A lawyer for Elliot Blair’s family says his head was likely “beaten and dragged” by more than one person before he died while on vacation in Mexico.
Blair, a public defender in California, was vacationing in Rosita, Mexico last month with his wife Kimberly Williams celebrating their first anniversary when he was found dead outside the entrance of a three-story hotel.
Mexican authorities have been inconsistent in their explanations for Blair’s death, but the family believes it was a murder.
Mexican authorities claim that his death “was the result of an unfortunate accident involving the fall of the deceased from a third story,” stating that Blair was possibly intoxicated and trying to scare away pigeons.
AUTOPSY ‘CONFIRMS’ CALIFORNIA PUBLIC DEFENDER ELLIOT BLAIR WAS ‘KILLED’ IN MEXICO: LAWYER
Orange County Deputy Public Defender Elliot Blair was “tragically murdered” while on vacation in Rosarito, Mexico, on January 14, his family says. (GoFundMe)
Blair’s wife, Williams, said her husband’s death was no accident during an appearance on Good Morning America.
“I just know it’s not an accident,” Williams said. “I know it didn’t fall. I only know that.”
Case Barnett, a lawyer for Blair’s family, told the New York Post that there was foul play.
“It’s obvious to us and to the experts we’ve talked to that this is foul play,” Barnett said. “Either he fell to his knees for some reason or he was beaten and dragged. One of our experts told us that it’s likely more than one man did this if you look at the damage to Elliot’s head.”
The family of Orange County Deputy Public Defender Elliot Blair does not believe he was intoxicated and died when he fell. (Case of Attorney Barnett)
After a night on the town, hotel employees woke Williams up at 1:40 a.m. by asking about Blair, then pointing to her body three floors below.
“I turned to the side, I didn’t see him there, so I ran out the front door and they were pointing down the side of our front door at the ground,” Williams said. “Well, that was my Elliot down there.”
CALIFORNIA PUBLIC DEFENDER ELLIOT BLAIR EXTORTIONED BY COPS HOURS BEFORE DEATH IN MEXICO: REPORT
Orange County Deputy Public Defender Elliot Blair dances just hours before his death at a resort in Mexico. (Case of Attorney Barnett)
According to investigators, Blair was watching an Instagram video at 12:35 a.m., then a 911 call was received at 12:55 a.m. reporting a “person who apparently suffered a fall.”
Blair had no vital signs at 1:10 a.m. when paramedics arrived on scene.
“I want to do everything I can to find out what happened in that 45-minute, one-hour span,” Williams said. “Because that’s what Elliot deserves. And that’s the hardest part for me, not knowing.”
Dr. Rami Hashish, an injury and body performance expert who has previously consulted with Blair’s family, told Fox News Digital there are “several inconsistencies in the preliminary reports.”
California public defender Elliot Blair and his wife, Kim, smile in a photo on the GoFundMe page. The couple was reportedly extorted by Mexican police hours before Blair’s death in a popular tourist town. (Case of Attorney Barnett)
“It’s very unlikely that someone would lose their balance when they’re just shooing away the pigeons,” Hashish said. “But what’s even more unlikely is someone losing their balance and then falling over the edge of a balcony.”
According to a report from the Orange County Register, Blair and Williams were allegedly extorted by local police as they were returning to their hotel the night he died.
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Orange County Deputy Public Defender Elliot Blair and his wife dance while vacationing in Rosarito Beach, Mexico. (Case of Attorney Barnett)
Williams told GMA that local police pulled them over for allegedly running a stop sign and forced them to hand over all the cash they had, which she said was $160, but less than what the officers originally demanded.
“We’ve never been stopped before,” Williams said. “We were both bewildered, but at the same time, we both had this feeling of ‘Thank God they didn’t do anything else to us.'”
Andrew Mark Miller and Louis Casiano of Fox News contributed to this report.
