radiating out from the same force, the force being the hole that is in the skull, that is an indication that there s been blunt force dratrauma there, no due to the fire. the cause of death was determined to be thermal injuries and blunt force head trau trauma. his death was listed as a homicide. homicide investigator major mike overbee asked gene long to explain what happened on the night of the fire. gene said her husband was filling the heater with kerosene when it exploded. you said that he relit it inside. well, he didn t relight it, he was refueling it. he put fuel in it. with what? kerosene. with what container. it was red. yet the red plastic fuel
husband on fire. she failed that question and failed whether she was present when he was murdered. investigators found jim was angry with his wife for spending so much time in kansas each year visiting relatives. there were also rumor that jim may have been planning to leave jean. major overbey believes on the night of the fire the couple may have been discussing a divorce which prompted an argument. it s our theory that there was a domestic situation between mr. long and his wife. i believe that the abrasion on her chin came from him possibly slapping her. and his skull fractures, i believe, was a result of her striking him in the head with some hard object. overbey believes joean poure an accelerant on him, set him on fire, then inadvertently carried
forensic anthropologist at the university of tennessee, was asked for his opinion. we have three factors irradiating out from the same source. the source being the hole that is in the skull. that is an indication that there s been blunt force trauma there that is not due to the fire. the cause of death was determined to be thermal injuries and blunt force head trauma. his death was listed as a homicide. homicide investigator major michael overbey asked jean long to explain what happened on the night of the fire. jean said her husband was filling the heater with kerosene when it exploded. you said that he relit it inside. well, he didn t relight it. he was refueling. putting fuel in it. with what? kerosene.
and avato wasn t the least bit suspicious of paul s behavior on the night of the fire. it s not unusual for people in a fire to exit a building through the way that they re most comfortable exiting. if they typically come and go through the front door, no matter where they are in the house, they ll exit through the front door. avato told local investigators that he believed the fire was accidental, and he was roundly dismissed. they portrayed him in the media that he was, you know, an apprentice fire investigator that really was not experienced and really didn t have the qualifications to be offering opinions. he was treated like dirt by the locals and by the attorneys involved in this case. when the defense team learned about steve avato s opinion that the fire was an accident, they conducted their own investigation and hired dr. rick roby, an expert on the science of fires.