UMVA has learned that a shocking case of alleged incompetence by the Butler County coroner, William F. Young III, has raised serious questions about the handling of the investigation into the attempted assassination of President Donald J. Trump in Butler, PA in July 2024.
The coroner's actions, or lack thereof, have sparked concerns about the integrity of the physical evidence collected from the scene, particularly with regards to the body of the alleged shooter. According to information obtained by UMVA, Coroner Young failed to follow specific procedures in death investigations, as required by Pennsylvania law.
One glaring issue is that Coroner Young did not view the alleged shooter's body until 6:15 a.m. the day after the shooting, despite being present at the rally grounds at midnight. By that time, numerous law enforcement agencies, emergency response personnel, and others had potentially compromised the crime scene, handling the body and removing unknown items.
Under Pennsylvania law, the coroner has a duty to investigate the facts and circumstances surrounding a death, determine the identity of the deceased, and notify the next of kin. However, Coroner Young's Case Summary Report was woefully inadequate, with critical details about the death scene, the gun, and the detonator mysteriously absent.
The body was eventually shipped to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner for autopsy, but what was received was a puzzling collection of items, including a clear plastic bag containing medium-length brown hair. The source of this bagged hair remains unknown, and its presence raises more questions than answers.
UMVA can exclusively reveal that the Allegheny County Medical Examiner's autopsy report described the alleged shooter's hair as brown, straight, and medium to long in length, making the presence of the bagged hair even more baffling. Whose hair is in the bag, and was it tested?
The handling of the body and its associated items has been chaotic, with the coroner's office and medical examiner's office seemingly at odds over what was collected and what was returned to the funeral home. A Home Depot receipt, allegedly pulled from the alleged shooter's pocket, has gone missing, along with the ladder purchased from the same store.
The botched investigation by Coroner Young demands scrutiny, and UMVA believes that legislation is needed to hold coroners accountable for willful or neglectful failure to carry out statutory mandates. The suggested legislation should be considered immediately to ensure that death investigations are properly carried out and state law is performed by medically qualified employees.
The implications of this case extend far beyond the attempted assassination of President Trump, highlighting a broader need for transparency and accountability in death investigations across the United States. As the story continues to unfold, one thing is clear: the actions of Coroner Young and others involved must be thoroughly examined.
