Use of Killer’s Body Organs Rejected

A postal worker who shot three people and then killed himself had planned to donate his body organs, but authorities said Saturday that John Merlin Taylor’s organs were unsuitable for use in human-transplant operations.

However the San Diego County coroner’s office declined to detail why the body parts of the 52-year-old postal worker were unfit for use.

A spokesman for the coroner said an autopsy on Taylor was planned for today, and that it will be at least a week until laboratory results on blood samples taken from Taylor’s body are available.

Only then, authorities said, will they know for sure whether Taylor was under the influence of any alcohol or drugs when he shot and killed his wife, drove the few blocks to the Orange Glen postal station where he killed two fellow workers and wounded a third before shooting himself in the head. Killed at the post office were Ron Williams, 56, of Escondido and Richard Berni, 38, of San Marcos. Paul DeRisi was wounded when he was shot in the arm.

Exactly why the 27-year veteran letter carrier went on the rampage remains unclear.

Some co-workers point to mounting stress in the Postal Service, a factor that has been discussed in recent months as other postal workers have committed suicide. Other theories lead to personal problems Taylor was experiencing.

In addition, a divorce case in the 1970s portrayed Taylor as a heavy drinker who abused his first wife. And a family disturbance more than 30 years ago--when Taylor was growing up in a small central Missouri town--ended with a sister shooting their father to death after he came home drunk and beat their mother.

From the moment Taylor shot himself about 7:35 a.m. Thursday at the postal station in Escondido, and then was rushed to the Palomar Medical Center, he was considered brain dead by doctors there. Patricia Rarus, a medical center spokeswoman, said Taylor was declared legally dead at 5:55 p.m. Friday.

On Life-Support

But she said he was continued on life-support systems through the night Friday. She said that although Taylor had in the past signed an organ donor card, his family members still had to give their consent to any organs being used in future transplants.

The family did agree to that procedure, and Rarus said Taylor was taken into an operating room around midnight, where some of the body organs were removed and examined, and the life-support system shut down.

“But the coroner declared the organs unusable,” she said. “I don’t know why, except that he was obviously not acceptable.”

Family members could not be reached for comment Saturday, and Rarus said it was her understanding that Taylor’s relatives and close personal friends do not plan to speak publicly about their ordeal.

“The family does not want to talk to the press,” she said. “They are so upset, so very, very upset, and some of them were crying still at the hospital.”

On Saturday, postal workers attended a special church memorial service in Escondido to pray for the victims and their families.