POLICE PROBING DEATH FIND UNKNOWN SUBSTANCE
Death not considered suspicious, but house is condemned after powdered substance, ‘other items’ are found
City police investigating an unattended death at Saint James Street called in a state police emergency response team after finding a powdered substance they could not identify in the man’s two-story home, Detective Lt. Thierry Croizer said Monday.
The death was not considered suspicious, but the two-story house was condemned while investigators work to determine what was removed from the residence, Croizer said. “The house is sealed up. The items were removed and there is no danger to anybody.”
He said an autopsy on the 31-year-old male will be conducted Tuesday.
At 1:53 p.m. Kingston police and firefighters responded to a 911 call to 44 Saint James St. for an unattended death, according to Assistant Fire Chief Chris Rea. After removing the unidentified man’s body, Kingston police requested assistance from the state police Contaminated Crime Scene Emergency Response Team, Croizer said.
The state police team is “better equipped to handle unknown substances” and properly preserve evidence, Croizer said. He said he was unaware of how much of the unidentified substance was removed, but said the state police would not have been called for a small amount
of white powder at the scene of suspected drugrelated crime or death.
He said “other items” at the scene “and not just ... a pile of white powder” made officers “feel uncomfortable” and triggered a call to state police. “For all I know it could be baby powder,” he said.
Croizer did not identify the other items that concerned officers.
Rea said state police and one fire department member were decontaminated by the city hazardous materials team when they left the house.
Rea said police and firefighters were brought back to the scene at about 8:12 p.m. Croizer said the street was reopened at about 1:30 a.m.
Reached Monday morning, Tommy Keegan of Keegan Ales at 20 St. James St. said his establishment was unaffected by the incident and he was unaware anything had occurred until he closed the bar for the night at 8 p.m. Sunday and saw police activity on the street.
Croizer said the investigation remains open. He said the state police lab is unlikely to determine the nature of the substance, perhaps for a few months, “because no foul play was involved in the death.”