MEDINA: A Lafayette Township trustee whose body was found in Chippewa Lake was stabbed multiple times, according to preliminary autopsy results obtained Wednesday by WKYC (Channel 3).
According to a story on WKYC.com, Bryon Macron had stab wounds in his neck, forearms and shoulders.
The report, however, did not conclude those wounds killed Macron, the television station reported. Drowning and hypothermia are listed as other potential causes.
Officials agreed to make Macron’s preliminary autopsy report available to the media after WYKC in Cleveland filed legal action in Medina County Common Pleas Court last month.
WKYC was the only media granted access to the report on Wednesday. Other media, including the Beacon Journal/Ohio.com, were given appointments on Thursday to view the documents.
Macron, whose body was pulled out of Chippewa Lake on Feb. 21, had been missing since Dec. 16. During the search for Macron, investigators found blood in his disheveled office at the township hall and in his vehicle, which was found next to the lake. Investigators have offered little insight into the case, including whether Macron died at the hands of someone else or could have taken his own life.
Under Ohio law, journalists are permitted to inspect preliminary autopsy reports, photos and suicide notes. But until now, Medina County officials have declined to provide access to the Akron Beacon Journal/Ohio.com and other media outlets.
WKYC (Channel 3) in Cleveland filed legal action March 20 in Medina County Common Pleas Court.
On Wednesday morning, the television station’s lawyers reached a settlement with the Medina County prosecutor’s office — which represents the coroner — that allows reporters to inspect the preliminary autopsy report and photos that go with it Thursday morning by appointment.
Assistant County Prosecutor Mike Lyons said reporters will view the documents and images on a computer. Following Ohio law, reporters cannot take photographs or write notes while viewing the information, he said.
The autopsy report, while only preliminary, may yield the biggest clues in the mystery that has consumed much of Medina County since before Christmas.
Macron, who worked as a salesman for a wholesale diamond and jewelry company out of Texas, appeared to live an ordinary middle-class life on a cul-de-sac with his wife and three daughters.
He had worked in the jewelry business since 1995 after leaving the U.S. Marines. He also had served as a trustee to the township that abuts Medina’s southwest side since 2010.
In the weeks following Macron’s disappearance — and before a kayaker happened across Macron’s body floating in the lake — the township hired firms to replace the carpet and repaint the walls and ceiling at his office at the township hall, according to records obtained by the Akron Beacon Journal/Ohio.com.
Trustees also hired an agency that specializes in crime scene cleanup.
Lyons said Macron’s case doesn’t set the standard for how Medina County will handle access to preliminary autopsies in the future.
He said the Macron case is unique. Prosecutors ultimately chose not to fight media access, in part, because the Ohio Supreme Court is expected to rule some time this year on other cases involving media access to information in death investigations.
Lyons anticipated those rulings will set legal precedent for the state and better define reporters’ access to such information.
Go to Ohio.com on Thursday for the latest information on this developing story.
Amanda Garrett can be reached at 330-996-3725 or agarrett@thebeaconjournal.com.