The body in room 348

c. Many nights he stayed alone in his hotel room, turned up the air conditioning - he liked it cool - sat on his bed, padded his back with two pillows leaning against the headboard, and so as not to stain the bedspread, he would lay a clean white towel on which he placed an ashtray, cigarette case, lighter, Blackberry, TV crank and a small snack. He would watch TV while smoking or eating snacks. That's what happened to Greg in room 348 at the Elegance Hotel on September 15, 2010 - lazily leaning up against the bed, smoking, snacking, drinking root beer soda, and watching Iron Man II. However, he didn't get to see the end of the movie that day.

Greg was used to nights alone. As a young man, he was an ocean-going ship's captain, often at sea for months at a time; in middle age, he switched to real estate, specializing in helping gas and oil companies obtain rights to private property, a common occupation in South Texas, and Greg partnered with his brother Michael to open a thriving oilfield leasing company in a small town east of Houston.

That Wednesday night, Greg was alone in his hotel room watching a movie when "Iron Man II" came to a close, and in the midst of the film's computer-generated cacophony and violence, Greg received a devastating blow that came from nowhere, but was so violent and real that he passed out from the pain. Greg tries to get out of bed and lunge for the door, but as soon as he takes a step, he collapses, and before his face touches the carpet, he's probably dead.

A common homicide

The next morning, Greg's wife, Susie, called his office. The couple spoke every morning, but this morning Greg did not call, nor did he answer Susie's call. Greg was not at work, and two of his colleagues drove to the Hotel Elegance and knocked on the door of room 348. No one opened the door. So they got the hotel manager and opened the door, only to see Greg lying on the floor, long stiff with a cigarette that had gone out in his hand, the room was stuffy and hot, and Greg's skin had turned light blue.

An hour later, Detective Scott Yapp arrived on the scene. But there was nothing in room 348 to interest him; there was no sign of a break-in, the room's contents were not at all disorganized, and there was no blood or visible wounds on the body. Greg's wallet was still in his jeans pant pocket with a stack of $100 bills, so it was clearly not a home invasion, and the tenants living next door hadn't heard anything unusual.

Since nothing was found, the police next had to go by the normal homicide process: take pictures, record the scene, and transport the body to the Jefferson County Medical Examiner's Department for an autopsy. Dr. Tom Brown has an autopsy method that stands the test of time. In just 45 minutes, he can complete a thorough examination of the body, including the volume and weight of every organ of the deceased, and present his findings in text and graphical form on the official autopsy report. Dr. Brown is a banner in the Jefferson County judicial community and is well respected. When the cause of someone's death is in doubt, in this corner of Texas, Dr. Tom Brown's word is the ultimate truth.

After repeated examinations, on the surface of the body, Brown found only one half-inch abrasion on the left side of Greg's face, supposedly caused when he fell to the ground. In addition, there was a half-inch laceration on his scrotum, and the bruise extended from the scrotal portion to his right buttock. It must have been hit hard by something. But when Brown opened the body's torso, he found a large amount of bruising and internal injuries inside. Part of the intestine was split open, some partially digested food was coming out, there were some ruptures in the stomach and liver, two broken ribs, and a hole punctured in the right atrium.

The internal condition of the body showed that the deceased suffered severe trauma, and Gregg should have been beaten or struck to death. Brown concluded that the trauma to his pubic area was most likely the result of a violent kick, while he had also received severe blows to the chest that would not have otherwise caused the fatal injury. Within 30 seconds of the internal injuries, Greg died.

In the "manner of death" column of the autopsy report, Brown did not hesitate to write: "homicide".

Who did it?

After receiving the autopsy report, Detective Scott Yapp, who was in charge of the scene investigation, was surprised and called Dr. Brown to ask him about it. Brown told him that the body found in room 348 had severe internal injuries, the same as those usually suffered by people who die in car accidents or are killed by falling objects.

Over the next few months, Yapp traced Greg Flenniken's death from every angle he could think of, but six months had passed without a hint of progress. room 348 had been visited countless times by Yapp, without a trace. Unless Greg was killed somewhere else and his body was carried back to the hotel and left on the carpet, how else could a man be beaten to the point of broken ribs, ruptured internal organs, and bored ventricles without visible superficial injuries? Other than a small abrasion on his face and a cut on his scrotum, Gregg's body showed no signs of a beating. nothing in room 348 was pushed over, no items were messed with, and no unusual noises were heard by anyone in the hotel.