Nolan Wells Update: Independent Autopsy Results Released

[00:00:00]Hey guys, we do have an update in the Nolan Wells case. We do have the results of the independent autopsy, which I'm going to go over quickly.

[00:00:08]I would like to have a longer discussion on it. Uh so, hopefully I may be able to get to that later today. But, I didn't want to hesitate on giving these results. Plus, we also have day two of the D4 VD prelim I need to cover. So, let me just give you the results. And guys, if you look on YouTube, you look on if you just Google, uh they have tons of articles out right now, as well as uh the uh press conference. But, let me uh give you the update here.

[00:00:38]So, let's start with the biggest news of the week. All right, the independent autopsy results on Nolan Wells uh case came out. So, Ben Crump revealed these findings Wednesday, which was this morning, at a packed press conference at the NAACP National Convention in Chicago. And it's important to understand exactly what kind of report this is before we dig into what it found.

[00:00:57]This is the second autopsy conducted on Nolan's body. The first was the official autopsy performed by the Mississippi State Medical Examiner's Office shortly after his body was recovered.

[00:01:07]The second one was commissioned independently, privately by Nolan's family, and it's worth noting it was financially backed by former NFL player Colin Kaepernick.

[00:01:16]That distinction matters a lot because it shapes how much weight the report can actually carry. An independent, privately funded autopsy typically doesn't have access to everything the original state examiner had, things like the full chain of evidence, certain internal findings, or in this case toxicology results. So, when we talk about what this report says, we have [snorts] to frame it as a second medical opinion working with limited information, not a replacement for the official record, because again, this is still an ongoing investigation.

[00:01:47]So, when the second autopsy's being done, the independent autopsy, they may not have the full details of the investigation thus far, which is still ongoing.

[00:02:01]Now, here's what the pathologist, Dr. Robert Mitchell, actually found. The cause and manner of death are listed as undetermined. That's a specific medical classification. It doesn't mean nothing was found. It means that was found that what was found wasn't conclusive enough to point definitively towards an accident, a homicide, or natural causes. That's why, again, what's discovered through the investigative report, witness testimony, uh what was happening on the island at that time, the conditions of the island, the weather, all that plays a role.

[00:02:34]Um so, again, it wasn't enough to point out definitively towards an accident, a homicide, or natural causes. The report states there were no fractures and no bruising anywhere on Nolan's body. But, and this is the detail everyone's fixating on, the pathologist did identify red discoloration in the soft tissue at the back of Nolan's head. Now, critically, there was no skull fracture and no laceration to the skin in that same area. So, we have discoloration, but no obvious trauma to explain it.

[00:03:03]Because of the ambiguity, the report includes this specific line, and I want to read this one carefully because the wording matters.

[00:03:11]Uh the pathologist says he cannot rule out if any intervening non-accidental factors contributed to or caused the death of Nolan Wells. That is not an accusation. That is not a finding of foul play. That is a pathologist saying, "I don't have enough here to eliminate that possibility." That's a very different thing than saying this was foul play. That's also very different from saying this was a drowning accident. It's sitting right in the uncertain middle. And to be honest with you, it makes sense. It's a safe answer to say it is undetermined because they don't have the context of the evidence. So, I think if it was something that the the uh doctor, what's his name? Sorry, guys. Dr. Robert Mitchell, the pathologist, if he had something that could definitively lean towards foul play, he would have said that.

[00:04:02]100%.

[00:04:04]But, the safe answer for him right now was undetermined because he can't specifically say it was foul play.

[00:04:12]So, I I think if he was given the evidence, you know, the testimonials, all that stuff that was collected, I think it would be leaning more towards, in my opinion, an accidental drowning.

[00:04:26]So, two more limited factors are baked into this report. First, there was no text no toxicology testing, which we're still waiting on from the official autopsy.

[00:04:35]And that was done as part of the independent autopsy, so we don't know what that would show, and it's a significant gap. Second, the report notes that decomposition of the body by the time the second examination happened made some determinations harder to make with confidence. Time and environmental exposure change what a body can tell you.

