Dennis Austin: Pennsylvania Prisoner Who Died With Bedsores Should Spark Probe, Lawyer Says

ERIE, Pa. -- A former federal prosecutor has asked for a criminal investigation into the death of Dennis Austin, a Pennsylvania prison inmate with grossly infected bedsores that his family said caused or contributed to his death.

"This is an outrage and people ought to be highly incensed about it," Jeffrey J. Del Fuoco, now a private lawyer working for Austin's family, told The Huffington Post. "There is a criminal wrong that needs to be addressed here."

Del Fuoco has asked the district attorney in Erie to investigate Austin's New Year's Day death at the State Correctional Institution in Albion. The 48-year-old convict had been diagnosed in July 2010 with lung and bone cancer that the coroner said killed him. Austin, committed to the prison in 1991 for rape and kidnapping, was serving a 28-to-57-year sentence.

Austin's sister, Paula Thomas, of Erie, provided The Huffington Post with post-mortem photos of her brother showing bedsores covering a large portion of his body. Thomas said the photos show serious neglect. "It's awful. It's just awful," Thomas said. "Yeah, he was in prison, but he served his time all those years and yet he had to suffer like that."

Del Fuoco said the photos show "severe, prolonged inattention and neglect." He said the pictures should "shock the sensibilities of anyone with any humanity whatsoever."

WARNING: GRAPHIC PHOTOS OF DENNIS AUSTIN (Article Continues Below)

The lawyer said medical experts he has consulted suggested Austin died from gross negligence.

"I have spoken to a major forensic pathologist, whose preliminary opinion is if the wounds did not outright cause [Austin's] death, at bare-bones minimum they contributed to it ... He indicated to me that there is no question that we have gross neglect," Del Fuoco said.

Del Fuoco's letter to Erie County District Attorney Jack Daneri seeks a formal investigation. Daneri did not immediately return calls for comment.

The letter to the D.A. cites The Huffington Post's previous coverage of the case -- in particular, comments made by Erie County Coroner Lyell Cook. Cook told HuffPost last month that Austin died as a result of stage-four metastatic lung cancer. Cook said the care Austin received at SCI Albion was "appropriate and as good as you would find anywhere else." The coroner also said the bedsore ulcers "looked bad," but were not evidence of neglect.

"For the Erie County coroner to make the type of statements he made to [The Huffington Post] seems completely ridiculous and irresponsible," Del Fuoco said.

Del Fuoco said prison officials refuse to investigate Austin's "true cause of death" and have denied his family's request for a publicly-funded autopsy. Del Fuoco said the family does not have the funds to pay for a private autopsy.

Susan Bensinger, deputy press secretary for the state Department of Corrections, last month declined to discuss the details of Austin's death "out of respect for the privacy of the inmate."

READ JEFFREY J. DEL FUOCO'S INVESTIGATION REQUEST: (Article Continues Below)

Dennis Austin

Del Fuoco said he does not know the details of Austin's criminal conviction.

"That has no play in this. That's irrelevant," Del Fuoco said. "I don't care what your politics are, this is an outrage and people ought to be highly incensed about it."

Regardless of the district attorney's findings, Del Fuoco said it is "highly likely" he will file a wrongful death suit on behalf of the family.

"This isn't going away, so somebody needs to do something about it," Del Fuoco said.

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Comments

[ScottThomas1]

10:15 PM on 12/15/2012

if anyone can find a good lawyer for Austins family. Jeff dalfuco is a fake .have any good attorney call 814-460-5960

[forsakento]

05:40 PM on 02/24/2012

I just noticed the pictures on the site they are very sickening I can just imagine what the family thought when they seen them they are very sick to look at.

[forsakento]

01:11 PM on 02/24/2012

LET THOSE PEOPLE WHO ARE OUT THERE WITHOUT SIN CAST THE FIRST STONE I THINK THAT THERE ARE NONE OF U

[barby12]

01:05 PM on 02/24/2012

I have NO sympathy for the pain this man endured...It was his "just reward" for kidnapping and raping.

[NurseAB]

12:11 PM on 02/21/2012

This is awful. It is clear this inmate was neglected and not properly cared for. The prison clearly needs to revamp their entire medical staff. Sad situation, regardless of the crimes he commit he was still human and deserved to be treated as so.

[JohnDurr]

11:42 AM on 02/21/2012

Judge Connelly of Erie, PA handed down Dennis Austin’s prison sentence. Bad blood is apparently boiling over
http://www.topix.com/forum/city/erie-pa/T9M5FOMOGK8QDRNJO

Note to Dennis Austin’s victims: be alert to any adverse actions and report them to Erie authorities if they occur.

