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47 °F Forecast | Road Cams Monday, January 24, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Opportunities Moving to Southern Oregon? MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend December 10, 2004 Stabbing victim was too drunk to seek help By SARAH LEMON Mail Tribune A victim of last year’s stabbing in Hawthorne Park might have survived his wounds if only he hadn’t been so drunk. Gary Washebek’s blood-alcohol level was .4 percent — five times Oregon’s legal limit — when he was sliced across the leg with Christopher Coffin’s pocket knife, said forensic pathologist James Olson. Washebek bled to death within seven to eight minutes from a gash 7 inches long and 3 inches deep on the back of his calf, Olson testified Thursday. Coffin, 52, is standing trial in Jackson County Circuit Court this week for murder because of Washebek’s death. Washebek’s extreme intoxication in all likelihood affected his ability to feel pain or to realize that he needed medical attention, Olson told the court. Coffin’s knife blade severed the major artery and vein in Washebek’s lower leg. "Not being able to recognize the severity of the injury was his undoing," Olson said. Advertisement Washebek sat down at a park picnic bench, where he was found about an hour later, his head slumped on the table, his feet in a puddle of blood. The amount of alcohol in Washebek’s body would be near fatal in most people, Olson said. However, Washebek, 50, was clearly an "accomplished" drinker, as evidenced by his liver’s condition at the time of the autopsy, Olson said. A sober person with a similar injury probably would have been able to get help before bleeding to death, Olson said. But the person would have had a short time to do so, he added. Coffin’s defense attorney, Andrew Vandergaw, told jurors Tuesday that his client slashed at Washebek and 34-year-old Michael McKercher in self-defense. The two other men picked a fight with Coffin because he wouldn’t give them money to buy alcohol, Vandergaw said. All three men had been sitting in the east Medford park drinking beer on Dec. 1, 2003, before the fight broke out at about 1 p.m. that day. McKercher told the court that Coffin threatened him and Washebek with a 6-foot-long wooden walking stick that he was carrying. When McKercher wrested the stick away, he and Coffin fell to the ground, and a struggle over the pocket knife ensued. An eyewitness said he saw two men wrestling on the ground and a third man poking and hitting at the two men with the walking stick. Coffin was later seen with bloody gashes and bruises on his head. However, a DNA analyst for the Oregon State Police crime lab in Portland testified Thursday that most of the blood on Coffin’s walking stick belonged to Washebek and McKercher. McKercher suffered numerous stab wounds, including one in his upper chest that resulted in a punctured lung. He spent five days recovering at Rogue Valley Medical Center. Coffin was arrested in White City about six hours after Washebek’s body was discovered. He had gone to the former Veteran’s Affairs domiciliary to seek treatment for a cut on his finger. Jurors today will hear witnesses for the defense. Reach reporter Sarah Lemon at 776-4487, or e-mail [email protected] . Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Student Loan Consolidation Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers