the most recent in a string of biochemists dying since the anthrax
attacks...
Note: forwarded message attached.
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Scientist's death is called accidental
Wind gust tied to bridge plunge
By David Abel, Globe Staff, 1/15/2002
enowned Harvard biochemist Don C. Wiley died accidentally in a fall from a
Memphis bridge, medical authorities concluded yesterday in an autopsy
report.
The 57-year-old award-winning scientist was last seen in Memphis around
midnight on Nov. 15. Intense speculation followed his disappearance and the
discovery of his body on Dec. 20 in the Mississippi River in Lousiana, about
300 miles downstream.
But Shelby County Medical Examiner O.C. Smith said Wiley's end was just a
tragic series of accidents that began when he hit some construction signs on
the Hernando DeSoto Bridge, a mile-long span over the Mississippi that
connects Tennessee and Arkansas.
After the 6-foot-3-inch, 165-pound professor stopped to inspect the damage
to his rental car, investigators believe, he was swept off the 135-foot-high
bridge by a gust of wind, possibly from one of the many 18-wheel trucks that
cross the bridge that time of day.
Making the accident scenario more likely, Smith said, Wiley had had a few
glasses of wine that evening and also suffered from a seizure disorder that
sometimes caused dizziness when he was tired or under stress.
Smith ruled out suicide because the autopsy suggests Wiley hit a support
beam of the bridge before he landed in the water. Previous suicides at the
bridge suggest that those who jump easily clear the support beams, which are
12 feet below the bridge and project about 3 feet beyond the guardrails.
The medical examiner also ruled out murder because there was no physical
sign on Wiley's body of a struggle, and no one reported seeing a
confrontation on the busy bridge.
Yesterday's report appeared to solve a mystery that weighed heavily on
Wiley's family, friends, and colleagues, many of whom have insisted the
father of four was unlikely to commit suicide.
''I'm glad we've come to a conclusion,'' said Wiley's wife, Katrin
Valgeirsdottir. ''It's just over. That's it.''
Wiley, an expert on how the immune system fights infection, had studied the
Ebola virus, HIV, herpes, and influenza. The professor was widely regarded
as the nation's foremost expert in using special X-ray cameras and
mathematical formulas to make high-resolution images of viruses.
Two years ago, he won the prestigious Japan Prize.
Wiley had traveled to Memphis to attend an annual meeting of the scientific
advisory board of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. He was last seen at
a banquet at the Peabody Hotel. Colleagues who spoke to him that night said
that the professor did not appear stressed and that he had said he was
looking forward to spending the weekend with his family, who planned to
visit him in Memphis.
Although he drank a few glasses of wine that night, Wiley's colleagues said,
he did not appear intoxicated. Initial toxicology reports say that Wiley had
alcohol levels ''suggesting impairment.''
Another possible factor in a fall from the bridge is ''an infrequent and
poorly understood seizure disorder affecting Dr. Wiley,'' Smith said.
Wiley had kept his condition private for many years and had not received
treatment for it, the medical examiner said. ''It was prone to occur when he
was stressed, fatigued, or had taken alcohol,'' he added. ''It will never be
known if this disorder or drowsy driving due to the late hour and long day
Dr. Wiley had put in, or the effects of alcohol contributed to the incident
on the bridge.''
Wiley's rental car was found around 4 a.m. on Nov. 16 abandoned on the
bridge with the keys in the ignition, a full tank of gas, and without the
hazard lights flashing. On the driver's side of the white car, investigators
found yellow paint and rusty material from a sign on the bridge. On the
passenger side, they found a missing right front hubcap and scrapes on the
wheel rims from the side of the bridge.
Wiley was supposed to return that night to his father's home in a suburb of
Memphis in the opposite direction he was headed. Investigators believe be
was probably confused by the large amount of construction in the area and
that he took a wrong turn on the highway.
After the crash, Wiley might have stepped out on the four-lane bridge, which
had two lanes blocked off that night. A strong gust combined with the
bouncing of the bridge from heavy vehicles could have swept the lanky
professor over a guardrail that was less than 4 feet high, Smith said.
''Instability for any reason could precipitate a fall,'' he said.
The evidence that Wiley hit the support beams below the bridge came from a
missing button on a Giorgio Armani shirt the professor was wearing that
night. The professor fractured his chest bone in the same area, and Smith
said the impact of the water wouldn't have removed the button.
''This subtle physical finding combined with the absolute lack of suicidal
indicators is conclusive,'' Smith said in his report. ''The possibility of
Dr. Wiley's death having been a suicide was carefully considered and
rejected. The manner of death is therefore accidental.''
This story ran on page A1 of the Boston Globe on 1/15/2002.
� Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.
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