Appeals court won't consider new autopsy pointing to murder in 2016 death of Tarina White

The family of a Jackson County woman that has been pushing to reopen an investigation into her mysterious 2016 death hit another legal brick wall after a state appeals court said it would not consider results of a new autopsy indicating she was murdered.

On Wednesday, the 1st District Court of Appeal denied a request by the family of the late Tarina White, who was found dead with her boyfriend in a submerged pickup truck, to supplement the record with the new findings.

The DCA noted that the autopsy report, which was completed just last month, wasn’t part of the record last year when White’s family sued the state to change her death certificate, a move they hoped would spark a new investigation into the deaths. A judge ruled against the family, prompting them to appeal.

Tallahassee attorney Fred Flowers, who is representing White’s family told the Democrat on Friday he was surprised by the ruling. But he said he looks forward to a final order on the merits of the case.

“My motion ... should have been granted because it clearly states that the cause of death was homicide and not by drowning,” Flowers said. “So I would think that fairness and justice would require the court to look at it. But I accept their ruling as-is, and we will proceed accordingly.”

The bodies of White, 46, and her boyfriend, Billy Pullam, 60, were discovered April 3, 2016, after the top of his pickup truck was spotted in 12 feet of water near a boat ramp in Compass Lake. They had last been seen 36 hours earlier buying beer at a nearby bar in the rural Alford community.

The Florida Highway Patrol, which reenacted the crash, and the State Medical Examiner’s Office determined they got disoriented on a dark and rainy night, accidentally drove into the lake and drowned. Investigators said White, who couldn’t swim, and Pullam, who could but had a high level of meth in his system, likely panicked and failed to escape from the truck in time.

But White and Pullam’s families never believed that they drove into the lake only to sit in the truck and drown. A private investigator for White’s family turned up potential leads and suspects, but authorities declined to reopen the investigation or launch a new one.

Dr. Daniel Schultz, a Tampa-based forensic pathologist working pro-bono for the family, has long opined that the two were likely murdered, with the scene at the lake staged to look like an accident or murder-suicide. Both bodies were found with arms crossed in what Schultz called a “funeral pose,” with White lying across the floorboards and Pullam across the bench seat.

He called both of their deaths “stealthy” homicides in a 2020 report, which was based on a review of the autopsies conducted by Dr. Jay Radtke, medical examiner for the 14th District. Radtke at the time sharply criticized Schultz’s report as “conjecture” with conclusions that were “just flat wrong.”

Schultz’s new report is based on a “second-look” autopsy he conducted last May on White’s exhumed body, including a full dissection of neck tissue that he said didn't occur during the state's autopsy. He wrote that he found deep hemorrhages in her neck that show “with a reasonable degree of medical certainty” that she was strangled.

In an interview with the Democrat, Schultz, owner of Final Diagnosis in Tampa, said the bruises in the deep tissue were caused by "pressure applied to the neck." He added that a second autopsy should be performed on Pullam's body to find any other hidden injuries.

“This now boils down to what is really needed: Further police investigation into both suspicious deaths,” Schultz wrote in his report.

'Why didn't you try to find her killers?'

In the years since the deaths, both families pleaded with authorities to take another look at the case. Kimbra Williams, White’s younger sister and a correctional officer, led the charge, enlisting outside forensics experts, a private detective and lawyers.

Flowers wrote Gov. Ron DeSantis, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, FHP and others in 2022 asking to reopen the investigation. After the agencies declined, White’s estate sued Radtke and the State Medical Examiners Commission.

During a court hearing last June, Flowers argued that the investigation into White’s death was marked by “gross errors and inaccuracies” and that the family had a civil right to know exactly how she died.

He asked Okaloosa Circuit Judge John Jay Gontarek to issue a writ of mandamus ordering the medical examiner to change the cause, manner, time and place of death on White’s death certificate to “unknown,” a step he said would help her family get “justice.”

But Radtke’s lawyer argued that such a writ applied only to “purely ministerial” acts with no elements of discretion that medical examiners routinely use. Gontarek, in an order dismissing the lawsuit, said that while the family’s action was "not frivolous," it wasn't supported by the law or the facts.

Radtke previously criticized Schultz's 2020 report, writing that it contained “many discrepancies, inaccuracies and overreaching statements” along with findings based on artifacts and shadows in photos. Radtke wrote at the time that "it seemed as if (Schultz) was just trying to placate them in their desire for this case to be a homicide."

In March, Flowers filed a motion in the appeals case asking to supplement the record with the new autopsy, noting that it didn’t become available until March “and therefore couldn’t have been part of the circuit court proceeding.”

Lawyers for Radtke responded by asking the DCA to not only deny the request but to sanction Flowers for trying to supplement the record with a report that was never presented in lower court, which they called a “flagrant violation” of rules.

The appeals court, in its most recent order, deferred to a panel of judges the question of sanctions and another motion by Radtke’s lawyers for Flowers to pay the medical examiner’s attorneys fees.

Williams said the long legal fight has taken an emotional, mental and financial toll.

“My whole family is just hurt and disgusted about this because FHP, the Medical Examiners Office, the State Attorney’s Office don’t have time to re-evaluate the case,” she said. “This is a homicide. Why didn’t you try to find her killers?”

Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or 850-599-2180.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida appeals court won't consider new autopsy in Tarina White case