[00:04:53]Now, to the second part of my question, how does the fact that this is a second autopsy affect how we should read it? It means this report exists specifically because the family didn't feel the first official autopsy gave them clarity. It's a check on the original findings, essentially, but it also means this report is inherently incomplete on its own. It needs the original examiner's data, especially anything about the neck and head region to become more meaningful. In fact, Reuters reported that the private pathologist specifically requested additional information from the original state autopsy regarding Nolan's neck and head, which tells you he felt his own findings were only part of the picture and needed to be compared against the first exam to mean anything conclusive. And mind you, he could have hit his head if this is damage to the head, but again, there's no fracture, no laceration.

[00:05:43]Um, if people want to interpret that as he banged his head, he could have banged his head on rocks on the way down. Maybe could have in his effort to swim got pushed into a rock and got knocked out, but I don't know if that redness uh without the laceration, I'm not an expert here and without anything broken uh could that actually mean that he had injured his head? I think they don't really know what that red mark is.

[00:06:13]Um And that leads to the biggest open thread in this entire case right now.

[00:06:17]The official state autopsy still has not been released. Again, we need a toxicology. Nearly 3 weeks after Nolan's body was found, the Mississippi State Medical Examiner's office has not put out its findings and CNN reports that specifically because they're waiting on toxicology results to come back. And they said it could take 4 to 6 weeks.

[00:06:34]So, think about where that leaves us. We have one incomplete report from a private pathologist made public and we have the official presumably more thorough report sitting on released.

[00:06:44]Until that second one comes out, everything from this independent autopsy is generally just one piece of a larger puzzle, which is exactly how Crump himself framed it. He quote His quote was, "This is only another part of the puzzle and even though it tells us significant information, we still have more questions than we have answers at this time." And I think they should wait until that official report comes out and then gives it gives it to the pathologist from the independent side and then they could see and read it and see if it aligns.

[00:07:11]I also want to do one more update. The friend interview Warren Hudson speaks.

[00:07:15]So, we do have one of his friends that have come out now and speaking.

[00:07:20]And I want to shift to the interview because this adds very human layer to the story that's been missing from a lot of the coverage. Warren Hudson is one of Nolan's close friends. They've known each other since eighth grade and he was one of the last people to see Nolan alive that day on Horn Island. He sat down this week on July 21st with podcast host Brandon Tatum for the first part of an extended interview and this This one of the more personal accounts we've gotten from anyone in that friend group so far. Hudson painted a picture of just how large and chaotic the scene on Horn Island actually was that day. He described the island as being covered with people, not a small intimate gathering, but a sprawling holiday crowd. Their specific group came over in three separate boats, and he said the party atmosphere kept growing and growing as the day went on. That detail matters because it pushes back against any narrative that this was a small contained group where everyone would have had eyes on each other the entire time.

[00:08:11]This was a big loose moving scene.

[00:08:15]As for Nolan himself, Hudson said he appeared completely fine while drinking that day. He remembered him as a joyful tight-knit friend, someone who'd been part of his circle for years through middle school. It's an emotional detail because it's Hudson trying to hold on to who Nolan was as a person separate from all the speculation swirling around how he died. And his testimony right now matters cuz he's a little bit more connected than uh Tristan Sheppard was.

[00:08:42]Cuz this is someone that's been friends with him notably since middle school.

[00:08:46]Now, one thing to flag clearly is the first part of the interview that's been released did not get into the actual moment of separation, how or why Nolan ended up alone on the island while the group left. That's a notable gap, and it may be addressed in a later part of the interview series, but as of what public right now, uh we don't have Hudson's account of that specific moment. Separately, in another piece of coverage, Hudson was directly pushed back on the accusation Sorry.

[00:09:12]Separately, in another piece of coverage, Hudson has directly pushed back on the accusation being thrown at him online. He's been quoted responding to what's been described as murder accusations, saying flatly that people are working off no facts, just rumors. That's Hudson trying to defend himself directly against the wave of speculation that attached himself to him and the rest of the group. He says it's crushing, and I don't believe they attended the service because they were concerned for their own safety and well-being.

