A family says the Medical Examiner's Office in Brevard County never conducted an autopsy on their father when he died two years ago, and now the chief examiner is under investigation.
John McDonough's death certificate said he died of "accidental leukemia," but the family learned through a private toxicologist that their father had four times the lethal limit of morphine in his system at the time of his death.
Dr. Sajid Qaiser has been Brevard County's Chief Medical Examiner for the last nine years, but according to state records he's now under investigation after a Florida Department of Law Enforcement panel found him negligent of "substantial work."
"Medical Examiner's Offices don't fail like this, and for good reason," said Tim McDonough.
The investigation was prompted by Tim and his siblings after they started asking questions regarding their father's death.
It started two years ago, when the 85-year-old Korean War veteran was discharged from a rehab center in Brevard County in good condition, but then mysteriously was moved to hospice care.
Three days after his home hospice admission, records show someone administered double the amount of morphine prescribed by his doctor.
Eighteen hours later, McDonough was dead.
"We are victims of a possible homicide," said McDonough.
Because Dr. Qaiser never performed an autopsy, a criminal investigation was never conducted.
The family says their father never had cancer and didn't need to be administered to hospice care in the first place.
"There are a lot of aspects of this thing that are very disturbing," said McDonough. "Not just for us, this is a failure of the community."
Because of this investigation, the panel found 11 other cases Dr. Qaiser performed that are similar in nature, according to records.
"It's up to Phil Archer to make a call," said Christopher McDonough. "I know he likes veterans, well he's got a war hero here that's buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Come to the forefront and do the right thing."