Testimony continues in Brownsville homicide case
A forensic pathologist testified Tuesday that an adrenaline surge led to a blood pressure spike in a 75-year-old man who Fayette County prosecutors contend was beaten to death.
Dr. Todd Luckasevic from the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s office conducted the autopsy on John Eicholtz of Brownsville. And, while Luckasevic testified that the underlying and acute cause of Eicholtz’s death was severe bronchial pneumonia, he testified that there was a chain of events that led to Eicholtz’s death.
Johnathan Godines, 36, is charged with criminal homicide, aggravated and simple assault, reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct because authorities allege Godines is to blame for those events.
Luckasevic testified that it began with the alleged Nov. 15, 2011, assault, after which Eicholtz showed signs and symptoms of a thalamic hemorrhage in the center of his brain — an event caused by a surge in adrenaline that caused increased blood pressure and the rupturing of blood vessels, which the pathologist attributed to the alleged beating.
According to Luckasevic, the hemorrhage resulted in Eicholtz needing to be put on life support, including a ventilator, and that, while being treated for the hemorrhage in the hospital, Eicholtz contracted pneumonia.
“If (Eicholtz) had not been in the hospital, he wouldn’t have gotten pneumonia,” Luckasevic testified.
Eicholtz died on Dec. 1, 2011.
The pathologist also testified that Eicholtz had underlying health issues prior to the alleged attack, including a history of hypertension, for which he was prescribed blood thinning medication. Luckasevic said the medication may have affected the hemorrhage, because it may have made Eicholtz prone to bleeding.
Normal blunt force trauma injuries involve bruising on and under the surface, and possibly fractures and injuries to the surface of the brain, Luckasevic testified. “This was different,” he said. “This was all the blows leading to increased blood pressure.”
On cross-examination, Assistant Public Defender Michael Garofalo asked Luckasevic if it was possible that Eicholtz would still be alive if he had received additional medical care in the hospital, including the measures being taken before Eicholtz’s family signed a “comfort measures only” order, which allowed the hospital to remove him from life support.
“Yes,” Luckasevic responded. “Anyone in dire straits could be kept alive forever” with supportive medical care.
Garofalo also asked about injuries Eicholtz sustained in the alleged beating, and Luckasevic said the man had no external bruises when he examined the body and that there were no broken bones or teeth.
“Could the hypertensive stroke have occurred before the first punch was thrown?” Garofalo asked. Luckasevic responded there was no way to tell.
Brownsville police Officers Robert Mammarella, John Brant and Chief Stanley Jablonsky all testified for the prosecution as well.
Mammarella said he responded to the scene on Nov. 15, 2011, and found Eicholtz behind the bank building on High Street in Brownsville after the alleged incident. Mammarella testified that he asked Eicholtz if he needed an ambulance, and Eicholtz refused.
Mammarella said he called for an ambulance anyway, and that while they waited for it to arrive, Eicholtz’s condition appeared to deteriorate.
Mammarella testified that he interviewed Godines on Nov. 21, 2011. According to the officer, Godines said he had spoken to Eicholtz in the past, but he didn’t know him. Mammarella said Godines told him Eicholtz had called his girlfriend, Amber McDonald, while she was in the hospital a few months prior giving birth to her and Godines’ baby. Mammarella testified that Godines said Eicholtz had been bringing McDonald money and cigarettes for some time, and that Eicholtz threatened to shoot Godines if he saw him.
Mammarella also testified that Godines told him Eicholtz flashed a gun at him from inside his car when Eicholtz first encountered Godines standing in front of the bank building the night of the alleged attack.
On cross-examination, Mammarella said Godines was initially charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct on Nov. 21, 2011, and that the homicide charge wasn’t added until March 7, 2012.
Assistant Public Defender Benjamin F. Goodwin pointed out to the jurors that attempted homicide was not among the initial charges.
Brant and Jablonsky provided similar testimony regarding the statements Godines made about the incident when he was initially interviewed in November.
Chief Fayette County Detective James Caccimelio testified that in April 2012 — five months after the alleged assault — he met with Tim Eicholtz, the alleged victim’s son, who took possession of his father’s car when he was hospitalized, in order to search the vehicle for the gun allegedly brandished. Following an exhaustive search, Caccimelio testified, he did not find a gun.
Tim Eicholtz also testified that he never found a gun in the car, and that to the best of his knowledge, his father didn’t own any handguns.
Tim Eicholtz also testified that he had access to his father’s bank accounts, and that he noticed unusual expenditures on the account register. According to Tim Eicholtz, his father didn’t smoke, but he began to notice, “Cigarette purchases, multiple cigarette purchases. Every day almost, cigarette purchases.”
Between Nov. 16 and Dec. 1, 2011, Tim Eicholtz testified he went to the hospital every day to be with his father. Tim Eicholtz said his father was not able to speak after about a week in the hospital, but the two of them communicated by way of hand squeezes — “One for yes, two for no.”
Tim Eicholtz testified that when medical professionals inserted a feeding tube through his father’s nose, John Eicholtz pulled it out. Later, Tim Eicholtz testified doctors wanted to surgically insert a feeding tube through his father’s back, and John Eicholtz indicated he did not want it.
Testimony will continue today before President Judge John F. Wagner Jr.