May 14, 2009 – Territorial Medical Examiner Dr. Francisco Landron has reinforced by autopsy his initial determination that Judge Francis J. D’Eramo killed himself.
A statement Thursday morning from the Attorney General’s office said D’Eramo died from "asphyxia due to hanging."
After D’Eramo was found hanging in his apartment a day or so before he was to oversee a high profile murder trial involving a former police officer, the community was wild with speculation about the nature of his death.
Rumors he had been shot circulated over the radio airwaves the morning he was found. In some quarters, people refused to believe he had died at his own hand, accusing the Police Department of a coverup in order to protect one of their own in advance of the upcoming trial.
V.I. Justice Department spokeswoman Sara Lezama said she was continuing to receive calls about the matter and hoped the release would "put it to rest."
Thursdays’s statement said Landron reached his original conclusion after a thorough postmortem examination of D’Eramo’s body on April 27, the date it was discovered by V.I. Superior Court Marshals at about 8:30 a.m, and upon inspection of the judge’s Gallows Bay condominium
"We put the statement out because the media was reporting our original determination was preliminary," Attorney General Vincent Frazer, added in a phone interview Thursday morning. "We have received the actual autopsy report now and want people to understand the matter is closed.".
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