CHAPLAIN'S DEATH BLAMED ON ACCIDENTAL OVERDOSE

The N.C. Medical Examiner and Granite Quarry Police Department have decided
the Rev. Brit Baldwin, the 47-year-old chaplain at the Hefner VA Medical
Center, died from an overdose of methadone, which he took from an
acquaintance's house.

Baldwin's sister, Gay Rhodes, found him dead in his bed at his Granite
Quarry home on June 8.

The final autopsy report was released Monday, a day before Clerk of Court
Jeff Barger presided over a hearing to decide who would administer
Baldwin's estate. Testimony at Tuesday's hearing revealed the widely
admired and respected chaplain and part-time minister of music at Second
Presbyterian Church had extensive marital turmoil with four ex-wives.

The autopsy said the cause of the chaplain's death, which left staff and
patients at the VA hospital and members of Second Presbyterian Church in
shock, "was due to methadone poisoning," with acute bronchopneumonia
secondary to the overdose.

Granite Quarry Police Sgt. David Holstein told the Post that, after an
extensive investigation, he has ruled the death "an accidental overdose."

Methadone is commonly used to treat chronic pain syndrome, according to Dr.
Gary Fink, Rowan County's medical examiner. It is also used to help people
at heroin maintenance clinics during treatment for heroin addiction.

But Holstein says he doesn't believe methadone is an addictive drug and is
not used as a street drug because it produces no euphoric high.

"I think he took it that day for pain," he said. Baldwin was a victim of
migraine headaches, and Holstein's investigation indicated people around
him knew he had had "a terrible headache" that day.

"I believe he obtained it" from a friend, Holstein said. "He had a key to a
friend's residence, and knowing the person had methadone, he entered the
home in the absence of the resident and took several tablets, which he had
done one time before."

The acquaintance did not file a theft report at the time.

"I'm sure that it was all accidental," Holstein said.

But Baldwin's death produced contrary reactions.

People who knew him well at the hospital where he had worked for about four
years praised him highly, but the Granite Quarry Police Department and the
Post received calls from people with other impressions.

Rhodes, Baldwin's sister, had lived with him for six months and told the
funeral home and the Clerk of Court's office that she was the only
survivor. She asked the clerk to appoint her administrator of his estate.

But Holstein determined that Baldwin had two children from his first two
marriages, as well as living parents, two brothers and a half-sister. The
family members live all over the United States and had no contact with each
other.

"It definitely wasn't the Brady bunch when he was coming up," Holstein said.

Rhodes located Baldwin after years of separation when he watched an Oprah
Winfrey television program on locating missing family members, Holstein said.

"I called most of the family members to let them know of Brit's death," he
said. "They were shocked." But even his parents knew nothing about him. His
mother gave him to his father when he was young, his dad brought him up,
but as soon as he was old enough, he joined the military and took it on his
own from there.

"It was a very bad family situation," he said. "After the events of Sept.
11, she (Rhodes) moved here. She was living with him at the time of his
death. He was going to put her through nursing school."

"He could sell ice to an Eskimo" and appeared to be "the nicest, sweetest
person anyone would ever want to meet," Holstein said, but the wives told
similar stories of the man they knew behind the scenes who, even on the way
to church, would do abusive things and then tell each of them, "Put on that
smile now."

He was, the wives have said repeatedly, a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

"I didn't know him," Holstein said, "but when you get four ex-wives and all
the stories tend to match up ... "

Baldwin's minister, the Rev. Dan Thornton of Second Presbyterian Church,
where he directed the choir and preached when Thornton was away, says he
had a gift working with people and was a real joy in the church, but he
knew of his domestic problems.

"After his sister came," Thornton said, "he was doing the best he'd done
since he'd been here."

Thornton knew of Baldwin's difficult childhood and was aware that he had
been prescribed anti-depressants and medications.

The Jekyll and Hyde comparison, he says, "is very accurate."

"I think there were some spiritual forces at work," he says. "He became a
Christian and had a deep love for God, but some things in his life
indicated evil forces were at work in him. He was able to operate in his
ministry and do a very good job with that. But I think in his personal life
... drugs may have broken down his defenses. But on the spiritual side, all
of us are sinful creatures, and as Christians, you strive to turn from that
sin and to do right."

Neither the police sergeant nor the pastor were in the hearing room in the
Rowan County Courthouse on Tuesday afternoon when Clerk of Court Barger
called the hearing on Baldwin's estate to order.

Rhodes, the sister, had moved from his home but applied on Aug. 2 to
administer his estate. She was accompanied by friend Cathi Brandt.

His fourth and last wife, Karen Lesesne of Columbia, S.C., also applied to
serve as administrator on Aug. 21 and attended with her sister, Kristie
O'Brian, also of Columbia, and Lucinda Fraley, a local lawyer .

Also present were Baldwin's third wife, Susan Walters, and her husband,
Carl, of St. George, S.C.

Barger asked both women who had asked to become administrators why they
wanted that job and a number of other questions and allowed those present
to ask questions as well.

Rhodes said she applied because she was the only family member here and was
the person who found him dead. She said she had heard the ex-wives' stories
but didn't know what to believe.

After 37 years of separation, Rhodes located her brother and met him in
August 2001. Then, she came here from California in January. She admitted
they came from a dysfunctional family.

Barger pointed out that she had told his staff that she was his only survivor.

"If you can't be truthful with my staff," he asked, "how can we trust you?"

Baldwin's fourth wife, Karen Lesesne, said she was applying to be an
administrator because she has an interest in the estate. She was the last
wife who lived with him and knows his assets, including some items he did
not allow her to take when they separated.

More questions and answers followed.

Finally, Barger told Rhodes he would not appoint her administrator because
she lied. He told Lesesne that he would not appoint her because she was at
a disadvantage living out of state and might have a conflict of interest.

Instead, he appointed John Hudson, a local attorney, to administer the estate.

He said he didn't know how long the process would take.

"It depends on how long it takes Mr. Hudson to get the information," he said.

An inventory of the estate must be filed within three months.

Several claims have been made, he added. Baldwin's parents and his siblings
could be heirs. His children cannot because they have been legally adopted
by step-fathers.

Some of the ex-wives had indicated the estate could total as much as a
quarter of a million dollars because Baldwin had a $200,000 insurance
policy. He had listed Lesesne, his fourth wife, as beneficiary until they
separated. Lesesne's family has been told Rhodes, the sister, is now that
beneficiary.

Baldwin also had equity in a home, various savings and insurance policies
and possibly a year's salary due from the federal government.

Following the hearing, which lasted about an hour, Barger pointed out
insurance is not part of an estate but goes to the beneficiary.

Baldwin's former wife estimated the value of the house at $150,000, though
no one knows how much equity he had in it, and personal property at about
$14,000. Baldwin's sister estimated the value of various savings at $12,000.

No will has been offered for probate. Gay Rhodes indicated she knew there
had been a will, which possibly was taken during a break-in.

Another hearing is possible to determine ownership of personal property,
Barger says.