By Prof. Dr. Bardhyl Çipi
Part seventeen
SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE OF STRIKING DEATHS
(Public figures, victims of the dictatorship, other events)
Memorie.al / Bardhyl Çipi, one of the most experienced specialists in our country in the field of Forensic Medicine and Bioethics, their teaching, and the training of young forensic experts. Some of his patients include: victims who were killed on the border while trying to escape the communist dictatorship, but whose hidden corpse was discovered with the help of his loyal dog; the interned woman who committed suicide out of despair; Kosovan citizens killed by Serbs because they sought to live free, not to be humiliated and tortured by them; residents who lived 1500 years ago in Albania; the University of Tirana professor who was robbed and murdered; etc. A book on death and the scientific evidence for discovering its different types: murder, suicide, cases stimulated and forced by the communist regime, murders and genocides against Albanians by their neighbors, fresh or decomposed and skeletonized corpses. Documents of the deaths of prominent figures: Kennedy, Lincoln, Napoleon, Lenin, Trotsky, etc., and other events involving the deaths of ordinary people. Knowledge about post-mortem changes and the examination of corpses in the world and in our country, from a historical, ethical, forensic, and legal perspective. Some of his recent books are: “Manuali i Mjekësisë Ligjore” (Forensic Medicine Manual) (2015), “Bioethics in Albania nowadays” (2016), “Tranzicioni shqiptar në lupën e mjekësisë ligjore” (The Albanian Transition through the Lens of Forensic Medicine) (2018), “Mjekësia Ligjore Kriminalistika” (Forensic Medicine Criminalistics) (2020).
Continued from the last issue
Carbon Monoxide, the Ubiquitous Deadly Gas
(The Deaths of Anita Bitri and the Four Russian Tourists in Albania)
In our country, too, there have been many cases of death from carbon monoxide (CO), some of which I have personally encountered during my long tenure as a forensic medicine professional.
The first case that came to mind was the death of the famous Albanian singer, Anita Bitri, along with her mother and daughter, on October 19, 2004, in Staten Island, New York.
From the forensic and toxicological examinations, as well as the review of investigative data and the crime scene inspection, it was considered an accidental case that occurred due to the blockage of the carbon monoxide (CO) exhaust pipe of the heating system’s boiler by workers during the construction of a balcony on the side of the house where the victims resided.
As a result of this blockage, they were poisoned by the deadly carbon monoxide gas that had filled the interior of the house, originating from the boiler that the victim herself turned on the night before to warm up, as the weather had become very cold. The case was deemed accidental and was not accompanied by the prosecution of any person.
The Case of the Death of the Four Russian Tourists in Albania
However, the most severe case of fatal poisoning by carbon monoxide that has occurred in our country was undoubtedly the death of four Russian tourists on October 15, 2021, in a hotel in the village of Qerret, Kavajë district. A month and a half later, in a telephone interview during a television show hosted by the renowned journalist Klodiana Lala, I explained the forensic aspects of this tragic case involving four deaths.
This television discussion, perhaps, was the cause that led me to review more carefully all the circumstances, investigative data, toxicological, and forensic findings of these deaths presented in the visual media and press in our country, based on my experience and the rich relevant literature. Furthermore, to fully supplement this data, I also met with the prosecutor, who showed me the criminal file of this case regarding its forensic aspects.
According to the prosecutor’s file, it results that on 15.10.2021, at 10:10 PM, a notification was received that in Qerret, Golem, Kavajë, at the “Gloria Palace” Hotel, four people were found without signs of life in the SPA area, who turned out to be four Russian citizens: two parents, their daughter, and her son-in-law.
The itinerary of their movements up to their death was approximately this:
The victims had been accommodated in this hotel since October 10, 2021. After several days of staying at the hotel, on 15.10.2021, they traveled towards North Macedonia and crossed the Qafa e Thanës border at 10:07 AM. They ate there, and on the same day, at 5:07 PM, they re-entered Albania through the Tushemisht border point. They only stopped in Librazhd, where they ate again. At 8:00 PM, they returned to the hotel where they had booked the SPA facilities the day before, and ordered some food to be delivered to their rooms. They were found dead in the SPA area by the hotel staff.
