Monday, December 18, 2006

Experts out of joint over bones
Allegheny County forensic experts should have been called to Point State Park immediately after old human bones were found last week during excavation for a $35 million park renovation, officials at the county medical examiner's office said Thursday.

"What if this was a homicide? What if this was a mass murder? What if this was a mass grave?" said Dr. Bennet Omalu, a forensic pathologist with the medical examiner's office. "When they found more pieces of bone, why did they not bring them to us, the office with jurisdiction? As a forensic pathologist, I feel very insulted by this -- I feel slighted."

Last week, a crew from Lowellville, Ohio-based S.E.T. Inc. -- hired by the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources as general contractor -- was digging a trench behind the Fort Pitt Blockhouse to install temporary water lines.