Friday, April 19, 2024

Dau Mabil's Wife: Didn't Know of Hearing, Autopsy OK

 The late Dau Mabil's wife said she she did not receive notice of a hearing concerning her husband's remains that was held in Hinds County Chancery Court yesterday.  

Dau Mabil disappeared on March 25 when he went for a walk on the Museum Trail.  His disappearance was the subject of an exhaustive search by the police and volunteers.   He was an employee at Sal & Mookies.  His body was discovered in the Pearl River in Lawrence County Saturday.  The body was turned over to the Capitol Police last weekend and is at the Mississippi State Crime Lab. 

Bul Mabil, Dau's brother, filed a petition for an emergency temporary restraining order Wednesday in Hinds County Chancery Court against Dau's wife, Karrisa Bowley, the Mississippi State Crime Lab, Capitol Police, and several John Does. 

JJ reported yesterday: 

Chancellor Dewayne Thomas held a brief hearing this morning on the petition. Attorneys Lisa Ross and Carlos Tanner represented Bul Mabil. None of the defendants, including Dau's wife, appeared in court although they were all properly noticed.

Ms. Ross said Bul feared his brother's remains would be released without an autopsy. "This is an emergency matter. If the body is released, it could be mishandled," said the lawyer . Ross asked the Chancellor to order the state to conduct an autopsy. No objections were submitted to the Court. 

Judge Thomas ordered the state to conduct an autopsy on the body but said Bul Mabil could conduct an independent autopsy although he would have to pay for it.   

Mabil's wife, Karissa Bowley, filed a motion to modify the injunction late yesterday afternoon.  The motion states: 

Karissa was served a copy of the Complaint at 5:00 p.m. yesterday at her and Dau’s home. She never received notice of this morning’s 9:00 a.m. hearing. She would have attended had she known. She would have testified that she embraces the Court’s granted relief to the extent described below; she would have granted the Plaintiff’s request had he asked.1


See Miss. Code. Ann. § 41-37-25 (“No [independent] autopsy shall be held over the objection of the surviving spouse, or if there be no surviving spouse, of any surviving parent, or if there be neither a surviving spouse nor parent, then of any surviving child.”).....  Additionally, the state’s autopsy report will go to one adult member of Dau’s family, see Miss. Code. Ann. § 41-61-65, the Capitol Police have advised Karissa that,               as Dau’s next of kin, the report shall go to her.

Stating she had the legal authority to determine who could conduct an independent autopsy, Bowley asked the Chancellor to modify his order with the following conditions:
* No independent autopsies can occur until after all law enforcement agencies have completed their investigations.  
The additional autopsy that the Plaintiff requests may only be conducted by a pathologist who is at least as qualified as is generally required of pathologists conducting autopsies for the State of Mississippi; specifically, he or she must be (1) “an M.D. or D.O. who is certified in anatomic pathology by the American Board of Pathology,” and (2) “a competent pathologist who is designated by the State Medical Examiner or the Department of Public Safety as a pathologist qualified to perform postmortem examinations and autopsies”
* The independent autopsy must be completed no later than 30 days after the "law law enforcement entity investigating Dau's death has completed its investigation.  

Bowley argued since no controversy exists between her and Bol since she is her husband's legal next-of-kin, Bol has no standing to bring suit.  She asked the Court to remedy this problem by making her a co-plaintiff. 

Attorney Paloma Wu represents Bowley.  

The Capitol Police issued the following statement: 

The preliminary autopsy revealed that the body found in Lawrence County was believed to be that of Mr. Dau Mabil. Official DNA  confirmation is expected to be received by next week. Due to this being an open and active investigation, no further details or information will be released at  this time. 

