Jaded
October 2nd, 2008, 02:13 AM
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- A handcuffed man was hit by two trains on a commuter rail line Wednesday morning, and authorities investigated whether the death was a suicide or a homicide, officials said.
William Jenkins, 34, had sent a distraught text message to a friend hours earlier, and painkiller prescription bottles were found near the body, authorities said.
It wasn't known whether Jenkins, of the Bronx, was killed by the trains or was dead before he was hit northeast of New York City and just north of the Mount Vernon West station, Metro-North railroad spokeswoman Marjorie Anders said.
The Westchester County medical examiner's office said Wednesday afternoon that no cause of death had been established.
The man, apparently lifeless, was spotted at 6:50 a.m. on the northbound tracks by the crew of a train that carried no passengers, Anders said. The train did not have time to stop before five cars ran over the body.
A check of the previous train that went through the station showed it also struck the man, with the crew apparently unaware, she said.
The body lay under the second train for more than three hours, shielded by a yellow tarp from commuters on the platform, as investigators examined the area.
The handcuffs were sent to a lab for fingerprint tests.
http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/national/BO90007/
William Jenkins, 34, had sent a distraught text message to a friend hours earlier, and painkiller prescription bottles were found near the body, authorities said.
It wasn't known whether Jenkins, of the Bronx, was killed by the trains or was dead before he was hit northeast of New York City and just north of the Mount Vernon West station, Metro-North railroad spokeswoman Marjorie Anders said.
The Westchester County medical examiner's office said Wednesday afternoon that no cause of death had been established.
The man, apparently lifeless, was spotted at 6:50 a.m. on the northbound tracks by the crew of a train that carried no passengers, Anders said. The train did not have time to stop before five cars ran over the body.
A check of the previous train that went through the station showed it also struck the man, with the crew apparently unaware, she said.
The body lay under the second train for more than three hours, shielded by a yellow tarp from commuters on the platform, as investigators examined the area.
The handcuffs were sent to a lab for fingerprint tests.
http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/national/BO90007/