Max
05-14-2003, 01:09 PM
1983 shooting may reclassify as homicide
Man's death 20 years later prompts unusual medical investigation
By DARRYL ENRIQUEZ
denriquez@journalsentinel.com
Last Updated: May 10, 2003
In an unusual homicide investigation, forensic officials are questioning whether a bullet wound that paralyzed a Milwaukee man 20 years ago during a spectacular double shooting and kidnapping ultimately led to his death Friday.
The Milwaukee County medical examiner's office performed an autopsy Saturday on the body of Angel Cintron, 40, who died at Aurora Sinai Medical Center. Medical investigators are trying to determine if Cintron's death should be listed as a homicide.
The office regularly handles cases in which gunshot victims die from their wounds days or weeks later. But Cintron's case is an intriguing one because of the lengthy time between the shooting and his death, a medical examiner's spokesman said.
Medical investigators must determine if Cintron's declining health and ultimately his death can be attributed to the gunshot injury. That decision should be made early this week, the spokesman said.
It was not known if the bullet that paralyzed Cintron from the waist down and forced him to use a wheelchair was ever removed, according to a preliminary medical report.
Cintron was shot in October 1983 while he helped Marian Turcaz move furniture back into her family's east side home, according to old news reports.
Her former husband, Barbaro C. Turcaz, then 30, burst into the home on E. Land Place and shot Cintron in the chest and Marian Turcaz in the lower chest. He threatened to shoot other members of her family before grabbing her and dragging her over a backyard fence.
Barbaro Turcaz then spotted a car on N. Pulaski Ave. and ordered the driver, a Chicago man, at gunpoint to drive them away from the east side.
When the driver became lost, the gunman ordered him out of the car. Barbaro Turcaz then drove onto I-43, where he abandoned the car and forced his former wife to climb over the freeway barrier. The two walked to a friend's apartment near N. 12th and W. State streets.
Barbaro Turcaz threatened to kill the woman and himself, but, instead, left the apartment, giving her time to call police. He was later arrested.
Barbaro Turcaz was charged with two counts of attempted homicide and sent to prison. The length of his sentence in the 20-year-old case could not be immediately learned, although Cintron's family believes Barbaro Turcaz was incarcerated for about seven years and is now out of prison.
How a finding of homicide would affect Barbaro Turcaz's criminal record also could not be immediately determined.
Peter Burgos, Cintron's nephew, took care of his uncle during the last few weeks of his life.
"He basically, for the most part, was real (expletive) on life after the shooting," Burgos said. "Before that, he was active in sports. He even had a scholarship to play basketball in a junior college. He always kept himself in great shape and he was a ladies' man.
"After the shooting, he didn't feel he had anything to live for. He watched TV and stayed inside. He resorted to a lot of negative things in life to resolve the pain. He became really depressed."
A medical examiner's report said Cintron had a history of medical problems that included diabetes, numerous infections and renal failure. During the last year of his life, he had lost 100 pounds. He was suffering from pneumonia when he died, the report says.
Services are pending with Brett Funeral Home, 2001 W. Wisconsin Ave.
From the May 11, 2003 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
http://www.jsonline.com/news/wauk/may03/140030.asp
Man's death 20 years later prompts unusual medical investigation
By DARRYL ENRIQUEZ
denriquez@journalsentinel.com
Last Updated: May 10, 2003
In an unusual homicide investigation, forensic officials are questioning whether a bullet wound that paralyzed a Milwaukee man 20 years ago during a spectacular double shooting and kidnapping ultimately led to his death Friday.
The Milwaukee County medical examiner's office performed an autopsy Saturday on the body of Angel Cintron, 40, who died at Aurora Sinai Medical Center. Medical investigators are trying to determine if Cintron's death should be listed as a homicide.
The office regularly handles cases in which gunshot victims die from their wounds days or weeks later. But Cintron's case is an intriguing one because of the lengthy time between the shooting and his death, a medical examiner's spokesman said.
Medical investigators must determine if Cintron's declining health and ultimately his death can be attributed to the gunshot injury. That decision should be made early this week, the spokesman said.
It was not known if the bullet that paralyzed Cintron from the waist down and forced him to use a wheelchair was ever removed, according to a preliminary medical report.
Cintron was shot in October 1983 while he helped Marian Turcaz move furniture back into her family's east side home, according to old news reports.
Her former husband, Barbaro C. Turcaz, then 30, burst into the home on E. Land Place and shot Cintron in the chest and Marian Turcaz in the lower chest. He threatened to shoot other members of her family before grabbing her and dragging her over a backyard fence.
Barbaro Turcaz then spotted a car on N. Pulaski Ave. and ordered the driver, a Chicago man, at gunpoint to drive them away from the east side.
When the driver became lost, the gunman ordered him out of the car. Barbaro Turcaz then drove onto I-43, where he abandoned the car and forced his former wife to climb over the freeway barrier. The two walked to a friend's apartment near N. 12th and W. State streets.
Barbaro Turcaz threatened to kill the woman and himself, but, instead, left the apartment, giving her time to call police. He was later arrested.
Barbaro Turcaz was charged with two counts of attempted homicide and sent to prison. The length of his sentence in the 20-year-old case could not be immediately learned, although Cintron's family believes Barbaro Turcaz was incarcerated for about seven years and is now out of prison.
How a finding of homicide would affect Barbaro Turcaz's criminal record also could not be immediately determined.
Peter Burgos, Cintron's nephew, took care of his uncle during the last few weeks of his life.
"He basically, for the most part, was real (expletive) on life after the shooting," Burgos said. "Before that, he was active in sports. He even had a scholarship to play basketball in a junior college. He always kept himself in great shape and he was a ladies' man.
"After the shooting, he didn't feel he had anything to live for. He watched TV and stayed inside. He resorted to a lot of negative things in life to resolve the pain. He became really depressed."
A medical examiner's report said Cintron had a history of medical problems that included diabetes, numerous infections and renal failure. During the last year of his life, he had lost 100 pounds. He was suffering from pneumonia when he died, the report says.
Services are pending with Brett Funeral Home, 2001 W. Wisconsin Ave.
From the May 11, 2003 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
http://www.jsonline.com/news/wauk/may03/140030.asp