| 5. | The 22-page Lincoln Hospital “Progress Record” contains the “Observations and Opinions of consultants, house staff, nurses, and other health care providers”, this Progress Record documents surgeries performed on Mr. Pagan on June 26, 27 and 28, 1994. From beginning to end, the progress report consistently records that Mr. Pagan was suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. |
| 6. | The cardiology “Consultation Record”, dated June 27, 1994, notes that Luis Pagan had a GSW [gunshot wound] to head”. |
| 7. | The anesthesia “Consultation Record” dated June 25, 1994, and signed by yet another physician, notes under the “Consultant’s Findings and Recommendations: 43 [year old] Hispanic male [with] gunshot wound to the head”. |
| 8. | A “Report of Radiographic”, dated June 25, 1994, and signed by a sixth physician, reports on the CT scan of Luis Pagan’s head. After this CT scan of Luis Pagan’s brain, the diagnosis of gunshot wound remained unchanged. |
| 9. | The “Electrocardiogram Request and Report”, dated June 27, 1994, and signed by the Cardiologist, notes the “Clinical diagnosis: GSW to head”. |
| 10. | The fourteen-page “Doctor’s Order Sheet”, which contains the doctor’s orders concerning Luis Pagan from his admission on June 25, 1994, until his death on June 28, 1994, begins with the “Admission Orders” stating a “DX [diagnosis]: GSW head”. This diagnosis was not changed during the four days that the doctor’s order sheet was maintained. |
Cheyenne Carter cont'd......
A “Hospital Staff Form” must accompany a body that is transported from a hospital to Medical Examiner’s Office. The Lincoln Hospital “Staff Form” concerning Luis Pagan reported a “fatal injury, GSW, gunshot wound to the head”.
The medical records from Lincoln Hospital consistently, and without dissent, document a gunshot wound to Luis Pagan’s head. At minimum, seven doctors and two registered nurses at Lincoln Hospital recorded that Mr. Pagan suffered a gunshot wound to the head.
The Findings of the Medical Examiner’s Office
The “Supplemental Case Information Sheet” that was completed by the medical investigator from the Medical Examiner’s Office concerning Luis Pagan reported that Mr. Pagan suffered a “gunshot wound to the head”.
Dr. Josette Montas of the Medical Examiner’s Office conducted the autopsy of Luis Pagan’s body. Dr. Montas was a twenty-five year veteran of the Medical Examiner’s Office who had conducted over four thousand autopsies, and had assisted in thousands more. Also present at the autopsy was Dr. Zoya Shmuter, another experienced doctor with the Medical Examiner’s Office. In her autopsy report, Dr. Montas described the track of the gunshot wound, noting that it was “in-and-out”, the bullet having exited the body. The track of the bullet as recorded in Dr. Montas’ autopsy report indicated an entrance wound “somewhat above the left eyebrow”, then, “a laceration of the inferior aspect of the tongue”, and an exit wound below the lower lip, where a tooth was fractured, “consistent with a bullet fracturing the tooth”.
Dr. Montas also noted blunt force trauma in the neck and head area in her autopsy report. There were no injuries observed on the rest of the body below the neck. There was no blunt impact to internal organs; there were no bruises, or black or blue marks below the neck.
In the section of the autopsy report designated “diagnosis”: Dr. Montas listed “gunshot wound”. On Luis Pagan’s death certificate, Dr. Montas designated “gunshot wound” as one of the causes of death.
The Story Told by the Prosecution’s Organized Crime Witnesses
Although numerous people, apparently at least sixteen, were present at the scene of the crime, no one came forward as a witness. Luis Pagan was buried and the case sat unsolved.
Years later, several members of drug-dealing, organized crime gangs came forward in an effort to reduce the sentences that they were facing in federal criminal cases, and claimed that they had witnessed Luis Pagan’s killing. These convicted felons were not the usual low-level offenders seeking a deal in exchange for testimony against a defendant accused of a greater crime, these “witnesses” were facing either the death penalty or life imprisonment without parole in federal court for large scale drug dealing, racketeering, and multiple murders and attempted murders, including contract killings. In their quest for reduced sentences, these drug racketeers/multiple murderers claimed, in various and conflicting accounts, that they saw Cheyenne Carter and co-defendant Donald Saxon beat and kick Luis Pagan, strike him about his body with a cane, and ram his head into a metal security gate.
The medical records from Lincoln Hospital consistently, and without dissent, document a gunshot wound to Luis Pagan’s head. At minimum, seven doctors and two registered nurses at Lincoln Hospital recorded that Mr. Pagan suffered a gunshot wound to the head.
The Findings of the Medical Examiner’s Office
The “Supplemental Case Information Sheet” that was completed by the medical investigator from the Medical Examiner’s Office concerning Luis Pagan reported that Mr. Pagan suffered a “gunshot wound to the head”.
Dr. Josette Montas of the Medical Examiner’s Office conducted the autopsy of Luis Pagan’s body. Dr. Montas was a twenty-five year veteran of the Medical Examiner’s Office who had conducted over four thousand autopsies, and had assisted in thousands more. Also present at the autopsy was Dr. Zoya Shmuter, another experienced doctor with the Medical Examiner’s Office. In her autopsy report, Dr. Montas described the track of the gunshot wound, noting that it was “in-and-out”, the bullet having exited the body. The track of the bullet as recorded in Dr. Montas’ autopsy report indicated an entrance wound “somewhat above the left eyebrow”, then, “a laceration of the inferior aspect of the tongue”, and an exit wound below the lower lip, where a tooth was fractured, “consistent with a bullet fracturing the tooth”.
Dr. Montas also noted blunt force trauma in the neck and head area in her autopsy report. There were no injuries observed on the rest of the body below the neck. There was no blunt impact to internal organs; there were no bruises, or black or blue marks below the neck.
In the section of the autopsy report designated “diagnosis”: Dr. Montas listed “gunshot wound”. On Luis Pagan’s death certificate, Dr. Montas designated “gunshot wound” as one of the causes of death.
The Story Told by the Prosecution’s Organized Crime Witnesses
Although numerous people, apparently at least sixteen, were present at the scene of the crime, no one came forward as a witness. Luis Pagan was buried and the case sat unsolved.
Years later, several members of drug-dealing, organized crime gangs came forward in an effort to reduce the sentences that they were facing in federal criminal cases, and claimed that they had witnessed Luis Pagan’s killing. These convicted felons were not the usual low-level offenders seeking a deal in exchange for testimony against a defendant accused of a greater crime, these “witnesses” were facing either the death penalty or life imprisonment without parole in federal court for large scale drug dealing, racketeering, and multiple murders and attempted murders, including contract killings. In their quest for reduced sentences, these drug racketeers/multiple murderers claimed, in various and conflicting accounts, that they saw Cheyenne Carter and co-defendant Donald Saxon beat and kick Luis Pagan, strike him about his body with a cane, and ram his head into a metal security gate.