MLM Counties News. Notices. Need-to-know Information.
The former chairman of the St. Louis County Planning Commission who was indicted on bank and wire fraud charges was found dead Wednesday morning at his Town and Country home.
Douglas Morgan, 65, was scheduled to appear Wednesday at a hearing on his request to postpone his trial because of health problems.
Morgan was found unresponsive, and his time of death was declared at 9:11 a.m., said Suzanne McCune, forensic administrator for the St. Louis County Medical Examiner’s Office.
“At this point, there is no indication of anything other than a natural death,” she said. His final cause of death will be clear in about a month, when toxicology results come back, she said.
Morgan served as chairman of the St. Louis County Planning Commission from 1992 to February of this year.
He was indicted in April for bank fraud. According to federal prosecutors, he submitted false and deceptive personal financial statements to obtain a series of loans from Commercial Bank from 1999 through 2010. He had about 15 loans in his own name and personally guaranteed loans in his children’s names. The outstanding balances on those loans total about $1.5 million.
In June, a federal grand jury added a wire fraud charge to the indictment, asserting that Morgan defrauded a longtime friend, identified only as J.T. in the indictment, by claiming he held secret interests in casino projects between 2002 and 2010.
On Wednesday, police were called around 9 a.m. to Morgan’s home on Karlin Drive, where authorities found him dead, said Town and Country Police Capt. Gary Hoelzer.
Kim Freter, an attorney for Morgan, said they were set to have a hearing Wednesday on whether his medical condition would allow the parties to proceed to trial, which was set for Dec. 5.
“We were planning to present medical evidence that would show that Mr. Morgan would have been physically unable to proceed with trial because he was gravely ill,” she said, adding a doctor from Cleveland Clinic had planned to testify.
Another defense attorney, Will Goldstein, said Morgan had acute renal failure, high and low blood pressure problems and had previously suffered a heart attack and many strokes. “All we know is that the man was extremely ill,” he said.
The trial already had been postponed repeatedly, and Judge Catherine Perry made note of the lack of steady pace in her orders.
“Although defendant undoubtedly has medical issues, nothing has been presented that would indicate he cannot come to court. The medical records that have been provided to Pretrial Services do not indicate that he suffers from any condition that would preclude his appearance,” she wrote in a Sept. 12 order.
“In fact, those records indicate that defendant’s medical providers are concerned that he has a history of intentionally making his medical conditions worse by failing or refusing to take his medications as directed,” she added.
Freter said the defense disputed that Morgan refused to take his medication properly.
“He had a very large and loving family that cared about him and was very supportive of him, and they struggled with his medical condition for a long, long time,” she said. “It’s very sad. It’s a sad day for everyone.”
Goldstein said it was too early to tell how the defense’s arguments would have proceeded; they were instead focused on Morgan’s health issues.
“Court hearings are extremely stressful, and they affect different people in different ways,” he said. “I will tell you that that was among our concerns going forward for a man who has suffered from high and low blood pressure and multiples issues with the heart.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on Morgan’s death.
