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AUTOPSYContinued from A1“This is an unsolved, violent murder- and a killer remains at large,” he said. “It has been our contention from the start that the public deserved to have all of the information about what authorities believe happened that day and what is being done to determine who committed the crime.”Ross said Friday morning that - while she disagrees with the Supreme Court decision in a lawsuit such as the one that The Tribune-Democrat filed against her- she will comply and release the files.“1 have to follow all the protocols,” Ross said when asked if she would turn over the records Friday. “I'm off today. I'll have to notify the (Gates) family. I’ll have to notify* X V wthe DA because that’s an open investiga-ation.She said she couldn’t set a precise time to release the records because she didn't have access to her work calendar and didn’t want to delegate the duty to a deputy.The Tribune-Democrat initially tookRoss to court seeking Gates’ autopsy rejiortin January 2002. The newspaper eventually lost on the Commonwealth Court level in 2005, but did not appeal to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.The newspaper in 2002 was trying to disseminate more information on the murder hut was meeting resistance from authorities. Then-Publisher Pam Mayer decided to press the case in court, recalls attorney Michael Sahlaney.•» ^ - m“We needed the Gates records because wewere getting stonewalled, said Sahlaney, who represented the newspaper in the case. “They sealed the search warrant; therewere problems with police records; wecouldn’t get the autopsy report,” Sahlaney said. “It s a major criminal case and we couldn’t get anything. We were getting stonewalled and we couldn’t find out why.The criminal case itself has had as many twists and turns as the effort to get the autopsy record.More than a year after the homicide, in February 2003, a Martinsburg man was charged with killing Gates. Cordell Eber-sole had dated her in 1999 and 2000.The most compelling evidence authorities had was a single hair matching Eber-sole’s DNA that was found in the home. Yet since he spent time at Gates’ home socially, that could be expected, a judge ruled indismissing the charges in 2004.Ebersole denied any involvement in the’W,1crime.State police Cpl. Rodney Heming, the lead criminal investigator in Bedford Countv, said Friday of the Gates homicide, “It’s still an open, active investigation.”He encouraged anyone with information - even if they believe it’s old or has been looked into - to give him a call at 623-6133.Higgins said of Ebersole: “He’s the only person that’s ever been charged, so you can glean from that.“It’s not a cold case or anything like that,” Higgins said. “I’m telling you, I review it regularly.”Higgins said he spoke with the state police crime lab about the case as recently as three months ago.“We want desperately to solve this,” he said.
Newspaper Details
Johnstown Tribune Democrat
Johnstown, Pennsylvania, US
Sat, Feb 07, 2009
Page 2
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USA 07 Aug 2020
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