Corpse transport crosses line

A problem occurs when a Trumbull victim is taken to a Mahoning hospital..
By PEGGY SINKOVICH and STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- A turf battle between the Mahoning County coroner and Trumbull County's forensic pathologist has resulted in trips to Columbus at taxpayers' expense.
Both officials agree the public would be better served if bodies of Trumbull County victims that wind up over the Mahoning County line were examined locally.
And they both agree Trumbull County's forensic pathologist, Dr. Humphrey Germaniuk, could do it.
What they can't agree on is where the autopsy should be performed or where the case files should be kept.
"I don't know if it is a pride thing, a control thing or what," said Mahoning County Coroner Dr. David Kennedy, who says that the bodies of people who die in Mahoning County are his legal responsibility.
He faults Dr. Germaniuk for difficulties in their relationship.
"We don't seem to have any problems with anybody else," he said.
Kennedy said Dr. Germaniuk could perform the autopsies wearing the hat of an assistant Mahoning County coroner, if the cases remain in Mahoning County.
Dr. Germaniuk said the issues are being worked out, but the cases should belong to his department already.
"It really is a question of common sense," he said. "If the incident occurred in Trumbull County, it will be investigated by Trumbull County authorities." He added any criminal prosecution or civil litigation also would probably occur in Trumbull County.
"Therefore, it only makes sense to send the body to Trumbull County," he said.
Why it happens
The problem crops up about 10 times a year, often because the victim of an accident or criminal act in Trumbull County is taken to St. Elizabeth Health Center in Youngstown, which has the most advanced emergency room in the area.
It is compounded by the fact that Mahoning County has not had its own forensic pathologist for about a year, when Dr. Jesse Giles left for a higher-paying job in Florida, forcing Dr. Kennedy to ship all his bodies elsewhere.
And it doesn't help, either, that the only serious candidate Mahoning officials had been able to attract to replace Dr. Giles declined the job after a discussion about the position with Dr. Germaniuk.
"The salary they were offering was extremely low," Dr. Germaniuk said.
Mahoning County started shipping its bodies to Cleveland, but Cuyahoga County dropped the contract at the end of last year because doctors there were too busy.
Now the department uses Franklin County, among others, at a cost of about $918 a corpse.
No one's happy
It is a solution that pleases no one.
"That causes us several problems," said Warren Police Chief John Mandopoulos, whose officers now have to travel three hours to attend an autopsy.
Detectives went to Columbus on Wednesday for the autopsy of Douglas Stubbs of Warren, who died Monday of a gunshot wound to the neck.
"We have Dr. Humphrey Germaniuk on staff here. Why should we have to travel three hours?" the chief asked.
Requests to have Stubbs' body released to Trumbull County have been denied, Dr. Germaniuk said.
He says state law lets the coroner decide where an autopsy should be performed.
If an autopsy is performed locally and something unusual is found, the coroner and detectives can go to the scene in a matter of minutes to gather additional information, Dr. Germaniuk said.
"Mahoning taxpayers are footing the bill to send the deceased bodies to Columbus," Dr. Germaniuk said.
"To send the deceased to Columbus flies in the face of common sense."