April 1, 2012

Trayvon Martin Funeral Director: No Signs of a Fight

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the Afro American Newspaper

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(TriceEdneyWire.com) - A funeral director who handled the body of Trayvon Martin said March 28 he saw no evidence that the 17 year-old who was shot and killed by a Neighborhood Watch volunteer, had been in a recent fight.

Funeral director Richard Kurtz said he saw no sign of struggle on Martin’s hands and no indication that Martin had punched Zimmerman in the face.

He made that assertion March 28 on Headline News’ "Nancy Grace Show” amid claims by Sanford, Fla. law enforcement officials and George Zimmerman’s father that 17 year-old Trayvon Martin attacked Zimmerman, an armed Neighborhood Watch volunteer, the night he was killed.

“First of all when I received the body with the death certificate, I noticed the gunshot wound,” Kurtz said. “But [with] his hands and his knuckles; I didn’t see any evidence that he’d been fighting anybody.”

When Grace asked Kurtz to clarify, Kurtz said there were no cuts or bruises on Martin’s hands or any other injuries on his body aside from the gunshot wound.

This assertion is at odds with the account that Zimmerman’s father, Robert Zimmerman told WOFL Fox 35 in Orlando.

"It's my understanding that Trayvon Martin got on top of him and just started beating him," Zimmerman said.

Zimmerman, a former magistrate in the Virginia state court system, continued saying that his son started to follow Martin because he thought it was suspicious that Martin was walking between the houses in the gated community instead of using the street or the sidewalk on a rainy night. He said Martin approached his son after Zimmerman got out of his vehicle.

“He went to the next street, realized where he was and was walking to his vehicle,” Zimmerman continued. “It's my understanding; at that point, Trayvon Martin walked up to him and asked him, 'Do you have a [expletive] problem?' George said, 'No, I don't have a problem,' and started to reach for his cell phone... at that point, he (Martin) was punching him in the nose, his nose was broken and he was knocked to the concrete."

Also at odds with Robert Zimmerman’s story is video of George Zimmerman released by the police which shows no signs that George Zimmerman had been in a fight.