[00:09:42]Hudson's interview isn't happening in isolation. It fits into a much broader pattern we're seeing across nearly all of Nolan's friends who were on that boat. Triston Shepherd, another close friend, gave interviews to both Good Morning America and Rolling Stone, and he described receiving actual death threats since Nolan's death. He said plainly, "I just know I lost my best friend." And followed that with real anguish over the backlash saying, "We did no wrong here, and we don't understand how we're getting so much hate behind us."

[00:10:07]Shepherd also addressed one of the most viral, most misunderstood pieces of evidence in this entire case, a video that's been circulating online that many people believe showed Nolan in distress.

[00:10:17]Shepherd says that's not accurate at all. He says he is the person heard yelling in that video, not Nolan, and that shouting had nothing to do with the phone or with Nolan at all. It was an unrelated altercation that friends were actually trying to calm down in the moment, which we explained guys already.

[00:10:32]I've covered that in the other videos.

[00:10:35]Uh then there's a Jayvon Williams who's been described as Nolan's best friend.

[00:10:38]He went on TMZ Live and made a claim and made a claim that should raise eyebrows for anyone following the investigation closely. He said investigators had never even contacted him despite how close he was to Nolan, but he also then said that they talked to him when He does mention at one point he was approached though, and that was soon after the incident.

[00:10:59]He also pushed back on the case being framed strictly along racial lines saying, "I don't want to answer that question. I wouldn't say that it's a whole race thing, but obviously they're going to paint it as that because none of it adds up." Williams, like Shepherd, also disputed that viral video's uh connection to Nolan saying he raised voice his raised voice belongs to a different friend entirely who was being calmed down by the group. And we kind of went over this back and forth.

[00:11:25]Um so if you guys get a chance, please check out my other videos.

[00:11:28]And the last part I have here is just kind of wrapping it all up.

[00:11:34]I'll see if I can get Russ on today.

[00:11:36]Maybe we could discuss this. Uh so, pulling it all together for the update, we now have a second independent autopsy that raises real but inconclusive questions, specifically around unexplained discoloration at the back of Nolan's head, while the more authoritative state autopsy, which is from Mississippi state, still sits uh unreleased pending toxicology. At the same time, we have a growing chorus of Nolan's closest friends, even the coach, and so you also got Hudson, Sheppard, and and Williams coming forward not to defend a cover-up but to defend themselves against threats and accusations they say aren't supported by facts, while still saying they want the truth to come out just as much as anyone else.

[00:12:19]Uh that's the state of the story right now, a medical picture that a that's murkier than clear, and a group of grieving young men caught in the middle of a national spotlight they didn't ask for. And it's funny because people are now attacking the friends for not going to the service. Come on, guys.

[00:12:35]I saw the first video I saw about them not going to the service, literally went to a "If they were real friends, they would have been there." I'll say it's No one's talking about situational context.

[00:12:44]Guys, please, when we look at this, we have to take uh put our eyes on situational context. We People are avoiding the island, the context of the partying. People are now ignoring the context of threats that are being that are coming from social media uh and and and in regards to why the friends didn't go to the service. Guys, situational pressures. Come on.

[00:13:06]Add that into context, and it starts to draw you into another perspective. But again, pictures are unfolding. This is inconclusive or undetermined. Uh it really doesn't shock me. It's a safe answer. And then hopefully when the real when the official autopsy comes out, they provide it over to the their pathologist, and he starts to connect the pictures cuz then have more information. But again, if it was definitively foul play and something obvious, he would have put his stamp on that and would have said this is definitely foul play.

[00:13:37]But he can't say that because there's just not enough there.

[00:13:41]So in my mind, it's going to lean more towards the accidental drowning.

[00:13:46]Uh but again, that's my opinion. Would love your thoughts and hopefully I can revisit again later with Russ. All right, guys. Stay safe.