Kingfish note: Lawrence County Sheriff Ryan Everett issued the following statement yesterday: 

It has been confirmed this morning that the unidentified person located in Lawrence County, MS on April 13, 2024 is Dau Mabli of Jackson, MS. His family was notified earlier this morning. I wanted to make sure that the notification had been done prior to any type of news release. The autopsy DID NOT reveal any type of foul play. The official determination may be made at a later time pending further testing.
Please remember Mr. Mabli’s family and loved ones in your thoughts and prayers as they face tomorrow and the days ahead.

The body was turned over to the Capitol Police either Saturday or Sunday.  How could one tell there was no foul play?  The body was floating and decomposing for three weeks.  Was a forensic autopsy conducted or did the coroner just examine the body?  

Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, JPD Chief Joseph Wade, Bol Mabil, and attorney Lisa Ross held a press conference at City Hall yesterday.  JJ will report on the press conference later but here it is for those who want to watch.

 

35 comments:

Anonymous said...

Only she can get the autopsy report. Hate that for the brother. I sincerely doubt she will share it with him. So in the end, he will never know for certain. That's sad.

Anonymous said...

Hmmm. Thanks for the update KF.

Anonymous said...

Just because an autopsy doesn't reveal foul play doesn't mean that there wasn't foul play. After three weeks in the water, there may not be enough evidence left to reveal much of anything. We may have to find a real-life equivalent of Dr. Temperance Brenan (Bones), if we want those remains to give up any secrets. (Something tells me that isn't going to happen.)

Anonymous said...

“The autopsy revealed no foul play.” I’m confused- so there has been an autopsy already? Or is the sheriff confusing coroners exam with an autopsy?

Kingfish said...

If you remember, over 10 years ago, the Bonner girl disappeared. Her body was found in the woods two weeks or so later. Her body had decomposed so much that a cause of death could not be determined. WOuldn't be surprising to see the same thing here.

Anonymous said...

Karissa is a wonderful person and advocate. So shameful that Dau’s brother is speaking of her this way when they could be working together to find out what happened to him.

Anonymous said...

Lumumba and the lawyers are trying to make this a race case. Odd considering only whites were hanging the missing person posters in NE Jackson and fondren. Mostly at Andrews church people and largely white. But Lisa Ross and Lumumba seem to not know or care.

Anonymous said...

Glad to see enough autopsies will be performed to verify there is no determined cause of death.

The actors on CSI would find a caved in skull, Bullet fragments in both legs, bullet holes breaking ribs, hunting arrow tip in spine, masonic ring clasped in a badly decomposed hand, or some such thing. Maybe those remnants of violence will be found with this one, but short of that, the cause of death will likely remain a mystery and the stress of not knowing will deny the mayor and Benny Thompson a decent bowel movement for the next five years.

Sorry for the family's loss. We always seek answers and often are left without any. Nice to see the mayor and Benny Thompson jumping into this one though.

Anonymous said...

Paloma Wu is with the Mississippi Center for Justice.

Anonymous said...

From the outset of this disappearance I have found the wife's quick assertion that the deceased had left his cell phone at home, charging, and that it was not unusual for him to do so as curiously offered.

Anonymous said...

Toxicology results would be something to look at. May be able to determine active impairment from body fluids versus history of use via hair.

I don’t know any of the parties involved but when a young healthy man suddenly disappears and ends up as a corpse in a river, it sure makes you suspect foul play. Especially in the absence of reasonable explanations like him having gone fishing, or swimming , before he disappeared.

Regardless of what happened, I hope the family gets closure for this very sad situation.

Anonymous said...

Karissa was a wonderful wife and is a supporter of all people experiencing poverty & racial inequity. For many years Karissa mentored children in Midcity area of Jackson. My heart goes out to Karissa & her brother in law for their loss.

Don Drane said...

Enough of this wordsmanship and bullshit. I want to see proof that the wife was served notice. She says she was not.

Just another example of some process server claiming he delivered a notice and collected a fee.

Is it important? If not, there would have been no process constructed with intent to serve.

Third World City/County said...

What did she know, and when did she know it?

I smell a rat said...

Something's rotten in Denmark.

Anonymous said...