[Lilfox]

10:23 PM on 02/22/2012

Since you have so much knowledge on this case, on the record it states the victim was sodemized, raped, and orally offended repeatedly for hours. Can you please explain with your knowledge how the rape kit taken from her had no hair, no saliva, no semen absolutely nothing. Since your knowledge is so extensive on this case I see how you let everyone know that he was found guilty on charges of rape and kidnapping of a 15 yr old and aquitted of attacking a teacher at a local high school. But that you convieniently left out as well as the fact that there was absolutely no physical evidence in this case, just finger pointing. and at the time of his psychiatric evaluation the state had him so drugged up he didn't even know his name, where he was or how he got there. Maybe that had something to do with their findings. Seems to me,you are on a crusade either for the prison or the state in a biased manor or maybe both.

[forsakento]

10:34 AM on 02/24/2012

U seem to know quite a bit on dennis austin but I think you better let it all out U only put what U want people to read about try and revamp your statements.

[forsakento]

11:23 AM on 02/24/2012

This statement was for John Durr who seems to know alot of nothing because he is not telling all if you If U are without sin then let U be the first on to CAST THE FIRST STONE

[DeathInstitute]

10:47 AM on 02/21/2012

In order to determine who did/did not do what when, one has to know where the responsibility rests. It’s important to know that prison healthcare in Pennsylvania is contracted by your state DOC. In 2008 that contract was renewed for five years to Prison Health Services (PHS) out of Brentwood, Tennessee. Up until 2011 it was in direct competition with its competitor Correctional Medical Services, Inc. (CMS) located in St. Louis, Missouri. On 6.23.2011 these two HMO giants merged into Corizon Health Services, Inc.

Prior to their merger both had serious problems regarding the lack of sufficient-to-the-need healthcare delivery, whether at the city, state or federal level. Those problems have not disappeared. Do not think that as a result of the 6.23.2011 merger that they threw out the pre-existing employee cultures after the merger. No. They have converged on a few shared values, some common operating principles and standard processes and have left other aspects as they originally existed. Experts have stated that there is no such thing as a merger of equals: one company always brings the dominant culture. Agreed. With the creation of Corizon, PHS which was pre-merger, not a privately held corporation is now. CMS bought them out. CMS was a privately held corporation. So is Corizon. Smart companies will go out of their way to be protectionist and preserve certain parts of the smaller entity. No less so in this case.
Wrongful Death & Injury Institute, Inc.

[JohnDurr]

03:59 PM on 02/21/2012

If you’re advising the potential plaintiffs in this case to file a lawsuit against health care giant Corizon Prison Services, you should tell them the rest of the story. An underfunded lawyer in a cheap suit will be an easy mark for the defendant’s lawyer, who may make a lowball offer of quick cash for a quick settlement, knowing the Cheap Suit is out of dough to proceed any further.

[JohnDurr]

07:40 AM on 02/21/2012

Dennis Joseph Austin was already on probation for a similar crime when he did the heinous things to 3 school girls that sent him to prison for 63 years.

When he was brought to justice in 1991, prosecutors characterized him as a psychopath and sadistic pedophile. The judge who sentenced him said psychiatric reports revealed Austin was “a dangerous person with little chance for rehabilitation.” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 3/3/1991)

Hyping Dennis Austin’s end-of-life skin breakdown is lurid and misleading, when one considers the sequelae of end stage metastatic cancer. Nor does it appear that he unduly suffered, according to lawyer Del Fuoco’s acknowledgment that Dennis Austin was receiving substantial narcotic pain relievers.

This sexual predator is reaching beyond the grave to claim more victims. DBR10’s comments on this board clearly indicate she suffers anew. Inevitably the public will question the role of genetics in Dennis Austin’s psychiatric diagnosis, which may negatively impact public perception of his kin. This is Dennis Austin’s legacy.

[JohnDurr]

08:27 AM on 02/21/2012

Regarding lawyer Del Fuoco's demand for a taxpayer subsidized autopsy:
An autopsy isn’t required when the decedent was under the care of an attending physician or coroner who can certify the cause of death. However, next-of-kin can obtain an independent autopsy at their expense.

According to published reports, Dennis Austin had an extraordinarily large family. It’s reasonable to assume his family could have spread the cost among themselves, if they were in agreement. In the end, no family member stepped forward to bear the cost.

According to Dennis Austin’s obituary, he was buried in Jan 2012 at a Catholic cemetery in Erie, Pennsylvania:
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/erietimesnews/obituary.aspx?n=dennis-joseph-austin&pid=155324210&fhid=8574

An autopsy at this late stage would require a grisly exhumation under court order. We can only hope publicity seekers would keep any such photos from public view.

