Alonzo Brooks’ medical examiner’s report “dubious”, says Unsolved Mysteries director
Marcus A. Clarke made the claims on Netflix true crime podcast You Can’t Make This Up.
Unsolved Mysteries director Marcus A. Clarke, has cast doubt on the medical examiner’s report in the Alonzo Brooks case, describing it as "dubious at best".
Clarke, who helmed the episode No Ride Home about Brooks's death, was appearing on the Netflix true crime podcast You Can’t Make This Up when he was asked by host Rebecca Lavoie what he thought about the report featured on Unsolved Mysteries.
He replied: "I'm really glad you asked me that question. The medical examiner on this particular case, Dr Eric Mitchell - I have issues with his report and his examination. To be honest with you they're dubious at best."
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Clarke went on to explain his reasoning claiming that the report leaves "a lot of unanswered questions" - chiefly that when Brooks' brother found the body he described it as "normal", seemingly unaffected by having apparently lain in water for a month.
"When bodies lay in water they bloat, they become purple they become wildly disfigured, gruesome looking," he said.
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"For his closest family member, his brother, to find him and not describe any of that - and in fact his description is quite the contrary - he looked like he was just resting there, after a month in this creek... there's a lot of decomposition and other things that you would expect all over the body which just seemingly were not there."
He continued: "So it does not appear that he was submerged in water... this man did not drown, we know this. And it doesn't seem like the medical examiner is getting us to that point. A lot of the 'rhetoric' just seems like empty answers to a case that should have had a further examination of what is actually happening here.
The director also pointed to the fact that the skin and flesh around Brooks' neck was missing, and claimed that the medical examiner's explanation that this was because bugs or animals could have eaten away at the body did not stand up to scrutiny.
"I'm confused, do animals and insects only target the neck is the neck more delicious for an animal or insect than other parts of the body?" he said. "How do they avoid the ears or the nose or the lips and other fatty areas on the body, what animal targets the neck?
"And so the fact that that is offered as any type of explanation is incredulous, it's ridiculous and it doesn't add up."
No Ride Home told the story of 23-year-old Brooks, who attended a party at a farmhouse in rural Kansas but never returned from it.
One month later, his body was discovered just 250 feet from the location of the party, but the cause of death remains unknown – despite rumours that local people might have crucial information.
The body of Alonzo Brooks was recently exhumed, as the FBI are pursuing an investigation into the man’s death being a racially motivated crime.
Unsolved Mysteries is available to stream on Netflix. Looking for something else to watch? Check out our guide to the best series on Netflix and best movies on Netflix, or visit our TV Guide.
