Mother wants teen's body exhumed after WWL Louisiana uncovers new evidence

COVINGTON, La. — Donna Wittner wants authorities to exhume her son's remains 12 years after the 14-year-old was mysteriously gunned down in Washington Parish.

His calls to dig up Brett Wittner's body are based on new information uncovered by WWL Louisiana that strongly contradicts the autopsy findings of current St. Tammany Parish Coroner Christopher Tape.

WWL collected hospital and autopsy records from Donna's son, Brett, and shared them with medical and ballistics experts around the world. Using ballistics data collected at the shooting scene, they concluded that Brett was almost certainly shot twice in the head, not once, as Washington Parish sheriff's deputies and autopsy claimed by Tape.

Brett Wittner's death has been ruled accidental. The gang concluded that it could have been self-inflicted, although Brett was shot behind his right ear and slightly upward and forward with a rifle almost as long as his arm. Experts consulted by WWL say that was already unlikely, but the apparent existence of a second bullet in Brett's head would make that almost impossible.

New St. Tammany and Washington Parish District Attorney Collin Sims released a statement Friday in response to WWL Louisiana's investigation.

“Our office’s ability to comment publicly on this matter is limited,” Sims said. “All we can say is that our office continues to review and analyze any new information relating to the death of Brett Wittner. When useful, our office consults external experts. If at any point it becomes appropriate for our office to pursue legal action, it will do so. »

“We're going to test his integrity, aren't we?” Donna Wittner said about Sims.

Sims worked for the late Warren Montgomery, who succeeded Walter Reed in 2015. Montgomery wrote Donna a letter in 2019 saying he had asked two retired FBI agents to review the case, before anyone 'told the potential for a second shot, and they didn't do it. I see no reason to reconstitute a grand jury.

Montgomery said, however, that a grand jury could be impaneled to reinvestigate the case if new information comes to light.

Donna said she wanted the FBI to officially take over the case. She said she struggles to trust local authorities because of the way she feels they have failed her over the past 12 years.

Experts consulted by WWL say Tape's autopsy report contains several incorrect statements. More importantly, he indicates that he recovered an almost entire bullet from an exit wound in the front half of the left side of Brett's skull and claims that this was “consistent with the radiographic evidence” from CT scans at the hospital. Brett.

But hospital X-rays, taken three hours after the shooting, show that bullet in the back of Brett's head, not in the exit wound.

Tape's autopsy also indicates that Brett's skull was cut open and his brain dissected. But autopsy photos filed with the Washington Parish Coroner's Office do not include any images of Brett's brain, even though that is standard practice in such cases.

Additionally, Tape's report states that the brain was cut into coronal sections and describes several areas filled with lead bullet fragments as “normal” with no lesions, contrary to the x-ray evidence. The documents show that only the largely intact bullet — and none of the numerous bullet fragments visible on scans of Brett's head — was turned over to police as evidence.

Donna hopes that by exhuming Brett's remains, independent investigators will be able to determine whether Tape actually opened his skull and whether there was a defect in the back of his skull that was never documented.

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