[Lilfox]

11:17 PM on 02/22/2012

did you know the so called similar crime was simple assault how is that similar

[Rebecca Coomes]

05:06 PM on 02/20/2012

I wasn't there but it kind of sounds like he got "Kennedy Terminal Ulcers" which are very common in the dying, especially elderly and cancer patients, and crop up very, very quickly, usually very close to death. These particular type of bedsores are usually an indicator death will occur within days and occur regardless of how well the patient is turned and cared for. They are notable in the incredible speed at which they expand. They are caused by compromise­d blood flow to the areas they occur in, as the body shuts down in preparatio­n for death. We were caring for my mother at home, with Hospice, and she got one the day before she died and I was horrified at how it wasn't there one night and was a big sore the next morning and a gaping hole by evening. I was anguished about it until the Hospice nurse explained it. We put some special gel padding over it (sacral ulcer). Not saying this particular inmate was NOT neglected, but chances are that he also was simply suffering from a common deathbed breakdown of skin.

[Lilfox]

11:22 PM on 02/22/2012

look at the wounds on his leg and tell me they look like they had been treated or even cleaned for that matter. I understand these ulcers can happen, but these wounds are obviously infected and all the way threw to the bone in depth. they should of been at the very least be trying to prevent what easily could of been life taking infections such as sepsis and or staph.

[csmomo]

01:16 PM on 02/20/2012

Somehow I cannot muster up any tears for a man who was guilty of committing the crimes he was convicted of.

[JohnDurr]

09:00 AM on 02/19/2012

My gut feeling is that David Lohr is a sufficiently experienced professional in the crime writing field, and that he won't be fooled for long by his headline-grabbing informant, Jeffrey Del Fuoco. Lohr may even use his writing skills to flesh out Del Fuoco himself.
http://jefferydelfuocotheruth.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=4829290

[dbrett480]

06:28 PM on 02/18/2012

People die in hospitals with bedsores. If we expect prisons to provide the same level of care as a hospital, then we need to reexamine our priorities.

[dhull1392]

03:55 AM on 02/19/2012

I would hope that Prison Hospitals provide the same level of care that Hospitals do. An incarcerated human being is STILL a human being...

[dbrett480]

12:53 PM on 02/19/2012

Prison hospitals try to provide a high level of care, but it isn't as easy. Most inmates have an extensive history of drug abuse and thus have compromised immune systems. Also there is the issue of money. The state doesn't grow money trees, so unless people are willing to pay for the medical care of criminals, stuff will suffer.

[majikthyse02]

01:20 PM on 02/18/2012

Perhaps Dennis Austin's death was as painful for him as was the crime he commited against his victim. Sounds like justice to me.

[JackVandusen]

02:49 PM on 02/18/2012

Sorry, meant to hit Reply. Did not mean to Fave.
So it sounds like you believe that the medical staff at the prison should have the right to impose a harsher sentence than the judge and jury if they feel like it. Really?
Isn't the fact that he's serving time in prison supposed to be his punishment? Who has the right to override a jury's verdict through killing by neglect? Your sense of justice doesn't sound like justice to me.

[majikthyse02]

11:46 AM on 02/19/2012

So what does sound like justice to you?

[capkirk1235]

03:16 AM on 02/21/2012

Sorry...not shedding any tears for this "Decedent" but if the family really cared about his care, why, as stated in the document filed by their attorney, that several weeks prior to his death there was "a strong, rotten odor emanated from in and around the Decedent as he lay in bed in the prison infirmary"....WHY DIDN'T THEY DO SOMETHING? No...they waited until after he was dead so they could get a payoff...just like all people who do not take responsibility for their actions...it's always someone else fault.

[JohnDurr]

08:17 AM on 02/18/2012

To reporter David Lohr:

Why is Jeffrey Del Fuoco a “former” federal prosecutor? Circumstances, please.

Also, it appears lawyer Del Fuoco is asking taxpayers to bear the burden of collecting evidence (autopsy, etc.) in lieu of conducting his own “wrongful death” litigation work, at his own expense.

[JohnDurr]

07:19 AM on 02/18/2012

It appears Albion prison staff took “heroic measures” to prolong inmate Dennis Austin’s life. Looking at Austin’s death photos reminds me why I have a Living Will. Artificial life support measures like Austin was receiving in prison are costly and they prolong the death process, but bodily decay sets in anyway. You can’t blame Albion for that.

And how was Austin’s body manipulated by the funeral home staff who took his death photos? It’s a good bet that they removed all the packing and bandages (which indicated good wound care) to reveal bare sores.

[forsakento]

01:10 PM on 02/24/2012

U seem to know a lot U should have your own new paper then U would have a lot NEWS OH by the way were u at his trial ?