County Medical Examiners May Have Missed Injuries In Brendan Creato Investigation: Report

HADDON TOWNSHIP, NJ — A state medical examiner discovered tiny hemorrhages in each of 3-year-old Brendan Creato’s eyes during a medical examination conducted after two Camden County medical examiners conducted their autopsies of the boy’s body, the Philly Voice reports. That testimony came during the eighth day of the murder trial of David “DJ” Creato, who is accused of murdering his son in October of 2015.

New Jersey State Medical Examiner Dr. Andrew Falzon testified that the injuries he found may have been overlooked by both Camden County Medical Examiner Dr. Gerald Feigin and Deputy Medical Examiner Dr. Charles Seibert, according to the report.

Falzon said he also found a bite mark on the inside of Brendan Creato’s cheek, which appears to have been made by the child shortly before he died, according to the report. He said the hemorrhages can be a sign of smothering, but that they can also occur in someone who is face down. Seibert noted one hemorrhage in his report and in his testimony.

The appearance that the county medical examiners may have missed the injuries plays into the narrative Attorney Richard Fuschino Jr. has told in defense of his client, that the investigation into the child’s death has been mishandled.

Feigin didn’t respond to the scene when Brendan Creato’s body was found, and Fuschino has argued that delay allowed the scene to become contaminated.

He said a thorough investigation wasn’t done by the Medical Examiner’s Office, leading to the conclusion of homicide by undetermined etiology reached by Feigin. The cause of Brendan Creato's death was unclear, but Feigin believes it could have been due to either suffocation or drowning.

During Feigin’s testimony last week, Fuschino pointed out that the report he brought to court included a page from a different case.

He has also questioned his past in Massachusetts, including a famous Boston case in which a guilty verdict and mandatory life sentence charge in the death of an 8-month-old child were overturned, and a lesser known case in which Feigin’s initial ruling of a homicide was overruled by a supervisor.

Falzon initially listed Brendan Creato's cause of death as undetermined. However, when he reviewed the evidence about a year and a half later, he changed his mind and concurred with Feigin and Seibert that the cause of death was homicide, according to nj.com. He said the child's clean socks and the lack of any shoes in the area near the Cooper River where Brendan Creato's body was found made the death seem suspicious.

He said that if any footwear had been found, or if Brendan Creato's body had been found at home, he would've stuck by his original call that the cause of death was undetermined, according to the report. When Fuschino said Brendan Creato's body could've been moved, Falzon said there was no reasonable explanation for how his body ended up where it was found.

On Tuesday afternoon, jurors also listened to a number of text messages exchanged between Creato and his ex-girlfriend, Julia Stensky, according to CBS 3. It was clear from the messages that the couple had trust issues, and that Brendan Creato was a particular point of contention for Stensky.

Assistant Prosecutor Christine Shah has made the case that Creato killed his son because Stensky disliked children. Last week, Stensky testified that she didn’t like it when Brendan was around, but said she didn’t ask Creato to kill his son. She did ask him to cut back on the amount of time the boy was around, admitting that she was immature at the time.

At one point, she sent him a text message that read, “When will he be out of your life. How long will I have to wait?" according to philly.com. Creato didn't reply to that message, instead changing the subject to a camping trip.

They also exchanged texts in which Stensky showed a clear jealousy over Creato's relationship with Brendan's mother, Samantha Denoto. Creato and Denoto shared custody of their son. Creato also told Stensky he is not OK with her going out to lunch with other men, according to the report.

Stensky isn't considered a suspect in the case because she was at college the night Brendan disappeared. Brendan Creato was last seen alive on Oct. 12, 2015, when his grandmother dropped him off at his father's house. The following morning, Creato reported his son missing in a 9-1-1 call that was made at 6 a.m. Three hours later, Brendan Creato's body was found by the Cooper River.

After Tuesday, there will be no more trial dates for the rest of the week, according to the Courier Post. Judge John Kelley will participate in an educational program the rest of this week.

Attached image: David Creato appears in court Thursday, May 4, 2017, during day seven of his trial in connection with the death of his 3-year-old son, in Camden, N.J. Creato maintains his innocence. (Joe Lambert/Camden Courier-Post via AP, Pool)