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Autopsy in Klutzo death leaves unanswered questions

Posted November 19, 2007 10:00 pm

Sarah Antonacci

The family of A. Paul Carlock, who died Friday morning after a struggle with corrections officers at the Sangamon County Jail, may not be satisfied with Sangamon County Coroner Susan Boone's conclusion that his death was the result of a heart condition.

"Mr. Carlock died from a pre-existing severe heart disease which causes blockage of the arteries," Boone wrote in a news release issued Monday. "Toxicology is pending and it may take four to six weeks to get results."

The autopsy was completed Saturday.

Carlock, 57, a former Springfield and Grandview police officer who also entertained as Klutzo the Clown, was being held at the jail on federal child molestation charges since his arrest Oct. 9.

Dr. Kent Harshbarger, a pathologist who formerly conducted autopsies in Springfield and currently works for the Montgomery County, Ohio, coroner's office, told a State Journal-Register reporter Monday that he couldn't discuss Carlock's case.

"I have no comment," he said. "The family has contacted me, and I'm working with them."

The sheriff's office said Friday afternoon that Carlock had been exhibiting strange behavior for several days. On Friday morning, jail personnel were to take him to the hospital for an evaluation.

When they got to Carlock's cell, he had his shirt off and became combative when asked to put the shirt back on, a sheriff's spokesman said. Corrections officers reportedly tried to get him into a restraining chair and then attempted to put on leg restraints. When both efforts failed, the spokesman said, the jailers used a Taser shocking device on his leg.

Carlock was stunned enough that leg restraints could be applied, but when corrections officers put Carlock in an upright position, they reportedly saw the color drain from his face and a change in his breathing pattern.

He was taken to St. John's Hospital, where he died about 90 minutes later.

The sheriff's office and the U.S. marshal's office are investigating the incident.

On Oct. 18, jail officers twice used a Taser on Carlock when he allegedly was uncooperative and combative.

The sheriff's office has defended its use of Tasers, which shoot electrically charged darts that carry 50,000 volts for several seconds, and a doctor who sits on the board of directors of Taser International Inc. insisted Monday the device does not produce enough of a charge to harm a person.

Human-rights groups maintain that Tasers should be used only as an alternative to deadly force and not in efforts to get people to comply with officers' orders.

Sarah Antonacci can be reached at (217) 788-1529 or sarah.antonacci@sj-r.com.

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