After medical examiners found that the man suspected of instigating last year’s pipeline explosion committed suicide, the Deer Park Police Department has wrapped up a months-long criminal investigation into the incident.
Before driving through a corrugated metal fence in a Walmart parking lot and crashing his SUV into the above-ground liquid natural gas pipeline south of Houston on September 16, 51-year-old Jonathan McEvoy had a history of hanging and gun-related suicide attempts, according to an autopsy report given to Houston Public Media. Homes and businesses were evacuated during the days-long fire that followed, and properties in the vicinity suffered severe damage.
According to a statement from Deer Park police Lt. Chris Brown, “We held off on closing our investigation until after we had examined all the information.” The medical examiner’s report was the last thing we needed in this instance, and we would have looked into it more if there had been anything that called for it. In this instance, it didn’t, and our research was over.
RELATED: Medical examiners determined that the driver’s death in the Deer Park pipeline explosion was suicide.
The incident caused injuries to four persons, including a firefighter, but no additional fatalities have been confirmed.
Responders were only able to remove McEvoy’s burned remains from the vehicle that had been swiftly consumed by the fire three days after the eruption, after the roaring pipeline flames had subsided. According to the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences, McEvoy passed away as a result of heat injuries and blunt traumatic injuries he received during the collision.
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To find McEvoy, researchers employed a method called radiography comparison, which looks at X-ray pictures obtained at several points in time to spot anatomical changes.
The four-page postmortem report stated that McEvoy had just been released from an alcohol addiction treatment facility.
The Deer Park Police Department reports that no co-conspirators or any criminal charges that might be prosecuted were found during the criminal investigation into the incident.
