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Coroner’s Inquest Begins for 92-Year-Old Man’s Death

STROUDSBURG — A coroner’s inquest began Tuesday in Monroe County to see how a 92-year-old man from Tobyhanna died in December. It is the county̵...

STROUDSBURG -- A coroner's inquest began Tuesday in Monroe County to see how a 92-year-old man from Tobyhanna died in December.

It is the county's first inquest since the 1980s. Testimony began Tuesday morning in Monroe County to try to determine exactly how William Collins of Tobyhanna died. It's the first coroner's inquest in the County in about 30 years.

According to testimony, William Collins was reported dead, by his caregiver Judith Marc at her home in A Pocono Country Place.

When officers and the deputy coroner responded to the death, they noticed some things just didn't look normal.

"This man is fully clothed. His clothes are clean and he had an open wound on his leg," Deputy Coroner Linda MacLeod testified.

Jurors looked at several photos of just how Collins was found in the basement of the home on A Country Place Drive in Tobyhanna.

The caregiver said Collins had bruises on his face and body because he fell a lot.

Police Detective John Bohrman thought otherwise, testifying, "The marks that I saw were not consistent with a fall.  Could it have happened? Yes, but it just didn`t look like an injury from a fall."

Officials found the man's body in a chair with wheels in a cramped basement without much room to get around.

According to Detective Bohrman an autopsy revealed more suspicious details.

"Mr. Collins`s neck was broken in two places. He had a mark on his head that seemed like a defense wound," Det. Bohrman testified.

The autopsy also showed that Collins had a broken nose, his head was filled with blood, and detectives believe his body was moved after he died.

The coroner's inquest in Monroe County is expected to last for about two or three days.

Jurors will be asked to determine cause and manner of death.

After the inquest, officials will work to see if any charges are necessary.

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