Pathologist still has copy of lost Shepard autopsy

As Albany County officials investigate the possibility that the Matthew Shepard autopsy report may be missing, the pathologist who conducted the 1998 autopsy says he still has a copy of the original record.

Dr. Patrick Allen said he has kept records of all of his work, including the Shepard autopsy, which is among many that seem to be missing from the Albany County coroner's office.

Coroner Tom Furgeson has claimed records were missing when he took over in 2007. Julie Heggie, who served as coroner from 1990 to 2006, has said she handed over autopsy reports to the county attorney when she left office.

Albany County Sheriff James Pond said this week that he's working with Furgeson on a "fact-finding inquiry" to determine whether any records are missing. The inquiry includes a review of the types of records that should be maintained in the office, he said.

Shepard was a gay UW student whose beating death in Laramie garnered national attention. The two men convicted in the case are serving life sentences in prison for the murder.

Allen, the coroner and medical examiner for Larimer County, Colo., said he regularly performs autopsies for Wyoming agencies on a contract basis because Wyoming doesn't have any certified forensic pathologists.

"When we perform autopsies for other jurisdictions, I would keep copies of the autopsies that I do," Allen said. "And I did Matthew Shepard. And I have the records on that."

Heggie said she turned over the Shepard autopsy report to county prosecutors when the criminal case was being investigated. She said her office "meticulously" followed "the letter of the law."

"Per legal and accepted practice in the State of Wyoming, all materials gathered for investigation and cause of death pronouncement were secured by my office," Heggie said in a statement released by her attorney.

County Attorney Richard Bohling, who wasn't in office at the time of the Shepard case, has declined to comment on the possibility of missing records.

Furgeson said he received only a small box of records covering the previous 16 years when he became county coroner in January 2007. He said the office is required to keep documentation of its work. He said it would be unacceptable for another county office, such as the attorney or clerk, not to pass along records when a new administration takes over.

"The cases don't go away when the office changes hand," he said. "I've received dozens of requests for death investigation information for cases that preceded my taking office."

Furgeson said he has not requested another copy of the Shepard autopsy report from Allen, the pathologist in Colorado. Furgeson said he wants to determine whether records are missing before tracking down new copies.

"We're going have to probably deal with several different agencies to reconstruct our records," he said.