Autopsies released in Twin Peaks biker deaths

Autopsy reports on the nine bikers killed in the May 17 Twin Peaks shootout were released Thursday morning by McLennan County Justice of the Peace W.H. “Pete” Peterson’s office.

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The nine died as a result of one or more bullet wounds, but ballistics reports are not included with the autopsy reports.

Waco Police Chief Brent Stroman said in June that three Waco officers fired a total of 12 rounds that day.

Police have said the ballistics investigation is being headed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which has possession of more than 475 weapons from the scene, including at least 151 firearms.

We now have some concrete information to look over in regards to the incident that occurred at the Twin Peaks restaurant back in May, pay special attention to the directionality of the majority of the bullets indicated by the following excerpts:

Boyett, 44, of Waco, was shot twice in the head and once in the abdomen. Both bullets to his head — one from the top and one from behind — penetrated his scalp and skull. The report says a medical examiner recovered a copper jacket base from one of those bullets. The second bullet to the head was not described. The gunshot wound to Boyett’s abdomen grazed him, leaving copper and lead fragments.

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Campbell, 43, of Fort Worth, was shot once in the head, with the bullet entering through his chin, exiting and then re-entering through his neck. A medical examiner found five metal, large-caliber, intact bullets in Campbell’s vest pockets, the report says.

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Jordan, 31, of Pasadena, suffered one gunshot wound to the head. The bullet traveled from back to front, slightly left to right and slightly downward. A severely deformed, medium- to large-caliber, partially jacketed projectile fragment was recovered from the right side of his head and a second, severely deformed, medium- to large-caliber, partially jacketed fragment was recovered from the right side of his neck.

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Kirschner, 47, of Wylie, suffered a gunshot wound to his right thigh, one to the left knee and one in the left buttock. He also suffered a superficial cut to the right side of his neck, a scalp laceration and abrasions to his face, trunk and extremities.

Fragments of a small-caliber bullet were recovered from his left hip. The bullet traveled from back to front and downward. The bullet that struck his right thigh traveled downward, slightly left to right and slightly back to front. Fragments of a jacketed bullet were recovered from his thigh.

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Rhyne, 39, of Ranger, suffered a gunshot wound to the left side of the neck that partially exited through his upper back and a gunshot wound to the lower abdomen, in addition to abrasions on his right hand.

The report concludes that Rhyne died as a result of the gunshot wound to the neck. That bullet traveled from front to back, left to right and downward, the report shows. Projectile fragments from both gunshot wounds, including copper-colored jacket fragments and white metal fragments, were submitted to the Criminal Investigation Laboratory, the report says.

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Rodriguez, 65, of New Braunfels, was shot in the head and in the back. The projectile that was recovered on the left side of his head was not described in the report. The bullet went from front to back and slightly downward.

He also was shot in the right, mid-back. The projectile perforated a rib, his right and left lungs and his heart and exited through his left chest wall. That bullet traveled from right to left, back to front and upward.

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Rodriguez, 40, of Allen, suffered one gunshot wound to the head and one in the back. The path of the bullet that struck his head was from front to back, right to left and downward. A severely deformed, apparently medium-caliber, jacketed bullet was recovered from the left side of the neck.

The bullet that struck the right side of his back went from right to left, downward and slightly back to front. A moderately deformed, apparently medium-caliber, jacketed bullet was recovered from the left side of his back.

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Russell, 46, of Tyler, was shot once in the chest. A medium-caliber bullet was recovered from clothing adjacent to an exit wound on the right side of his back. On the base of the bullet is inscribed “15-08020” over “JU”, the report states. The bullet traveled front to back and downward and perforated his sternum, heart, right lung, vertebra and rib.

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Smith, 27, of Keller, had two gunshot wounds — one to his upper back and one to his abdomen. The bullet in his back was described as a “medium-caliber jacketed projectile.” The bullet through his abdomen hit his right kidney and aorta before exiting.

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Vehicle forfeiture documents state that when officers approached the restaurant during the shootout, a Waco police officer saw Jeff Battey and Ray Allen standing behind Twin Peaks “in a triangulated position” to Smith, who was lying on the ground about five yards away and was “gasping for air.” Both Battey and Allen were wearing Bandidos vests.

An officer noticed that Allen had a silver handgun in his hand and said it looked like Battey had been shot in his upper right shoulder, according to the documents.

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Smith’s autopsy report does not specify which of the two gunshot wounds killed him.

Waco Tribune

The picture that is emerging from what little evidence that has been released is not matching up with what has been portrayed by the Waco PD and most of the MSM.

This case highlights many of the problems that a lot of people have with police actions that have taken place across the country.

I sincerely hope that the BATF can get to the bottom of who was killed by whom and that the results of their ballistics investigation answers many of the questions that have yet to be laid to rest.

What says ATS?

So now we know the dead died of bullet wounds. Hmmmm... I think we knew that from day one. Of course they didn't mention how many of those bullets were fired by rifles, did they?

And having the BATF do the investigation is putting the proverbial fox in charge of guarding the henhouse.

a reply to: starviego
Is it standard procedure to go for neck/ head shoots in the states.

Or where there suspicions of body armour being worn ?

Fox.

I say without knowing the positions of each and every one of the deceased, right down to which direction they were facing, knowing the direction that fatal rounds travelled really doesn't amount to much.

Right now it's just another piece of the puzzle. But it's not even a corner piece of the puzzle.

a reply to: jadedANDcynical
Yep,most of the shootings were from a downward angles..Basically the coward shooters were perched up with their rifles..prob "ATF".Hopefully one day justices hammer will drop,and it won't be on the the Bikers..
Btw,St&F..Keep it going.

a reply to: jadedANDcynical

That's a lot of head shots for a bunch of impetuous outlaws.

