Before the autopsy, this case was looking like a brutal homicide.
Nope, turns out it was a natural death. Which, hey, huge relief to me
since this is not very far from MY apartment.
Jacque1in
http://www.nj.com/news/times/index.ssf?/base/news-3/1181707577285110....
'Homicide' victim died of meningitis
Autopsy reveals woman was not beaten to death inside her apartment
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
BY LISA CORYELL
LAWRENCE -- In a bizarre twist to what looked like a brutal murder, a
woman found badly bruised and comatose in her Franklin Corner Road
apartment on Saturday died from natural causes, an autopsy revealed
yesterday.
Tanja Andric, 35, died from an unidentified type of meningitis,
according to Mercer County Medical Examiner Rafaat Amad.
It is not clear whether she was contagious. Investigators, police and
paramedics who came into contact with Andric are being urged to seek
medical attention. Her employer, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., was not
aware of the autopsy findings, a spokesman said.
"The medical examiner ruled that her death was due to an infection and
not an assault," said Pete Daly, a county spokesman.
Andric recently moved to Mercer County from Chicago, apparently for a
job at Bristol-Myers Squibb. Concerned family members asked police to
check on her when they hadn't heard from her in more than a day.
Police found her unconscious in the Lawrenceville Gardens apartment
where she lived alone.
Investigators originally reported Andric had been beaten because she
was severely bruised and was bleeding from cuts on her body. It
appeared a struggle had taken place in her home, according to
Assistant Prosecutor Tom Meidt.
"There were bruises on her arms and legs and forehead. It looked like
she was beaten," Meidt said. "There was blood all over her, all over
the room. There were papers ripped up all over the room, a broken
picture frame."
But some things about the alleged crime scene began to puzzle veteran
investigators.
"It was unlike anything anyone had seen," Meidt said. "There were no
obvious signs of an intruder. There were no signs of forced entry, no
blood in any egress to indicate an intruder had left the apartment.
There was no robbery, no nothing. The whole scene made no sense."
When Andric died on Monday, Lawrence police thought they had a
homicide on their hands. But Amad said yesterday Andric did not die of
foul play.
"It's unfortunate she passed away but the fact that it was due to a
medical reason is a relief," said Lt. Tom Ritter, a spokesman for the
Lawrence police.
Meningitis is an infection of the tissue that covers the brain and
spinal cord. It can often cause blood spots to develop under the skin,
which can lead to severe bruising, experts say. It also can cause a
person to become delirious.
"Somebody with late stages of meningitis can get confused, stagger
around, bump into things and knock them over," said Dr. Michael Baden,
a world-renowned forensic pathologist.
That's what investigators believe happened to Andric.
Meidt said she may have knocked over and broken a large picture
frame.
"I think in her disorientation and pain she fell to the ground and was
moving around in the broken glass," he said, explaining the cuts on
Andric's body.
Meningitis is usually caused by bacteria or a virus. Viral meningitis
is generally less severe and often resolves without specific
treatment, while bacterial meningitis is often more contagious and can
be fatal if left untreated. The county Medical Examiner's Office is
awaiting test results to determine what kind of meningitis caused
Andric's death.
Andric had a history of viral meningitis, police said.
"When she spoke to her family on Thursday she complained of headaches
and nausea, symptoms she had had before," Ritter said. "Her family
encouraged her to go see a doctor but I don't believe she did."
"Maybe she thought she could handle it," said Meidt. "Maybe it
progressed very quickly. It's a very sad case."
Meidt said investigators were aware of Andric's history of meningitis
but didn't know if she had been tested or treated for it at Capital
Health System at Fuld, where she was taken by police Saturday night.
A spokesman for the hospital said last night he did not know what
treatment Andric received and that patient privacy laws would not
permit him to disclose the information if he knew.
Contact Lisa Coryell at lcory...@njtimes.com.
