Burned body belonged to San Antonio child porn suspect
By Lew K. Cohn and Christi Bertelson
Copyright 2017 Highland Lakes Newspapers
A burned body found in the charred remains of a vehicle in Burnet County last June has been identified by the Travis County Medical Examiner's Office as that of a San Antonio man allegedly under investigation for child pornography.
Brian Lee Magee, 52, of San Antonio, died from smoke inhalation and thermal injuries in a manner consistent with suicide, according to a Travis County medical examiner's report obtained by The Highlander.
A passerby found Magee's body not moving and unresponsive in a vehicle filled with smoke in the 3800 block of County Road 202 in Lake Victor in Precinct 2 at around 8 p.m. June 20, 2016. The vehicle initially did not appear damaged by fire, but flashed over, causing it to be engulfed with flames, according to the report.
The vehicle was stopped on the side of the southbound lanes of the roadway and it was reportedly facing south. The heat from the fire destroyed any identifying information on the license plate and Magee's body was so burned that at first it had been difficult to identify his gender.
After the fire was extinguished by first responders, Magee was pronounced dead by Precinct 2 Justice of the Peace Lisa Whitehead. His body was sent to Travis County Medical Examiner's office for identification and examination.
A postmortem examination of Magee's charred remains was performed by deputy medical examiner Vickie L. Willoughby at 11:50 a.m. June 21, 2016, at the request of Whitehead. The autopsy revealed no injuries which would have indicated he was the victim of foul play and a toxicology report found the presence of doxylamine, an antihistamine commonly found in Unisom which is sometimes used by itself as a short-term sedative.
Blood tests also showed a high amount of carboxyhemoglobin, commonly found in red blood cells when exposed to carbon monoxide.
The body was positively identified through mitochondrial DNA comparison to a family member at the University of North Texas' Health Science Center in Fort Worth last December.
According to missingin.org, Magee was reported missing after last beeing seen alive on June 18, 2016, in San Antonio. He was last seen wearing a white and green striped shirt and dark green pants.
No one had been reported missing from Burnet County at the time of the fire, Burnet County Sheriff's Department officials previously said.
According to the medical examiner's report, Magee was being investigated by the Department of Homeland Security's Child Exploitation Investigations Unit for child pornography. An unsigned, undated note — addressed to Homeland Security — was found at Magee's home in San Antonio.
Had Magee been convicted of possession, manufacture, distribution of child pornography, he could have been sentenced to up to 30 years in prison for each count.