No ballistics you say?

I'm sure the ATF will be forthcoming.

originally posted by: greydaze
a reply to: jadedANDcynical
Yep,most of the shootings were from a downward angles..Basically the coward shooters were perched up with their rifles..prob "ATF".Hopefully one day justices hammer will drop,and it won't be on the the Bikers..
Btw,St&F..Keep it going.

Given the large number of shots to the back and head I'd say the bikers didn't know where they getting shot from. This pretty much eliminates everyone in the parking lot and places the suspicion on shooters outside of the immediate area.

The ATF did such a fine job at the Branch Dravidian compound I'm sure they will do an equally fine job on Twin Peaks.

Our government is badly out of control when it executes entire groups of people in broad daylight.

A lot of head shots in a downward angle. It almost sounds like they were down on their knees and shot execution style.

a reply to: LeatherNLace

Marines in Fallujah faced an inquiry as to why a large number of enemy were found with head shots.

Turns out the Marines were putting their ACOGs to good use and shooting targets that were available, as in taking head shots because that's what was in the open to be shot.

Again, without knowing the positioning of the deceased this doesn't mean a whole lot.

But what you said sounds way cooler than waiting for more info.

originally posted by: Shamrock6
a reply to: LeatherNLace

Marines in Fallujah faced an inquiry as to why a large number of enemy were found with head shots.

Turns out the Marines were putting their ACOGs to good use and shooting targets that were available, as in taking head shots because that's what was in the open to be shot.

Again, without knowing the positioning of the deceased this doesn't mean a whole lot.

But what you said sounds way cooler than waiting for more info.

you really like implying what people say huh...

he said it "sounds like" he is making theoretical assumptions based on immediate reports, albeit not all the reports.

I don't think hes trying to sound cool or vitriol.

as for not knowing the position of the deceased is almost a small piece of the puzzle.
a victim can be standing up, and a shooter can be at a high vintage point, then what.

I'm going to say what I think it sounds like and ill let you translate it into your head-
it sounds like A lot of head shots in a downward angle. It almost sounds like they were down on their knees and shot execution style. or a green light was given to take down incapacitate tangos by any means.
this could be a wrong assumption, but based on what I read I can deduce that much.

a reply to: odzeandennz

Despite your attempt to knock me down a peg (or whatever your intent was) you kinda agreed with what I said in a roundabout sort of way, so thanks.

"So then what?" Well, again (again again again) knowing the body positions is sort of a key thing here. Maybe somebody was at a higher elevation and shooting at a downward angle. It would help to know (again again again) where everybody was at.

You're right, he offered speculation. I offered something to counter that speculation. That's how discussion works. Point, rebuttal, point, rebuttal. I'm sorry if you find that concept offensive, but I was under the impression that ATS is a place to discuss, not a place to agree on everything.

I agree that without knowing where the victims were and how they were standing/moving, no definitive statements can be made about the location of the shooters in comparison with those who were shot.

However, there is plenty of information from which other conclusions may be drawn:

Daniel Raymond Boyett died of a two gunshot wounds to the head. Both were made by copper jacketed bullets. One of the head shot was on top of the head and the other was to the back of the head.
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There is no evidence that the bullets were fired at close range.

Someone tried to save Jacob Lee Rhyne’s life. He had bruising consistent with efforts to resuscitate him. He was shot in the neck and the back by copper jacketed bullets. He was also shot in the lower abdomen. The abdominal wound also came from a copper jacket bullet, His fatal wounds were not fired from close range.

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Manuel Issac Rodriguez was shot twice, over the right eyebrow and the back. He appears not to have been shot at close range. He was shot with “apparent medium caliber, jacketed” bullets.

Matthew Mark Smith was shot in the back from a distance with a “markedly deformed, medium-caliber, jacketed projectile.” He was also shot in the abdomen.

Richard Matthew Jordan, II also died of a gunshot wound to the back of his head from a medium to large caliber, partially jacketed” bullet.

Richard Vincent Kirschner, Jr. died of three bullet wounds to his rear, lower extremities. He was also shot from a distance.

Jesus Delgado Rodriguez was shot in the face. A copper jacketed, slightly deforned, medium-caliber projectile” was recovered from his scalp. The base of the bullet was inscribed “with 15-8021 over CS.” He was also shot in the back.

Wayne Lee Campbell was shot in the face by a bullet that exited and reentered his chest.

Waco Autopsies Released

Most of the shots were head shots or to the back and from a distance greater than would allow for gunshot residue to settle upon the victims.

I don't think this makes law enforcement look very good.

originally posted by: foxhound2459
Is it standard procedure to go for neck/ head shoots in the states.

Or where there suspicions of body armour being worn ?

No--aim center mass. As for the concerns about body armor, I don't know about that, but your average LEO is still not good enough to be popping off fighting or moving humans with head shots at a rate as seems to be happening here. Sure does make one wonder...

originally posted by: LeatherNLace
A lot of head shots in a downward angle. It almost sounds like they were down on their knees and shot execution style.

Nah, that's just what the hands-up-don't-shoot crowd believes (and wants everyone else to believe). For the rest of us, we realize that moving targets that get shot in the head can have rounds hit them at nearly every angle imaginable.

What should be concerning, though, is the amount of head shots--that's the perplexing part of this incident for me. But like Shamrock6 states, if the LEOs had rifles (even without scopes) and the bikers were behind cover, the heads may have been the only targets at which they could aim.

But that's pure speculation.