Fact 2: The postmortem examination identified finding(s) inconsistent with a self-inflicted injury and warranted further investigation.

On July 6, 2023, the medical examiner indicated that 95% of nose injuries are homicides and expressed disagreement with GPD on the manner of death, which he also testified to during the Guam Office of the Chief medical examiner and OCME Annual Report legislative hearing on April 12, 2024 (Media | Jaren).

Jaren was transported to the hospital on April 1, 2023. I was never notified by the Guam Police Department (GPD), not that evening, nor the next morning. I had to call them myself. Some states have explicit laws requiring police to notify next of kin; others include it in their departmental policies or best practices. On Guam, this duty is implied in the DCRA State Implementation Plan. The police are expected to notify next of kin in person as soon as practicable but within 24 hours of identification. That never happened for me.

That night, my family went to retrieve Jaren’s pitbull, Tux, from his apartment. GPD was unaware that he owned a dog and that Tux had been there the entire time. By the next morning, before 8:00 a.m., GPD had already released the apartment – less than 24 hours after Jaren’s death. 

To shield me, the landlord arranged a cleaning service before my arrival at 9:00 a.m., unaware that this destroyed crucial evidence. I cleared out the entire apartment that day with help from my family, a decision I regret.

One of the first places I went was to the washer and dryer outside the unit, an area the police did not include in their investigation. I felt drawn there. Inside the washing machine were two damp bathroom carpets. In the dryer was a small load of clean laundry. I remember thinking, he was in the middle of cleaning? 

On Monday, April 3, I contacted the medical examiner’s office and spoke with the administrative assistant. I informed her that there was another person present in my son’s apartment when he died, a key detail I wanted to ensure was documented, as this was not initially shared when my son’s body was brought into the morgue. I also asked if I could see my son, but was told that I could not.

The next day, Tuesday, April 4, I went to the hospital, hoping to see my son. I was only allowed to speak to the medical examiner by phone from the security desk. He told me the autopsy had been completed and that a thorough examination had been conducted. When I mentioned that I had not yet identified my son, I was told his driver’s license had done so. I was advised to contact the mortuary to arrange a viewing.

I later learned that, on that same day and at the request of the medical examiner – because the autopsy findings warranted further investigation – GPD had to follow up. To my understanding, that only consisted of:

1. Reviewing selected surveillance footage, from only 6:28 p.m. to 7:27 p.m. – the one hour when Mariana’s parents arrived at the apartment complex and when Lieutenant AJ Arriola made his determination.

2. Interviewing me at the Tiyan precinct on Wednesday afternoon, April 5, 2023.

3. Interviewing my daughter at my residence on Thursday morning, April 6, 2023.

   
   

GPD did not interview the only other tenant on the third floor at the time, who lived across from Jaren’s unit; I understand this tenant heard a female voice yelling from the apartment. Additionally, a tenant on the first floor was moving out that day, assisted by several people; none of them were interviewed. GPD also failed to interview Jaren’s friends who were with him the previous evening, as well as the person who saw him on the day in question – until a full year later.

That is what I know, as GPD has never shared any information with me. 

When I finally met with the medical examiner three months after Jaren’s death, he shared a crucial detail: 95% of cases involving injuries to the nose area are classified as homicides. Yet, GPD persistently pushed the suicide narrative.

At that time, GPD refused to meet with me, citing the absence of the department's only firearm expert, who was on leave. What they didn’t know was that I already knew the medical examiner had reached out to that expert and received the results. What reasons did GPD have to mislead our family?

THE MEDICAL EXAMINER CONFIRMS HIS AUTOPSY FINDINGS SPEAK TO SOMETHING ELSE THAT NOW CANNOT BE INVESTIGATED PROPERLY.

At a Guam Legislature Roundtable on April 12, 2024, one year after Jaren’s death, then-Speaker Therese Terlaje questioned the Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Jeffrey Nine, about these investigative failures. According to the medical examiner’s 2023 report, Jaren’s was the only undetermined gunshot wound death that year.

During the discussion, the medical examiner explained that his role is to determine the cause and manner of death through autopsy. The five classifications are homicide, suicide, accident, natural, and undetermined. A death is labeled undetermined when there is not enough investigative information to reach a clear conclusion.

He admitted there is no formal policy requiring GPD to notify the medical examiner’s office when a death occurs. The medical examiner depends on the police to decide when to call them, meaning critical delays and miscommunication can (and do) happen. This is especially troubling in gun-related deaths, where a scene that appears to be a suicide may actually be suspicious.

The medical examiner confirmed that:

• His office has not been called to scenes they should have been.

• There have been disagreements with GPD, including cases where police declared a suicide, but the medical examiner’s findings suggested otherwise.

• In some cases, he wasn’t called until two or three days later, when it was too late to examine the scene properly.

When asked whether any cases in the 2023 report reflected this problem, he cited my son Jaren’s. He said:

“My findings at autopsy speak to something else that now cannot be investigated properly because I was not involved until four or five days later... There was a discrepancy between what I believed happened and what the scene investigation may or may not have shown. Since it was not investigated properly to my expectations, I classified the manner of death as undetermined.”

The statute requires cooperation, but it didn’t happen.

Speaker Therese Terlaje referenced Guam law, specifically Title 10, Chapter 81, which governs the Post-Mortem Examination Act. Section § 81107. It requires prompt notification of any deaths that may be suspicious, violent, sudden, or not caused by a recognizable disease - all of which applied to my son’s case. 

• Mandatory Cooperation: The statute states that "All law enforcement officers, prosecuting attorneys, and other officials shall cooperate fully with the Office of Post-Mortem Examinations in making the investigations and conducting the autopsies herein provided for." This is a broad and general requirement for cooperation.

  
  

• Prompt Notification: It further states that law enforcement officers, along with other officials such as physicians, undertakers, and embalmers, "shall promptly notify the Office of the occurrence of all deaths coming to their attention which under this Chapter are subject to investigation by the Office."

  
  

• Defining Deaths to be Investigated: This is the key part. The section makes a direct reference to the types of deaths the medical examiner's office is required to investigate. These are detailed in a preceding section, 10 GCA § 81104, which includes:

  • Deaths under suspicious circumstances.

  • Violent deaths (homicidal, suicidal, or accidental).

  • Sudden deaths not caused by a readily recognizable disease.

  • Deaths of persons whose bodies are to be cremated, dissected, or disposed of in a way that makes future examination impossible.

    
    

• Scene Preservation: The statute also includes a specific directive for police officers in cases of apparent homicide, suicide, or accidental death where the cause is not clear. It states that "the scene of the event shall not be disturbed until authorization by the appropriate law enforcement officials." This highlights the importance of preserving evidence for the medical examiner's investigation.

  
  

My son’s death is the only “undetermined” gunshot case in 2023. Does that sound acceptable to you?

It doesn’t to me.

It didn’t, to then-Speaker Terlaje.

Does this sound acceptable to you, who values truth and justice?