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Bedford, Blair officials split on whether report should be made publicGatesBY BERNIE HORNICKBHORNICK f TRIBDEM.COMA Bedford County prosecutor said lie willtight the release of the autopsy from a 2001 murder, even after the Blair Countv coronerTisaid the information would be made public because of a recent court ruling.Bedford Counts District Attorney Bill Higgins said he will be in court Klondav morning asking a judge to seal the Dana Cates autopsv Me wasn't sure it he would be doing so in Bedford, where the crime occurred - or Blair, w here the victim actuallv died.The Tribune-Democrat appeared to have won a seven-vear battle FridayW : •* ^ • 1 s.when Blair Count\ CoronerJM;Patricia Ross said she would release the autopsy report from the 2001 murder of the Imler-area woman. The new spaper sued the Blair coroner in 2002, attempting to obtain the autopsy report.Gates, 31, was found naked, caked in blood and mud, outside her home on Nov. 30.2001. She died of blunt-force trauma en route to Altoona Hospital. Her live-in fiance,Lori n Burket, survived a severe beating. - ' A,:-The wounds were so brutal that police initially thought the two had been hot.The case is unsolved.Ross said Friday morning she would make the autopsy available to The Tribune-Democrat soon, in line with a January state Supreme Court ruling that such reports are public information. The court seemed to allow onlv limitedexceptions. IKSBut in the afternoon, Higgins said that he would trv tooverstep Ross.1 think it’s her reading that she can’t stop the release, and she might be right,’ the DA said. But I can, and 1 will. We have separate obligations and duties.’Even alter seven years, Higgins believeskeeping the information sealed might allowinvestigators to solve the case.“The killer does not know what we knowhe maintained. “We do not intend to keep the information from the public. We intend to keep the investigation moving forward.”Tribune-Democrat Editor Chip Minemverw as pleated by the Supreme Court - ruling anddisappointed with Higgins' position.“Our quest to obtain these records hits been carried out in the spirit of providing the public with a full understanding of the crime and investigation surrounding it. he said.RossHigginsDecision is a victory for The T-D, two other papers, A2Please see AUTOPSY, A2
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Johnstown Tribune Democrat
Johnstown, Pennsylvania, US
Sat, Feb 07, 2009
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USA 07 Aug 2020
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