Inmate’s Death Caused by Overdose, Report Says

An autopsy review has concluded that a 28-year-old Santa Ana man who died five months ago after collapsing in his Orange County Jail cell was the victim of the combined effects of injecting and swallowing an overdose of drugs.

Jail and medical authorities had reported closely observing Thomas Maciel for more than 20 hours after his Aug. 29, 1984, arrest--including four hours during which he was examined at UCI Medical Center in the City of Orange--because they suspected that he had swallowed a balloon containing a potentially lethal dose of heroin.

But in the medical examination, which included X-rays, no balloon was detected and Maciel, the father of six, was returned to his jail cell. About 6 p.m. the day after his arrest, he was discovered unconscious on the cell floor. He was pronounced dead at UCI Medical Center an hour later.

‘Combined Effects’ In an autopsy record made public Thursday, autopsy surgeon Richard I. Fukumoto reported that Maciel died from acute pulmonary edema, which resulted from congestive heart failure, which in turn was caused by “combined effects from ingestion/injection of cocaine and morphine derivative.”

The autopsy record did not specifically mention heroin, but that drug is a derivative of morphine. A toxicology report submitted in conjunction with the autopsy record stated that heroin was detected in a sample of brown powder taken from “property” that was on or with Maciel.

Mabel Ramirez--reached Thursday by The Times at the home she and her husband share with their daughter, Verna Maciel, Thomas Maciel’s widow, and the grandchildren--said that “the only thing I know is he was taken to UCI and UCI didn’t find anything and they brought him back.”