Following the notification from the hotel, the investigative group, led by the prosecutor, immediately carried out the inspection of the crime scene. The corpses were found on the ground floor (floor 0) of the hotel building, where the warm swimming pool and SPA area are located on the north side of this floor. They were situated in an area measuring, in the center of which is the pool, measuring, with a volume of of water.
In the northwest corner of this area, the sauna is located, which at the time of the inspection was found to be operating, and its control panel showed the electronic notation 19.14 and a temperature of . Plastic white sunbeds were arranged sequentially around the perimeter of the pool.
In the northeast corner of the pool, next to the first sunbed in line, the corpse of a male citizen, later identified as S. B., was found lying irregularly on the floor. On the east side of the pool, along the middle of its length, two other corpses, one male and one female, identified as N. B. and N. B., were found close to each other, also lying in an irregular state. On the west side of the pool, on the middle sunbed, the corpse of Citizen E. B. was found lying and showing no signs of life.
From the external inspection of the corpses, no external bodily injuries (signs of violence) were observed on any of them.
From the crime scene environment, two victims’ mobile phones and the clothing they were wearing were taken as material evidence. Subsequently, two water samples were taken from the pool water, in accordance with standard procedures, for further laboratory examination, one for examination with a volume of and one for preservation, volume.
Also, two samples of powder, apparently chlorine used for disinfecting and treating the pool water, were taken for further examination; the chlorine samples were taken separately in an amount of each, one for analysis and the other for preservation. Furthermore, food products and their remains were taken from the rooms where the victims were accommodated for further examination, with the aim of being analyzed.
The next day, 16.10.2021, the autopsies of the four victims were performed. Their forensic examinations noted the characteristic signs of asphyxial deaths, as well as the bright red color of the tissues in all four victims. This data is provided in the respective forensic reports, accompanied by toxicological analyses, which showed that their blood contained carbon monoxide in the figures of 75 – 80 %.
The forensic results of these four deaths were announced more than a month after the occurrence of this tragic event. Thus, during the first month following these deaths, poisoning by chlorine or its vapors, food poisoning, or biological poisoning, etc., were mostly suspected.
Much later, an investigative experiment was also conducted under the same conditions as the event occurred, to determine whether the CO in the air resulted from a malfunction of the hotel boiler and a lack of proper ventilation system, or for other reasons. No results were achieved from its execution.
Precisely in the interview I gave in December 2021, I explained, among other things:
The carbon monoxide (CO), revealed in the expert analysis results, is one of the most dangerous poisons, and the moment it binds to hemoglobin, it becomes deadly. Their death occurred because the problem in the boiler must have been very serious, as all four died together. Carbon monoxide is an odorless, weightless gas like air, and is formed when there is combustion. It is considered one of the most dangerous and widespread poisons. Its property is to bind to the hemoglobin of the blood. In cases where carbon monoxide enters the body through respiration, it binds to the hemoglobin of the red blood cells, and this bond is 250 times stronger than that with oxygen. It depends on the amount of carbon monoxide gas in the location where the person is situated. Oxygen is replaced by this gas, and signs of poisoning appear, with headaches and dizziness. There is also a kind of euphoria, similar to intoxication. Then, the second phase is reached, where the person is unable to move, then falls into a coma and dies.
In the concrete case, the fact that these four victims found dead in the same environment, whose blood contained CO in a very high amount, accurately proves that their death resulted from carbon monoxide poisoning.
The victims in these deaths exhibit a bright red color of their body, similar to that of a living person, as was found in this incident.
At the moment the employees entered, the environment was cleared. Here is something that must be looked at carefully: the fact that all four died indicates that the possibility of a boiler defect must be very high.”
In truth, the main reason I am conducting this very detailed analysis of this case again is that this serious fatal event, even after a long time has passed, still remains undiscovered regarding the circumstances and cause of this poisoning.
First, I want to emphasize the work of the Forensic Institute’s expert team, of which I was a part many years ago, which succeeded in accurately determining CO poisoning (carbon monoxide) as the cause of these four deaths.
Furthermore, I am also mentioning data from foreign literature, according to which deaths from CO poisoning that occurred in the enclosed spaces of hotel pools and saunas have happened in many cases in the USA due to defects in the heating and ventilation equipment of these enclosed pool areas.
