MORE ON: deaths

Daily Report: Public Safety

Prosecutors failed to share autopsy review with murder defendants

May 4, 2012, 12:05 AM
After a Vallejo man’s body was discovered four years ago in a Solano County ditch, seven people were sent to prison for their roles in his death — based in part on an autopsy performed by Dr. Thomas Gill, then the county’s forensic pathologist. But during the case, the... + read more
Daily Report: Public Safety

Elected coroners less likely to call deaths ‘suicide,' study finds

August 29, 2011, 12:05 AM
In the vast majority of California counties, elected sheriffs have the final say in determining the manner of death in coroners' cases. The political element of those jobs might be reducing the number of reported suicides, according to a new study by researchers at Temple University. The... + read more
Daily Report: Public Safety

County to review autopsies by doctor with checkered past

February 10, 2011, 12:05 AM
Yolo County’s Sheriff-Coroner Office will review the autopsy work in five homicide cases handled by a doctor with a history of errors to ensure the forensic pathologist’s findings are accurate. The office is coordinating with other law enforcement agencies involved in the murder... + read more
Spotlight: Public Safety

Autopsy firm’s high caseloads, practices lead to errors

February 5, 2011, 4:05 PM
Coroners in Northern California are farming out thousands of cases each year to a private firm whose doctors have dissected the wrong body and have given inaccurate testimony that helped send an innocent person to jail. + read more
Spotlight: Public Safety

Without competition, private firm reaps millions in autopsy work

February 5, 2011, 4:05 PM
Forensic Medical Group Inc. faced little competition as the private firm grew into Northern California’s largest autopsy provider. + read more
Spotlight: Public Safety

CHART: Caseloads exceed national standards

February 5, 2011, 4:05 PM
The National Association of Medical Examiners recommends that forensic pathologists perform no more than 250 autopsies a year. Forensic Medical Group doctors routinely exceed those limits. + read more
Spotlight: Health and Welfare, Public Safety

Second chances underscore flaws in death investigations

January 31, 2011, 9:02 PM
Despite a history of problems, Dr. Thomas Gill has kept landing jobs – most recently with a private autopsy firm that conducts autopsies for Northern California counties. + read more
Spotlight: Public Safety

GRAPHIC: Counties where Gill has worked

January 31, 2011, 9:02 PM
Dr. Thomas Gill has performed more than 1,000 autopsies in nine Northern California counties since 2007. The doctor conducted the examination and served as a witness in 22 homicide cases, some of them ongoing. + read more
Spotlight: Public Safety

Chat archive: A discussion with the Post Mortem reporters

January 31, 2011, 9:01 PM
Read an archive of a Feb. 2 chat with California Watch reporter Ryan Gabrielson and other investigators from the Post Mortem series, including Lowell Bergman of FRONTLINE, A.C. Thompson of ProPublica and Sandra Bartlett of NPR. + read more
Daily Report: Health and Welfare

Population growth in California slows

December 10, 2010, 12:05 AM
California's population grew less than 1 percent this past fiscal year, continuing a modest growth trend, according to new state estimates released yesterday. The state added 350,174 residents between July 2009 and July 2010, bringing the total population to more than 38.8 million, the... + read more
Daily Report: Health and Welfare

Fewer working hours during recession means fewer job fatalities

August 20, 2010, 12:05 AM
If the recession has a silver lining, it may be the decline in workplace deaths: Fatal job injuries were down 17 percent last year, in large part because Americans worked fewer hours, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Nationwide, 4,340 workers died on the job in 2009, compared to 5,... + read more
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