Topeka pathologist believes a rare tumor was the cause of George Floyd's death

MINNEAPOLIS — A Topeka pathologist is advising former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin in his attempt to overturn his federal civil rights conviction in the 2020 murder of George Floyd.

Chauvin claimed in a motion filed in federal court Monday that the new evidence from William Schaetzel, of Topeka, shows that Chauvin didn’t cause Floyd’s death.

In the motion, Chauvin said he never would have pleaded guilty to the charge in 2021 if he had known about the theories of the pathologist with whom he began corresponding in February. Chauvin is asking the judge who presided over his trial to throw out his conviction and order a new trial, or at least an evidentiary hearing.

Floyd, who was Black, died on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin, who is white, kneeled on his neck for 9 1/2 minutes on the street outside a convenience store where Floyd tried to pass a counterfeit $20 bill. A bystander video captured Floyd’s fading cries of “I can’t breathe.” Floyd’s death touched off protests worldwide, some of which turned violent, and forced a national reckoning with police brutality and racism.

Topeka pathologist believes George Floyd died because of a rare tumor

Chauvin, who is serving a 21-year sentence at a federal prison in Arizona, filed the request without a lawyer. He says Schaetzel told him he believes Floyd died not from asphyxia from Chauvin’s actions, but from complications of a rare tumor called a paraganglioma that can cause a fatal surge of adrenaline. The pathologist didn't examine Floyd’s body but reviewed autopsy reports.

“I can’t go to my grave with what I know,” Schaetzel told The Associated Press by phone on Monday, explaining why he reached out to Chauvin. He went on to say, “I just want the truth.”

Schaetzel is a member of the Topeka Pathology Group, according to its website, which contracts with Stormont Vail Health and The University of Kansas Health System St. Francis Campus.

"Several physicians who are part of Topeka Pathology Group contract to provide pathology services at The University of Kansas Health System St. Francis Campus," said Debbie Cluck, director of marketing and communications for the KU health system. "As part of a previously planned retirement from Topeka Pathology Group, Dr. Schaetzel’s last day practicing at St. Francis Campus was November 3."

A spokesperson for Stormont Vail Health said Schaetzel isn't a Stormont Vail employee and declined to say whether he contracted with the hospital.

A person who answered the phone at Topeka Pathology Group said Schaetzel is no longer with the organization.

Derek Chauvin's efforts for a rehearing have been rejected twice before

Chauvin further alleges that Schaetzel reached out to his trial attorney, Eric Nelson, in 2021, as well as the judge and prosecution in his state-court murder trial, but that Nelson never told him about the pathologist or his ideas. He also alleges that Nelson failed to challenge the constitutionality of the federal charge.

But Chauvin claims in his motion that no jury would have convicted him if it had heard the pathologist’s evidence.

Nelson declined to comment Monday.

When Chauvin pleaded guilty to the federal charge in December 2021, he waived his rights to appeal except on the basis of a claim of ineffective counsel.

A federal appeals court has rejected Chauvin’s requests for a rehearing twice. He’s still waiting for the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether it will hear his appeal of his state court murder conviction.

Three other former officers who were at the scene received lesser state and federal sentences for their roles in Floyd’s death.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Topeka pathologist thinks rare tumor was cause of George Floyd's death