Always glad to hear Don Drane pipe up 🤣

Anonymous said...

Museum Trail seems like a great idea, until somebody admits that it's in Jackson.

Anonymous said...

@2:37, Sure, forget that he was pictured alone on Jefferson St. and ignore that cell phone location and communications data of either his or her phones is a thing.

Anonymous said...

I wonder if he tried to cross the low head dam over there or wandered on to what’s left of the old trestle and fell in?

Anonymous said...

"If you remember, over 10 years ago, the Bonner girl disappeared. Her body was found in the woods two weeks or so later. Her body had decomposed so much that a cause of death could not be determined. WOuldn't be surprising to see the same thing here."

Was that the one in Madison whose body was finally discovered within a rock's throw of the school? Where the family children would walk like ducklings behind their mother.

Anonymous said...

Why the mention of toxicology testing? But isn't that including in all autopsies?

3:22 is correct. If the notice was delivered, there will be signature evidence of that. If she lied, that will be of interest to an investigator.

Anonymous said...

The whole situation is very sad. A woman loses her spouse and people make all kinds of judgments without knowing her. The man was known to have been seen on the trail that ends at low head dam - read up on it - if you slip and fall in at or near that point there is little chance of surviving… and the Pearl then goes down through Lawrence county. But then discussing an accident wouldn’t be any fun so instead, some people jump to nasty conclusions and say nasty things about other people when they have no idea what the facts are… maybe you could wait until all the facts come in before we crucify someone.

Anonymous said...

Quick, serious question,and likely no one has an answer: Could the decedent swim?

Anonymous said...

The attorneys either came to court with proof of service of process, or they did not. I don't understand the confusion, unless they just told the judge whatever he needed to hear to give them what they wanted. If that's the case, I bet Judge Thomas is not happy.

Anonymous said...

from all the fuss you would think that this was the first time in the history of the wold someone went missing and were found some weeks later dead.

in a place like mississippi and incident such as this brings out the racial hucksters and their press conferences, and the far right wackos who think the wife is involved.

Anonymous said...

There is something "curious" about this!!

Anonymous said...

its 65 miles from jackson to lawrence county.

did that body float 65 miles down the pearl river?

Anonymous said...

At 1:38 - Take a float trip (in a jon boat) down the Pearl and tell us how long it takes you to get to Lawrence County. You can be in Port Gibson in less than three weeks, which is the amount of time he was missing.

Anonymous said...

Oops...Meant Slidell, not Port Gibson. Was thinking about a float trip down the Big Black. But point is the same...A body will float after three days, and river currents are swift. Three weeks is a long damned time.

Anonymous said...

10:28 am,
why would it have to be a "far right wacko" to think someone's spouse had anything to do with the disappearance of this guy? You haven't read much about true crime stories, have you?

Anonymous said...

I assume you all saw the mayor's presser yesterday, which was posted on the city's Facebook page. He used it as a cudgel against the Capitol Police, and even invokes a comparison to the Emmett Till case. It was despicable.

Anonymous said...

The Mississippi Bar better give that female attorney a consequence for slandering Karissa unless she shows some real proof that Karissa was involved in Dau’s death.

Dau was a great guy. He had a great smile. He was always really nice. Wish I talked to him more the last couple times I ran into him.

Time for Good, Priester, Banks, Wade, and Stokes to go in a room and draw straws. One with the shortest has to run against the Mayor.

Anonymous said...

Sad case. Don't know anyone involved but Dau looked like a nice gentle guy. Hate it for his family.

All the politicians----just hush. Let the police do their job and autopsy be done.

Good question, 9:34 AM. Don't know if he could swim.

Anonymous said...

Being able to swim does not make a damned bit of difference when you fall head-long, fully clothed into a rushing river.

Anonymous said...

According to one news source, the lawyer hired by the brother claims there is video footage of a group of people loading what appeared to be a body into a vehicle. If that is true, they all need to be arrested for withholding evidence and obstruction of justice.


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