JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – Tuesday was a dramatic day in court as lawyers for Dau Mabil’s family and his widow grappled over who has the right to request an independent autopsy.
Hinds County Chancery Judge Dewayne Thomas ruled that Dau’s body would not be released to family members until law enforcement agencies finish investigating the case. At a hearing, Thomas did not make an official ruling from the bench. He instead told attorneys the body of Dau Mabil would be preserved at the state crime lab while investigators try to shed light on what happened to the man.
Tuesday’s hearing had been set to settle a legal dispute between Karissa Bowley, Dau’s wife, and Dau brother, Bul Mabil, regarding the standards for a future independent autopsy. But Thomas also allowed attorneys to ask questions about Bowley’s marriage to Dau Mabil.
Bul argued that Bowley was not the next of kin due to the current state of their relationship. During the court hearing, the plaintiff’s attorney, Lisa Ross, used texts between Dau and the mother of his child as evidence.
Pamela Griffin, the mother of Dau’s child, said she received a text from Dau that stated, “I think I’m done with Karissa. She do not know how to control her emotions. So, I’m going to work on figuring out things. It probably will be for the best. I can’t deal with her.”
Bowley’s attorney, Paloma Wu, said the hearing had become a “forum for freewheeling defamation” of Bowley, but Thomas overruled her objections. Police have never said Bowley is a suspect in Dau’s disappearance.
Dau went missing on March 25 while he was walking in the Belhaven Heights area.
Lawrence County Sheriff Ryan Everett said Dau’s body was located on Saturday, April 13, 2024, by fishermen about five miles north of Atwood Water Park. According to Everett, the autopsy did not reveal any type of foul play, but he said the official determination may be made at a later time pending further testing.
Bowley said the abnormal circumstances and high emotions of the case caused a strained relationship with her brother-in-law.
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Lisa Ross, right, attorney for Bul Mabil, seated center, brother of Dau Mabil, a 33-year-old Jackson, Miss., resident who went missing on March 25 and whose body was found in April floating in the Pearl River in Lawrence County, listens to his question, while Karissa Bowley, wife of the deceased, awaits a renewed spate of questions during a hearing, on whether a judge should dissolve or modify his injunction preventing the release of Mabil’s remains until an independent autopsy could be conducted, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Jackson, Miss. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) -
Karissa Bowley, wife of the late Dau Mabil, a 33-year-old Jackson, Miss., resident who went missing on March 25 and whose body was found in April floating in the Pearl River in Lawrence County, waits for questioning to resume during a hearing, Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in Jackson, Miss. The hearing is on whether a judge should dissolve or modify his injunction preventing the release of Mabil’s remains until an independent autopsy could be conducted. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) -
Bul Mabil, brother of Dau Mabil, a 33-year-old Jackson, Miss., resident who went missing on March 25 and whose body was found in April floating in the Pearl River in Lawrence County, waits for questioning to resume during a hearing, Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in Jackson, Miss. The hearing is on whether a judge should dissolve or modify his injunction preventing the release of Mabil’s remains until an independent autopsy could be conducted. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) -
Lisa Ross, right, attorney for Bul Mabil, brother of Dau Mabil, a 33-year-old Jackson, Miss., resident who went missing on March 25 and whose body was found in April floating in the Pearl River in Lawrence County, confer during a hearing, Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in Jackson, Miss. The hearing is on whether a judge should dissolve or modify his injunction preventing the release of Mabil’s remains until an independent autopsy could be conducted. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) -
Bul Mabil, brother of Dau Mabil, a 33-year-old Jackson, Miss., resident who went missing on March 25 and whose body was found in April floating in the Pearl River in Lawrence County, stares at his brother’s widow, Karissa Bowley, during a recess at a hearing, Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in Jackson, Miss. The hearing is on whether a judge should dissolve or modify his injunction preventing the release of Mabil’s remains until an independent autopsy could be conducted. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) -
A tearful Karissa Bowley, widow of the late Dau Mabil, a 33-year-old Jackson, Miss., resident who went missing on March 25 and whose body was found in April floating in the Pearl River in Lawrence County, is comforted by family members following a hearing, Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in Jackson, Miss. The hearing is on whether a judge should dissolve or modify his injunction preventing the release of Mabil’s remains until an independent autopsy could be conducted. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) -
Lisa Ross, attorney for Bul Mabil, brother of Dau Mabil, a 33-year-old Jackson, Miss., resident who went missing on March 25 and whose body was found in April floating in the Pearl River in Lawrence County, left, gives Paloma Wu, attorney for Karissa Bowley, wife of the deceased, a set of her client’s texts during a hearing on whether a judge should dissolve or modify his injunction preventing the release of Mabil’s remains until an independent autopsy could be conducted, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Jackson, Miss. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) -
Karissa Bowley, widow of Dau Mabil, a 33-year-old Jackson, Miss., resident who went missing on March 25 and whose body was found in April floating in the Pearl River in Lawrence County, is hugged by her father James E. Bowley, following a hearing on whether a judge should dissolve or modify his injunction preventing the release of Mabil’s remains until an independent autopsy could be conducted, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Jackson, Miss. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
“Just like regular family differences of like personalities and maybe not quite seeing eye to eye on things,” she said.
Ross said Bul and his wife have been excluded from the relief efforts since Dau disappeared.
On Tuesday, Thomas said police should finish their investigation before releasing Dau’s body and that a second, independent autopsy would likely be permitted.
“I do not draw conclusions about anybody or what’s happened to this man other than that it’s unfortunate. I hope … there was nothing nefarious done to him,” Thomas said. “But I want to find out. And I want the state to find out. I think they’re going to do that.”
Medical examiners do not typically store a body for the entirety of a police investigation, however long it takes. But, authorities would make an exception due to the “extraordinary nature of this case,” said Eric Brown, an attorney for the state medical examiner’s office.
Thomas said each party has until noon on Wednesday, May 1 to submit what they want him to do in an order before he issues his ruling on Thursday, May 2.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.