Updated:  1/16/07

Page 3:  The Search for a Cause

Pursuant to the ER doctor’s request, Dr. Albert Siu is called to the Fresno County Coroner’s morgue where he performs a comprehensive medical-legal autopsy.  Linda's family physician, Dr. Chooljian, is present during the autopsy.   

The Emergency Room Doctor tells the Coroner’s office that Linda’s clinical presentation is “really strange.”  

The autopsy confirms what both Linda’s family doctor and her obstetrician said:  Linda was a healthy 37-year old woman.  Dr. Siu finds no medical explanation for Linda’s death.  Dr. Siu notes that Linda has pulmonary edema and marked congestion of her lungs.

Dr. Siu says that this is his most mysterious case  – a young healthy woman who presents to the emergency room and dies while being rendered appropriate medical care, and on autopsy there is no anatomical explanation for her death.

Intrigued, Dr. Siu and the Coroner’s Office continue to search for the cause of Linda’s untimely death.  Three months of forensic medical inquiry produces no explanation. 

Linda’s family physician calls the Coroner’s Office and requests they test for poisons.  

Abrupt Changes. Shortly after Linda’s death, visitors document that Mark has taken down Linda’s photographs throughout the house. Mark maligns Linda’s memory with disparaging and derogatory comments about her. Mark’s attorney says Mark has that type of “personality.” Click to watch Mark's mother also disparages Linda's memory calling Linda a "bitch" and a "selfish, unloving woman."  Mark's mother states that Linda was not an attentive or affectionate wife.  While everyone questions what could have caused Linda's death, Mark says that it was a heart attack and that he doesn't have time to worry about what happened to Linda.  Three day's after Linda's death, Mark's sister, Kara, tells Mark that she "knows he looks forward to what comes next."

In the days following Linda's death, Mark says he has to look on the positive side, and that this is going to make him a better dad. Linda's entire family, including first cousins that mirror Linda’s children’s ages, are cut off from Linda's children.  Mark changes and unlists his home telephone number.  Linda’s family finds the new phone number and calls to talk with the children.  Linda's husband changes the phone number two more times.  Linda’s husband refuses to let his children talk with their cousins, who have grown up with his children.  The phone number is again changed to a new unlisted number. 

Linda’s parents then initiate, through an attorney, a formal request to see the children. Mark’s attorney responds in the negative writing that her client, Mr. Adanalian, will allow no contact between Linda's parents and Linda's children.  When Linda's younger sister, Meg, goes to Mark's house to see her nieces and nephew, Mark refuses to let her in the house.  Mark then calls the police complaining that Meg is trespassing on his property.  Mark filed a restraining order against Meg and Meg's husband.  Mark makes false statements in his affidavit filed with the restraining order.  A few months after Linda's death, Mark told friends that he wishes "Linda could come back for just one day to see how well I'm doing with the kids." 

Mark admits that the last six months of his marriage were "living hell."  Linda would take her children to Fresno Christian School, often arriving late and red faced from crying.  Linda's eldest would often ask for prayer for Linda "because her daddy was always yelling at mommy."  Reliable Information indicates that Mark's children appear to be currently subjected to abuse similar to what Linda suffered. One caretaker described what the children told her:  "When Mark would rage at Linda, the children would huddle together on the ground and cry, they were so scared because they thought daddy was going to kill mommy.  He was yelling and turning red and his eyes were big and he was in mommy's face.  The children would beg daddy not to kill mommy."       

The Exhumation Petition. Unable to determine what caused Linda’s death, Coroner Hadden petitions the Fresno County Superior Court to exhume Linda’s body.  Hadden tells the Court that his forensic pathologists, including Dr. Albert Siu, Dr. Venu Gopal and Dr. Todd Glauser, cannot find the cause of Linda’s death.  The Coroner further tells the Court that because there is no natural cause of death, he needs more specimens, especially hair, for additional toxicology testing.  Click to Read Coroner’s Affidavit

But Linda’s husband opposes the exhumation.  He tells Linda’s brother, David, that David should just accept Linda’s death, let Linda rest in peace, and stop dwelling on the past. 

Attorneys Warren Paboojian and criminal defense attorney Daniel Bacon, appear on Mr. Adanalian’s behalf at the Superior Court exhumation hearing and ask the Judge to not sign the exhumation order. They also ask to depose the Coroner and his Chief Forensic Pathologist.  They file Court documents stating that Mark does not want Linda’s body disturbed. Mark’s attorney tries to explain that Mark didn’t want Linda’s body exhumed for “personal reasons.” Click to watch

At their depositions, the Coroner and Chief Forensic Pathologist describe Linda’s death as “mysterious” and testify that they need her body exhumed for additional toxicology testing.  Later that day, Mark states, “if they find something, I didn’t do it.”

The Exhumation.

· On May 30, 2000, the Fresno Superior Court Judge Orders Linda’s remains exhumed from Ararat cemetery in Fresno.   

· On June 2, 2000, Linda’s remains are exhumed.

· On June 3, 2000, Dr. Siu performs a second autopsy on Linda with three additional forensic pathologists participating:  Dr. Eric Pfeifer from the Mayo Clinic, Dr. Venu Gopal, Fresno County's Chief forensic pathologist, and Dr. Stephen Avalos, who was hired by Linda's husband.     

Although suspicions of foul play peak in June of 2000, questions about Linda’s mysterious death surfaced very early in the case.  Her husband's admissions of a troubled marriage combined with Linda’s sudden, inexplicable death result in a whirlwind of suspicions.

Before the Selenium poisoning is discovered, Mr. Paboojian goes to the Fresno Bee with some negative toxicology results stating, “I'm releasing these test results to dispel the rumors and innuendo that Mark Adanalian had anything to do with the death of his wife.  Ever since the body was exhumed, people have been talking about Mark having something to do with his wife's death." 

But additional toxicology testing solves Linda’s “mysterious” death.   

Selenium Discovery.

The world renowned Mayo Clinic discovers toxic selenium levels in Linda’s tissues. 

The Director of the Kentucky Poison Center, a toxicologist with selenium poisoning expertise, studies Linda’s case and explains to the Fresno Bee, “Someone gave this person a great deal of selenium.  It would have to be a significant plan. You either purposely do it yourself, or somebody does it to you.  It's not an accidental two pills, trust me.”

The President of the American Board of Forensic Toxicologists (ABFT) wrote, “the evaluation of the forensic triad, along with the consideration of the clinical presentation, leads to the clear conclusion that Ms. Adanalian’s death was caused by acute selenium intoxication.” Linda’s poisoning was peer-reviewed and published in an International Forensic Journal.

Linda’s husband responds to news of his wife's poisoning by traveling to Monterey to take a private polygraph test.  Mr. Paboojian, pointing to the polygraph results, proclaims his client’s innocence on the evening news;  once again, trying to dispel the rumors and innuendo. As for Mark, he stopped talking long ago. Click to watch

Mr. Paboojian tries to block a criminal investigation, sending a letter to the Coroner demanding that Linda’s case be closed within 72 hours.

Following the selenium discovery, Mr. Paboojian works to obstruct a criminal investigation by publicly discrediting the lab results.  Meanwhile the United States’ leading forensic toxicologists independently review the case — all of them support Dr. Siu’s Autopsy Report:

CAUSE OF DEATH:  Acute Selenium Toxicity.

MANNER OF DEATH:  Homicide

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All content contained herein is based upon factual records and/or verifiable information