----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, June 03, 2006 12:18 PM
Subject: Youth Camp OTC Death Case
Hi Carolyn,
I'm writing about the Travis Parker murder case you've been reporting on. We have one just like it here in Panama City, FL that is receiving national attention called the boot camp death of Martin Anderson, also 14, who "fought himself to death" just like young Parker. Because the victim is black, the NAACP, led by its national president, is having a march and rally here at this moment. Another case like these is the Minden, LA Hope Youth Camp death, where grand jury indictments against eight counselors was filed only last week.
I've been obsessed with the boot camp case for a month now and have a blog dedicated to it. www.stanclark.us
My current position is that the counselors in all three deaths are innocent. No one has been charged in the boot camp case here yet -- the source for the NAACP protest. I am particularly concerned about our local medical examiner being victimized by his finding that the death was caused by complications due to sickle cell trait. My blog supports the sickle cell trait claim -- a claim I initially thought absurd. Exercise induced deaths are more common that I first thought.
I feel that your medical examiner Sperry should review my blog or google sickle cell trait mortality to compare with his Travis Parker autopsy. I feel a lot of innocent people are being victimized by these three terrible tragedies through no fault of their own. If Travis Parker was black, there is a chance in eight he had sickle cell trait. If he were white, the probability is much lower.
This is not a simple death mode. I was a specialist for 40 years called a Reliability Engineer. We studied what caused defense weapons to 'die' and how to correct the cause. Machines are much simpler than humans to study. Exercise induced sickle cell trait deaths occur like the deaths of our complex weapons. As long as the machine is not overstressed, it works fine. Once overstressed however, something completely different is triggered and actually causes the failure. I'm fairly certain that that is what caused our three tragedies -- certainly not murder. The military reduced their exercise induced deaths in boot camps by making certain the recruits are not overstressed and are kept cool and hydrated. That's how we make weapons live longer also. :-)
How difficult is it to talk to your DA or ME? I understand human nature in that if someone dies somebody has to be hung for it. But is that truly justice in our three cases? Lack of knowledge is a legitimate defense sometimes. I hope you follow this case to conclusion. Your newspaper has done a great job so far.
Stan Clark, Panama City Beach 850 235 1284
NEVER ATTRIBUTE TO MALICE THAT WHICH IS ADEQUATELY EXPLAINED BY STUPIDITY
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New finding forces DA to re-start camp death case
By Carolyn Mathews
The murder cases against six former OTP camp counselors will have to go back in front of a White County Grand Jury for new indictments, District Attorney Stan Gunter said Tuesday.
Testimony from Georgia Bureau of Investigation Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Kris Sperry at a May 8 hearing has cast doubt on the murder charges facing the six men. They are accused of restraining a youth at the Outdoor Therapeutic Program off Albert Reid Road for more than an hour, after which time he quit breathing and died the next day. Gunter said that Sperry's May 8 testimony basically indicated that Travis Parker, 14, “fought himself to death.” He said it conflicted with previous testimony that the death was a homicide.
“The current case is pending and will remain in place until we get indictment from the new grand jury,” Gunter said. “I don't know yet what I will ask for. The charges may remain the same and the wording of the charges may be what changes.”
Gunter said he was having to go before the July 19 grand jury for another indictment because of Sperry's testimony.
Defense attorneys used the May 8 hearing as a challenge to the indictment, Gunter said. “His testimony was a bit surprising to the state,” he said. On July 19, Gunter said, “The medical examiner will be back in front of the grand jury again, just like he was before.” Sperry also testified in front of the grand jury last year that issued the original murder indictments.
It indicted the six men last year for murder because they took turns restraining the Douglas County boy during the hour-long behavior outburst. The men are Johnny Harris, 26, of Helen; Phillip Elliott, 35, of Chattanooga, Tenn.; and Paul Michael Binford, 28, Ryan Chapman, 29, Matthew John Desing, 26, and Torbin Vining, 27, all of Athens. Five of the men were fired from the camp and one resigned. The Georgia Department of Human Resources said the counselors withheld a prescription asthma inhaler from the boy and withheld a meal.
After a GBI investigation, the boy's death was ruled a homicide by the Georgia State Medical Examiner's Office in April.
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