The state medical examiner concluded a sizable number ? about 10 percent ? of those who died in Baltimore City in 2004 fell into the category of “undetermined,” according to a story in The Examiner this week. The classification means that the cause of death is known but not the manner in which the person died. The “cause” of death in those cases included multiple head and chest injuries, asphyxiation and burning. Hmm. A forensic expert who investigated John F. Kennedy?s death and more recently that of celebrity Anna Nicole Smith?s son, Daniel, sounded baffled when he heard how high the number was ? 341. “No way,” he told our reporter, opining that a few dozen would be more in line with a city our size.
The more “undetermined” means the fewer murdered, right? Good news for those whose career scorecard includes a line for murders and for whom fewer is certainly better than more.
