth person to die in custody during the past month. The other three died in the county jail. One was killed, another committed suicide and the third died yesterday of apparently natural causes. Harvey Adams, head of the Coun-tv Hqji'si'if AnthoriH' s'H hp Re.