Mexican investigators told the wife of a California defense lawyer that her husband was shot in the head – but are now claiming he was ‘drunkenly shooing pigeons’ from their balcony.
The family of Elliot Blair, 33, have been left devastated after his death while he was celebrating his wedding anniversary with his wife at the Las Rocas Resort and Spa in Mexico.
Authorities have continually claimed that his death was an ‘accident’ while his family say that he was the victim of a ‘brutal crime’.
Blair’s family and his wife, Kim are conducting their own probe into his death with the help of private investigators. But Blair’s body was embalmed before their team could draw blood, meaning it could now be harder for them to find out the truth about what happened to him.
Mexican investigators told the wife of a California defense lawyer that her husband was shot in the head – but are now claiming he was ‘drunkenly shooing pigeons’ from their balcony
The family of Elliot Blair, 33, have been left devastated after his death while he was celebrating his wedding anniversary with his wife Kim at the Las Rocas Resort and Spa in Mexico.
Lawyers for the family say that the family isn’t sure what happened in the moments before Blair fell two stories to his death.
Case Barnett, representing the family, said that Blair’s wife Kim was told by police that there was a ‘bullet hole’ in his head.
He added that the district attorney in Mexico ordered that this body should be embalmed, making it impossible for the family to conduct their own toxicology report.
Mexican authorities have refuted the claims, and a spokesperson for the Baja California Attorney General told the LA Times that there was ‘no sign of violence’ – and rejected the evidence of a gunshot wound.
After his wife was informed of the incident, a family friend came and translated for her – with the family lawyer claiming that a police officer told Kim that her husband had been shot in the head.
When the coroner’s office contacted the family days after his death, they were told that the cause of death was trauma to the head and that his death would be referred as a suspected homicide to prosecutors.
Case Barnett, representing the family, said that Blair’s wife Kim was told by police that there was a ‘bullet hole’ in his head. Pictured: Las Rocas Resort and Spa in Rosarito Beach
When the coroner’s office contacted the family days after his death, they were told that the cause of death was trauma to the head and that his death would be referred as a suspected homicide to prosecutors
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Barnett claims that the couple were in the room together after returning from a night out, but his wife fell asleep before Blair
They added that the paperwork indicated head trauma, with Barnett telling the New York Post: ‘The liaison says if it was a gunshot to head it wouldn’t say head trauma, it would say gunshot wound to the head. So the family is confused.’
He said the family are ‘disappointed’ that they cannot conduct a toxicology report to disprove claims that Blair was drunk when he died.
They also plan to do their own autopsy when they get his body back, with the mortuary telling the family that bodies are only embalmed under family or prosecutors’ orders.
Authorities claimed several times that Blair fell to his death when shooing away noisy pigeons, which they say his wife confirmed.
However, the family denied this to the Orange County Register and believe that when his wife told a family friend that he had been trying to shoo pigeons away earlier in the holiday investigators thought she was talking about the night of his death.
An examination of the lawyers body reportedly found no visible injuries from a gun or sharp objects
They also claim that Mexican authorities told them that Blair’s body should, be cremated, with Baja California AG Ricardo Ivan Carpio Sanchez stating that originally his death was probed as a criminal case.
An examination of his body reportedly found no visible injuries from a gun or sharp objects.
Barnett claims that the couple were in the room together after returning from a night out, but his wife fell asleep before Blair.
She was then woken up by hotel staff after her husband’s death, but was told that an ambulance had already taken him away.
Family and colleagues said on a GoFundMe page for Blair he was ‘tragically killed’ and died due to a ‘brutal crime’.
In a brief statement, Mexican authorities said they are investigating his death and are in contact with American authorities through the US Justice Department and the FBI, which in turn is informing Blair’s family.
At around 1.15am on January 14 authorities were notified that Blair fell from the balcony of Hotel Las Rocas in the town of Rosarito, just south of Tijuana and off the Tijuana-Ensenada highway.
