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Loncar trial concludes first week: Prosecution works to refute asthma-related death ruling

By DOUG McMURDO - Associate Editor
Saturday, February 16, 2008 1:12 AM PST

Elko County District Attorney Gary Woodbury, right, questions Dr. Edward Leis during testimony Friday. Leis is a State of Utah medical examiner who challenged conclusions of an autopsy performed by Washoe County forensic pathologist Katherine Raven. (Doug McMurdo/Elko Daily Free Press)

ELKO - The untimely death of a West Wendover woman has left her family distraught and her estranged husband on trial for her murder - but after four days of testimony involving 20 witnesses there are no indications Annie Loncar died Jan. 8, 2006, of anything other than natural causes.

Dr. Edward Leis admitted as much Friday when he challenged the autopsy conclusions of Dr. Katherine Raven, who determined Annie Loncar died at age 28 from a sudden and fatal asthma attack.

District Attorney Gary Woodbury believes former West Wendover Fire Capt. Jeremy Loncar murdered his wife after the couple separated. Annie Loncar discovered her husband was having an affair with a neighbor in May 2005, and he had moved out of their home.

A $100,000 life insurance was paid to Jeremy Loncar after the carrier, New York Life, conducted an investigation into Annie Loncar's death and ruled out foul play.

Woodbury believes Loncar suffocated or strangled his wife, put her in a fatal choke hold or poisoned her - but there were no visible injuries one would expect to find in a suffocation or choke hold death. There were no drugs or toxins in her system other than trace amounts of Flexeril, a muscle relaxant prescribed by a doctor.

Whether someone could be killed via strangulation or a choke hold without visible injury is in dispute. Raven said infants and young children could be murdered in this manner without evidence of injury, but not adults. Leis said fatal choke holds could be applied without signs of injury to adults. Raven told jurors she had conducted autopsies on people who died as the result of a choke hold; Leis said he has not.

Defense Attorney Donald York Evans also questioned Leis on his contention someone could die from a choke hold without visible injury. The attorney presented a case study of 14 choke hold deaths. In each case, injuries were severe and noticeable from both internal and external perspectives.

Woodbury, however, pointed out the victim struggled in each of those cases. It is his contention Annie Loncar was unable to put up a fight. A test for a paralytic drug that would have rendered her helpless, however, was negative, according to testimony delivered Thursday by William Anderson of the Washoe County toxicology lab.

Also, both Raven and Leis agreed there was no so-called patiki eye, which are burst blood vessels in the eyes that are routinely found in cases of strangulation or suffocation.

While Woodbury has not produced a witness to declare Annie Loncar did not die of an asthma attack, he has attempted to build a foundation to suggest her husband had motive and opportunity to kill her.

Annie Loncar apparently sought a divorce, but her husband told investigators they were trying to reconcile. She had put in her two-weeks notice at a Wendover health clinic, found a job in Salt Lake City and was going to move into her parents' home in Centerville, Utah, according to testimony from her mother, Monica Lemon.

Jeremy Loncar said the couple agreed to leave West Wendover and try to mend the fractured union by moving to Salt Lake City, but he “chickened out” when it came time to break off the affair, according to testimony provided by Jerome Tushbant, who administered a polygraph examination of Jeremy Loncar. Loncar passed the polygraph test.

Tushbant is an investigator with the Nevada Attorney General's office, whose services were requested by Woodbury.

Woodbury called Leis to testify in an effort to call into question the competency of Raven. Both doctors are forensic pathologists and have significant experience conducting autopsies.

While Leis disputed Raven's findings, he did agree the autopsy results showed the woman had restrictive or reactive airway disease, such as asthma. Woodbury in his opening statement told jurors Annie Loncar's family was unaware she suffered with the disease and there was nothing to support she had a history of asthma.

Even her regular doctor, George Wilson of Bountiful, Utah, testified he had no idea his former patient had been prescribed the inhaler albuterol and pregnazone, a high-powered anti-inflammatory used to treat restrictive airway disease as well as other health problems.

Leis also agreed, under cross-examination from defense attorney Evans, his review of microscopic slides of Annie Loncar's tissue revealed she met five criteria associated with asthma. She had mucus plugs in her lungs, white blood cells the body produces to fight asthma were present, muscles surrounding her airways were thicker than normal and so was the basement membrane. The fifth element - a history of asthma dating back at least five years - remains in contention but she was prescribed asthma medication as far back as 2001, according to medical records.

Leis said he determined Annie Loncar did not die of an asthma attack based on the scene. He said she was in bed, on her stomach and covered with a blanket. He said someone in severe respiratory distress would have been in a panic trying to get oxygen.

Leis said Woodbury provided him with a CD of photos taken at the scene and provided him with details. But Evans advised Leis a previous witness told jurors Annie Loncar's body was only partially covered with a blanket and was on its back.

To counter Leis' statement the death scene is what motivated his willingness to challenge Raven's findings, Evans showed the doctor several photos taken of Annie Loncar and the bedroom where she died. In each case, the doctor acknowledged there was nothing depicted in the photos to indicate she was the victim of foul play.

Another issue in dispute is the absence of hyper-inflated or hyper-expanded lungs, common in asthma-related deaths as the deceased can breathe in, but can't exhale. Raven said the lungs were not hyper-inflated. Leis said he would expect to find hyper-expanded lungs in an asthma-related death, but with the caveat the autopsy is performed within 24 hours of death. Annie Loncar's body was not autopsied for three days.

Lemon, Annie Loncar's mother, last saw her daughter alive Jan. 7, 2006, the day before she died. She said her daughter did not complain of illness and seemed fine. She said she had no idea her daughter had asthma or had been prescribed inhalers or the steroid pregnazone, and said she didn't know her daughter took muscle relaxants.

Under cross-examination from Evans, Lemon hotly denied she and her husband pressured Woodbury into investigating Annie Loncar's death. When Evans produced court documents that sought visitation with her grandchildren, she acknowledged the wording was in the paperwork but said it was the lawyer's comment, not hers. “We did not pressure the D.A.,” she said.

Testimony continues Tuesday morning. The trial is expected to last through Friday with the jury getting the case for deliberations perhaps by Feb. 25.

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