Archuleta County Coroner Dan Keuning said the cause of death was a shotgun wound to the neck. A ruling whether the shooting was accidental must come from police, Keuning said.
— From the Pagosa Springs SUN
Near the middle of June, Archuleta County Coroner Daniel Keuning made a definite decision to take a long-term leave of absence for health reasons. A few days later, on June 21, he went a step further and announced his resignation.
“It is with great sadness that I would like to request that my medical leave of absence be completed today and my immediate resignation be accepted,” Keuning wrote in a June 21 letter addressed to County officials. His letter came on the heels of meetings with County Administrator Bentley Henderson and other County staff.
For nearly a month, Archuleta County was left without a County Cornoner, while the Board of County Commissioners and other County officials scrambled to figure out the process for replacing this elected official — and how to deal with the fact that Mr. Keuning’s name was scheduled to appear on the November ballot as the Republican Party candidate for the office of County Coroner. In fact, Mr. Keuning was the only candidate for that elected office.
In Colorado, political parties — chiefly, the Republican Party and the Democratic Party — are traditionally allowed to specify replacements for elected state and county offices, when a member of their party resigns or otherwise leaves office. The office of Coroner is an elected office in Archuleta County.
But maybe the office of Coroner is not something you want to leave to be decided by a political party’s central committee?
Death is a fairly common event, even if each person gets only one shot at it. (‘Near Death Experiences’ aside.) Here in little Pagosa Springs, we typically find two or three deaths announced each week in the weekly Pagosa Springs SUN.
But, as common and ordinary as death may be, it’s still shrouded in an air of mystery.
My ancestors came mainly from Great Britain, where the death of a community member was traditionally followed by a “wake,” a ceremonial event during which mourners to keep watch or vigil over their dead until they were buried. This practice is still common in Ireland and Scotland, I understand.
The “wake” is a prominent part of death rituals in many cultures. This ceremony allows one last interaction with the corpse, providing a time for the living to express their emotions and beliefs about death with the deceased.
— Wikipedia
I suspect mourning and prayer will always be part of the event we call, “death.” But I suspect there was a very practical reason for sitting with a dead body for a period of time, prior to the burial. Death is mysterious, and a person who appears to be dead sometimes comes back to life. Not often, but it sometimes happens. Back in the days before modern medical science, we wanted to make sure our beloved family members was truly dead before we buried them. The traditional “wake” may have been a ceremonial way to provide that type of assurance.
Generally speaking, in 21st century America, we have a very different approach to insuring that a dead person is truly dead, and just as importantly, to provide us with a likely reason for their death. We have an elected political office called “County Coroner.” From the Archuleta County website:
The Coroner’s Office is a statutory office, which is mandated to establish the cause and manner of death.
The Cause Of Death is the injury, disease, or combination of the two that was responsible for initiating the train of physiological disturbances (brief or prolonged), which produced the fatal termination.
The Manner of Death refers to the circumstances in which the cause of death arose (suicide, natural causes, accident, and homicide). It is often a misconception that the responsibility for determining these vital questions lies with the law enforcement agency; however, this is the responsibility of the Coroner.
The investigation of a death by the Coroner’s Office is an extremely important function as it is done by an independent agency who does not work for the law enforcement agency, the physician, the nursing home, the hospital, the prosecution or the defense, but works on behalf of the deceased to obtain the truth about their death.
In other words, we want a truly independent person who’s job it is to describe for us why a community member died, and also to determine if the death was caused by another person — purposely or accidentally.
If the death was caused by another person, then we have laws to follow.
Keuning stated that [the victim] died of a gunshot, while [the victim’s husband] died of a self-inflicted gunshot. While the pair were pronounced dead on Wednesday, Keuning stated Friday the time of death is approximately three weeks ago.
— from the Pagosa Springs SUN
Here in America, most deaths are the result of “natural causes.” But, according to the Centers for Disease Control, the tenth most common cause of death is “suicide.”
“Homicide” ranks about 20th.
Among younger adults, however — ages 25-44 — homicide is the fourth leading cause of death, and suicide ranks fifth. The number one cause, in that age group, is “Unintentional injuries.” That category includes mistakes made by doctors and nurses during medical procedures.
A 2016 Johns Hopkins study claimed more than 250,000 people in the U.S. die every year from medical mistakes. That makes medical errors the third leading cause of death in America.
Other reports claim the numbers to be as high as 440,000. If that claim is accurate, then medical errors are causing about one out of every five deaths in the US. Ah yes, the joys of modern medicine.
At their July 17 meeting, the Archuleta Board of County Commissioners finally dealt with the County Coroner vacancy, by appointing Sheriff’s Deputy Brandon Bishop as our new coroner. We might assume that, as a former law enforcement officer, Mr. Bishop had occasion to observe the process used by a coroner, to determine the cause of death. Not always an easy thing to do, however.
Here, we are listening to County Commissioner Michael Whiting:
“I move to appoint Brandon Bishop to fill the unexpired term of Coroner, contingent upon compliance with state statute.”
(I take this “contingent upon” language to imply that the BOCC was not entirely sure they were complying with state statute.)
BOCC chair Steve Wadley asked for public comment (and heard none) and then stated:
“I guess, Brandon, before we vote, we want to wish you well and make sure that you understand that County staff is available to help you navigate these waters as you move forward. And if you want to reach out to any of the Commissioners personally, for any advice… it’s kind of tough getting thrown into a new position… and all of a sudden, something you didn’t anticipate happens very quickly, and you find yourself in deep water. So I would invite you to reach out to those you seek counsel from…”
Mr. Bishop said he appreciated the offer.
Bill Hudson began sharing his opinions in the Pagosa Daily Post in 2004 and can’t seem to break the habit. He claims that, in Pagosa Springs, opinions are like pickup trucks: everybody has one.