Alina Fitzpatrick: Seven Years Ago Today

There are apparently suspicious circumstances surrounding her death.

From the autopsy report of Alina Fitzpatrick written by Medical Examiner, Dr. Chai S. Choi



Ol' Doc Choi has a definite gift for understating the brutally obvious. His official conclusion was Alina Fitzpatrick's cause of death in early November, 2011 remains unknown. What he considered suspicious was forensic evidence showing she been struck in the head more than once with a blunt object and her body bore bruises and abrasions which he said she suffered around the time of her death. She also had a makeshift gag lodged in her mouth. The tox screen he ran showed her heart blood contained 0.96 micrograms per milliliter of methamphetamine. All that, plus her nude body was found dumped in an overgrown lot near NE 43rd and Anderson Road in far east Oklahoma City.

Yes, that does sound pretty suspicious.

The last time Alina Fitzpatrick was seen alive by someone other than those involved with her death was seven years ago today. It was a Friday night around 10pm. She had been dropped off by a friend near an apartment complex at the intersection of NW 24th and Western Avenue, barely a mile and a half from the state capitol building and a really long walk from where she was found.

She was 17 when she was killed. If she had lived and fulfilled her stated career dream, right now she would be a 24 year old nurse.

The young Ms. Fitzpatrick had been attending Putnam City North High School, but that fall began taking classes at home through the school district's Virtual High School Program. Her parents said she had been bullied at PC North. A district spokesperson, confirmed she was taking classes on line, but said there was no record of her being the victim of bullying.

There was a rumor she had begun to receive, "disturbing," calls on her cell phone, so she had changed her number. Another said she had told friends she was worried a man was following her. Neither has ever been verified, at least not publicly.

What we do know is she disappeared on the 4th and her body was discovered on the 9th. She wouldn't be officially identified until four days later and Choi's autopsy report wasn't issued until mid January, 2012.

Shortly after its release Sgt. Jennifer Wardlow of the OKC police issued a statement saying while the department was keeping the file on her case open they weren't actively investigating her death as a homicide. What Wardlow left unsaid was, thanks to the meth in her system, which Choi judged might, or might not have been fatal, they were considering her death just another drug OD.

Although the Sarge didn't say it, everyone knew what she meant and it didn't go over well with some. Within eight days police Captain Dexter Nelson was in front of reporters doing a clean up of sorts. After pointing out none of her wounds were severe enough by themselves to be the cause of death, Nelson was quoted by The Oklahoman as saying, "Homicide is just a legal term that gives us legal grounds to prosecute someone. We are still investigating it as a suspicious death. You investigate them the same way." He also asked the public to help his department solve all the suspiciousness.

The public didn't come through. The people, who at the very least enabled the death of Alina Fitzpatrick, have never been identified, or arrested. In fact Nelson's little tip toe through semantics was the last OKCPD statement regarding her killing and the last mention of her at all in the local media. That was on January 29th, 2012.

Much later, in response to an email, the reporter who quoted Nelson said the police were indeed considering her death an overdose and had little confidence the mystery would ever be unraveled. In other words if someone comes in and confesses fine, other wise we have stuff to do.

That's right, there are no relentless Olivia Bensons and Elliot Stablers on the job in Oklahoma City.

Not only that, but it's more than apparent the cops here have never read John Donne. He once wrote, "Any man's death diminishes me because I am involved in Mankind; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee."

Alina Fitzpatrick was buried on November 22, 2011. She was her parents only child.



sic vita est



11-4-18