The body of California lawyer Elliot Blair has been returned to the US to undergo a private autopsy, more than two weeks after he died under mysterious circumstances in Mexico.
The 33-year-old’s remains crossed the border from Baja California on Monday and were taken to Westminster Memorial Park and Mortuary in Southern California, family attorney Case Barnett told the Orange County Register.
Blair’s family hopes the private autopsy planned for Wednesday will show that the Orange County deputy public defender did not die of an accidental fall, as Mexican officials claim, but was the victim of a “brutal crime.”
Dr. John Hiserodt of Anaheim will reportedly perform the private autopsy.
Funeral services are set for Feb. 11, Barnett told the paper.
“There’s a huge sense of relief. (The family) wasn’t even sure they would get the body back, the situation has been so fluid,” Barnett told the Register.
The lawyer said US Rep. Lou Correa of Santa Ana, Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken and others helped the family get their loved one’s body back by reaching out to Mexican officials.
“It ended up getting pretty high in the Mexican government to get Elliot’s body back. There was some back-channeling going on,” he said.
Blair and his wife, fellow deputy public defender Kimberly Williams, were staying at the luxury Las Rocas Resort and Spa in Rosarito Beach to celebrate their first anniversary when he was found dead on Jan. 14.
Video obtained by The Post shows the couple hours before his death dancing to a live band performing Earth, Wind & Fire’s “Let’s Groove” at the four-star hotel’s Splash Baja restaurant and bar before they returned to their second-floor room.
At 1 a.m., Blair was found dead beneath a third-story walkway – clad in his underwear, a T-shirt and socks.
The family said Mexican police initially told Williams her husband had injuries to his head but later added they also discovered a bullet hole.
Barnett said a liaison with the coroner’s office told the family the cause of death was a “trauma to the head,” but did not mention a bullet hole.
Meanwhile, the attorney general of Baja California has said Williams told investigators that Blair left their room to shoo away noisy pigeons.
Williams has adamantly denied making that statement. Barnett said the wife told the cops Elliot would jokingly coo at the birds near their room, but that it was lost in translation.
Blair’s family also has insisted that neither he nor his wife were drunk that night.
Correa said he was glad he could help the family get Blair’s body back by making calls to Mexican contacts.
“The Elliot Blair case shows the need to provide our citizens with service that goes beyond the border,” Correa told the Register. “Be prepared, be ready.”