But what are the shortcomings that may have negatively influenced the incomplete disclosure of this event in the village of Qerret, Kavajë?
-First, for this tragic case, death was immediately suspected at the beginning to be caused mainly by chlorine or its vapors, food poisoning, or biological poisoning, etc. Thus, as far as I have been able to verify, from the data I obtained at the Kavajë Prosecutor’s Office and those presented in the press, during the inspection of the crime scene immediately after its occurrence, it does not appear that the installations for heating the internal areas of the pool and the hotel sauna were seen and checked: the heating boiler installed outside the hotel, with its pipelines, the ventilation system, etc.
-Second, there is an unexplained delay of over a month in the announcement of the full autopsy results of the victims, which contain the respective toxicological examinations, for the discovery of the true cause of this severe poisoning. Meanwhile, the results of the toxicological examinations of the death of the French writer Émile Zola, performed 120 years ago, discovered and announced this poisoning in the press very quickly, only 2-3 days after his death.
Whereas, in the case of the death of the four Russian tourists, during this period of over a month, poisoning by chlorine and its vapors was mainly sought. I regret having to state the observation of these shortcomings, which undoubtedly influenced the incomplete disclosure of this event, which may have occurred for various reasons.
I am announcing them because this is a serious case, with four human lives lost, for which forensic medicine—a science placed in the service of collective interest and social justice—together with the respective justice authorities, have the obligation to clarify these deaths in all their details. Unfortunately, for this tragic event, our country’s Prosecutor’s Office has suspended further investigations.
From Prof. Assoc. Dr. Simon Gega
“Prof. Dr. Bardhyl Çipi is among the central figures of Forensic Medicine science, following the path inherited from his father, the honored professor, Dr. Spiro Çipi.”
Prof. Dr. Bardhyl Çipi is among the central figures of forensic medicine science. This is not only because he follows the path inherited from his father, the honored professor, Dr. Spiro Çipi, but because his long experience of half a century in this field has made him so “in love” with the causes of “death” that we are convinced he will never die with the work he leaves for generations.
As I began to write these lines, the difficulty of finding the right words seemed much harder to me than the study of cases that Professor Bardhyl has conducted throughout his life to reach the accuracy of the study’s conclusion. This is because Professor Bardhyl has a personality that commands respect.
He is a personality who also resembles, in everyday life, a closed person, like a “safe” that holds many secrets within. Perhaps this happens because many things in life disappear with the person who knows them, and this is done to maintain the equilibrium of development and the dynamism of life.
In Professor Bardhyl, we see two opposite contrasts: a silent personality that is difficult to read, and a personality in whom you find everything you need if you manage to understand and read his life and activity. He is versatile and ready to share what he knows and does.
Through Professor Bardhyl, I have conceptualized Forensic Medicine completely differently from the experts or the materials they have published; Professor Bardhyl is part of this “scientific collage.” I see “Forensic Medicine” as a scientific discipline that materializes the object with the subject into eternity.
In this sense, Professor Bardhyl, through his writings, publications, references, hours of lectures, or academic discussions, has brought attention precisely to the fact of how this science has developed parallel to the sophistication of crime against life.
Professor Bardhyl’s studies are engaging because the language used in the case analysis is simple and scientific, understandable, and in every case, conveys a powerful appeal: “The means of crime are diverse, they develop infinitely, but the forensic medicine expert does not miss either the method or the means of the crime, no matter how distant the time gap is.”
This speaks volumes, and for this reason, the respect for this personality of Forensic Medicine cannot be conveyed either by these few words of mine or by the thousands of words of all his students. His life and the work he has transmitted, is transmitting, and will leave to generations speak and will speak for him.
Endless gratitude for the contribution he has also given as a lecturer in the Bachelor’s and Master’s study program in Criminal Law Sciences at the University College of Business in the Faculty of Law.
His figure and personality are a model for everyone, and it has been a special pleasure for me to have had the opportunity to know him closely. I value the time we collaborated as an added value in my life, and especially for the University College of Business, he has been and will remain one of its elite academic staff. Memorie.al
Deputy Rector of the University College of Business Tirana
