A second autopsy of Amanda L. Wienckowski, the 20-year-old woman whose frozen body was

discovered in a garbage tote near an East Side church last year, suggests she was strangled,

the attorney for her family said.

And among the people she was last seen with was an individual with a history of strangling

women while having sexual relations, attorney Steven M. Cohen said he and her family have also

learned.

&#8220Pre-mortem pressure finger marks and contusions were found on her throat,&#8221

Cohen said in regard to what Dr. Silvia Comparini, a West Coast pathologist, discovered in

examining Wienckowski&#8217s remains in February.

Additionally, not only was the young woman found in the plastic trash receptacle with her

long blond hair shorn off, but a section of her tongue also was bitten off, the lawyer said.

Cohen said he believes it is now clear Wienckowski was beaten and strangled, as he released

details of the latest autopsy conducted by the forensic pathologist in Los Angeles and details

from the previous autopsy by the Erie County medical examiner&#8217s office.

&#8220All of the injuries she has are consistent with a vicious physical attack,&#8221

Cohen said, adding that Erie County pathologists determined she did not die from hypothermia

caused by the cold weather. &#8220This leads inexorably to the conclusion that there was foul

play. The Erie County autopsy acknowledges she was dead somewhere else before she was ever

brought outside into the cold.&#8221

Wienckowski&#8217s body was found Jan. 9, 2009, in a garbage tote next to a church at Spring

and Clinton streets, and across the street from where she was last seen alive Dec. 7, 2008.

Ever since Erie County&#8217s autopsy ruled her death was accidental due to opiate

intoxication, Wienckowski&#8217s family has been critical of the Buffalo police investigation

and has been trying to legally force the city to release crime scene photographs and police

reports.

Wienckowski, who grew up in Kenmore but was living in Lewiston when she died, was known to

have abused drugs.

But the Erie County autopsy also determined that her face, arms and legs had multiple

contusions and possible scratch, puncture or needle marks.

&#8220I&#8217ve put in numerous calls to the police. I have spoken to a couple of

detectives but they have shown no interest in getting any leads or information from us,&#8221

Cohen said. &#8220We have a tip that the night she died one of the people she was with has a

history of strangling women he&#8217s having sex with.&#8221

Police officials have repeatedly said the investigation into Wienckowski&#8217s death

remains open. The family, with the help of donations, paid to have her body exhumed in

February from a Buffalo-area cemetery and shipped to Comparini, who is part of a group of

forensic pathologists known as 1-800-AUTOPSY in California. More than $9,000 was raised by

Wienckowski&#8217s family and friends to cover the costs.

Cohen released the information on both autopsies following proceedings Friday in State

Supreme Court, where attorneys for Erie County and the City of Buffalo refused to release

materials needed by Comparini to complete her examination and file a final report.

&#8220Dr. Comparini told us there were manual strangulation marks,&#8221 Cohen said.

&#8220But Amanda&#8217s hyoid bone in her neck, her thyroid and a large section of her heart

are missing and the doctor says she cannot give a credible ruling on the cause of death until

she can examine them.&#8221

The attorney says he plans to ask State Supreme Court Justice Gerald J. Whalen to

issue an order to Erie County directing it to provide Comparini with what is needed for her to

complete her review.

&#8220We believe the Erie County Medical Examiner has the hyoid bone, thyroid and

heart but won&#8217t acknowledge it. We&#8217re asking the judge to order Erie County to turn

over the hyoid and other forensically significant body tissue and fluids,&#8221 Cohen said.

He obtained the Erie County autopsy report by filing a freedom of information request.

In the toxicology portion, traces of the date rape drug known as GHB, opiates and marijuana

were found in Wienckowski&#8217s system.

The county&#8217s autopsy report, Cohen added, was signed by four medical examiners

&#8212 Dianne Vertes; chief medical examiner James Woytash; Mark LeVaughn; and Jonrika

Malone.

&#8220I&#8217ve been a lawyer over 20 years and I&#8217ve never had an autopsy report

signed by more than one medical examiner,&#8221 said Cohen, who expressed puzzlement over the

multiple signatures.

After Erie County ruled the death accidental, Leslie Fink, Wienckowski&#8217s mother, and

Kenneth Fink, the young woman&#8217s stepfather, sought the help of Cohen, a civil rights

attorney and head of Hogan Willig law firm&#8217s litigation department.

&#8220It is frustrating that the police are withholding their files from us based on

their statement that there is an ongoing investigation,&#8221 Cohen said. &#8220The reason we

brought this action to begin with was that the city and county refused to acknowledge there

was any criminal activity associated with Amanda&#8217s death. Give us the files so we can

investigate.&#8221

Cohen and members of Wienckowski&#8217s family plan to hold a news conference at 2:30 p.m.

Monday in Hogan Willig&#8217s Amherst office to further discuss the case.