Lawler plans legal action in son’s death
WWE Hall of Famer questions suicide
Jerry Lawler has been tired of waiting for answers for months.
Now, the WWE Hall of Famer and father of Brian Lawler — who died July 29, 2018, hours after he was found hanging in an isolated cell at Hardeman County Jail — is taking steps toward getting some.
Lawler, whose son would have turned 47 on Jan. 10, has long questioned the contention that Brian committed suicide by hanging himself with his shoelaces. But since his son’s death, Lawler has grown increasingly frustrated by what he feels has been an exceedingly sluggish investigation process and a lack of communication from authorities.
So, he’s doing something about it. Lawler and his attorney, Jeff Rosenblum, plan to ask that he be made administrator of Brian’s estate in front of a Hardeman County judge on Jan. 29. If the request is approved, Lawler will legally be able to issue subpoenas to “force people to talk” and potentially gain access to key pieces of evidence. For example, Lawler and Rosenblum are anxious to see surveillance camera footage from inside the jail the day Brian was found.
“Everything inside a jail is supposed to be on video,” Lawler told The Commercial Appeal. “They’re saying their cameras were down that day and not working. With a subpoena, we can go back and look at their servers and hard drives and find out whether video actually exists or whether it was deleted.”
On Thursday, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said the Brian Lawler case remains open and ongoing, there-
fore it can not make any public comment on the matter.
“This investigation has been conducted in the same manner as we investigate any case, in that we collect evidence available at the scene and other locations if relevant, identify and interview relevant witnesses and other key individuals, document whatever information is available, etc. We provide findings from our investigations to the respective District Attorney General throughout the investigative process,” TBI spokeswoman Susan Niland said in an email to The Commercial Appeal.
“As for the investigation into the death of Brian Lawler, we are currently awaiting the full autopsy results from the Medical Examiner’s office before our investigative file is complete to turn over to the (District Attorney’s) office.”
Rosenblum said it is not out of the ordinary for an autopsy report to be filed more than six months after a death.
“There is usually a 7 to 8 month gap because we have a backlog in our medical examiner’s office. I’ve had other cases where it’s taken almost a year,” he said. “In the meantime, we’re not doing nothing. We’re finding other inmates, getting their statements. Talking to people who used to work at the jail and things like that.”