(RightWing.org) – In August, a police probe into the death of former swimming champion Jamie Cail ruled that she died of a fentanyl overdose. Her family doesn’t agree. They’re saying she didn’t die of an overdose; she was beaten to death.
In the late 1990s, Jamie Cail was one of the stars of the US swimming scene. A former California high school 200-meter champion, she won a gold medal for the US in the 1997 Pan Pacific 800-meter relay and a silver in the 1998-99 Swimming World Cup. A New Hampshire native, she later studied at the University of Maine and swam for the college in 2000-2001.
As of February this year Cail, now 42, was living on St. John in the US Virgin Islands with her boyfriend and working in a local coffee shop. Early on February 21, her boyfriend, who hasn’t been publicly named, came home from a local bar to check on her and found her unresponsive on the floor. She was taken to a local clinic and given CPR, but later died.
The US Virgin Islands Police Department announced Cail’s death and said their Criminal Investigation Bureau was launching an investigation. That investigation finally concluded; on August 22 police released an autopsy report that said Cail died of “fentanyl intoxication with aspiration of gastric content.” That means some of her stomach contents entered her lungs while she was conscious, causing asphyxiation.
However, Cail’s family rejects that conclusion. They say Cail didn’t use any kind of drugs, and that photos of her body show she had been beaten before her death. Her cousin, Jessica DeVries, says post-autopsy photos of Cail show bruising around her left eye and a mark on her nose. DeVries claims Cail’s “face was smashed in.” However, Michael Baden — a former NYC chief medical examiner — says that while the photos show trauma they’re not evidence that Cail was beaten. Unfortunately, the investigation doesn’t seem to have answered everyone’s questions.
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