The Orange County public defender who died while on vacation in a popular tourist area of Mexico last month sustained dozens of skull fractures, according to the family’s lawyer.
Case Barnett, the lawyer for the family of Elliot Blair — whose mysterious death at a resort in Rosarito in January has raised questions among his loved ones — said that an independent pathologist in Los Angeles hired by the family to perform an autopsy found Blair had about 40 fractures in the back of his skull.
The pathologist did not rule on a cause of death, and the report could take five or six weeks to publish, Barnett said.
Blair and his wife, Kimberly Williams, had gone to the Las Rocas Resort and Spa in Mexico to celebrate their first wedding anniversary.
But Blair, who at 33 was forging his path as a dedicated attorney for indigent clients, did not return home alive. He was found dead at the hotel on Jan. 14, several floors below the couple’s room in his underwear, a sleeping T-shirt, and socks. Mexican authorities have said his death was the result of an accidental fall, but Blair’s family has insisted it was a “brutal crime.”
In her first public interview on Thursday with ABC News’ “Good Morning America,” Williams, who is also an Orange County public defender, shared new details about the night her husband died, saying ultimately that “someone did this to him.”
Williams said she and Blair were driving back to the resort on the night of Jan. 13 from a local restaurant when they were stopped by police, who claimed the couple rolled through a stop sign. The officers asked for money, she said. Blair, who was fluent in Spanish, explained they didn’t have the amount of cash the police wanted. Another officer asked where the couple was staying, and Blair told authorities they were staying at Las Rocas and were on vacation, Williams said. He also explained the couple were both attorneys and showed the police his work badge. Eventually, they paid the officers $160 — all the cash they had — and were let go, she said.
Source: Excelsior
