An autopsy that concludes state inmate Farron Barksdale died of pneumonia complicated by heat stroke says drug therapy likely contributed to the hyperthermia.

Barksdale, who died Aug. 20 in a Montgomery hospital 10 days after being found comatose in a cell at Kilby Correctional Facility, was also bruised, although medical examiner Kenneth Snell said he does not believe the bruises were related to the cause of death.

According to a copy of the autopsy report obtained by The News Courier, Barksdale had these drugs in his system at the time of the autopsy: propofol, a short-acting intravenous anesthetic agent used in intensive care units, clomipramine, a tricyclic antidepressant with the brand name Anafranil; sertraline, an antidepressant of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor class with the brand name Zoloft or Lustral; and amitriptyline, a tricyclic antidepressant with the brand name Elavil.

Before he was arrested for the shooting deaths of two Athens Police officers on Jan. 2, 2004, Barksdale had been diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic and involuntarily committed on several occasions. According to three sources, a psychiatrist took Barksdale off antipsychotic drugs and prescribed antidepressants after a lengthy evaluation at Taylor Hardin Secure Medical Facility late in 2006.

During a 100-day stay at Taylor Hardin, physicians determined Barksdale was not paranoid schizophrenic, but that his problems were drug- and alcohol-induced, said Limestone County District Attorney Kristi Valls, who prosecuted Barksdale for capital murder in a mini trial here after he agreed to plead guilty in exchange for a sentence of life without parole.

Barksdale was convicted and sentenced in August in Limestone County Circuit Court. After more than three years in Limestone County Jail, he was transferred Aug. 8 to Kilby. He was found in his cell Aug. 11 and taken to Baptist Medical Center South.

While his client was comatose, Huntsville attorney Jake Watson won a court order on behalf of Barksdale’s family to have a physician review his care and, if he died, attend an autopsy.

That physician told Watson that photos taken during the autopsy showed bruising on Barksdale’s pelvic region.

Conflicting sentences in Snell’s autopsy report led the Department of Corrections to issue a statement claiming Snell found no evidence of trauma. On page 2 of the autopsy report, Snell writes: “Comment: No significant external or internal trauma identified. The exact etiology of the hyperthermia is uncertain but most likely is related to drug therapy.”

On page 3 of the report, he states: “No evidence of external or internal trauma is identified.”

On Tuesday, Snell told the Associated Press that the word “significant” was important because the bruising was there but did not contribute to Barksdale’s death. Snell said some bruising was from medical treatment in the hospital and the health problems (Snell also found a clotting disorder contributed to Barksdale’s death). The bruises in question, those around his hips, were older, he said.

Limestone County Sheriff Mike Blakely has said previously that when Barksdale was transported to Kilby, he underwent a strip search and examination. He was not bruised on Aug. 8, Blakely said.

The bruises were visible when Barksdale was hospitalized on Aug. 11, according to sources.

In Snell’s report, he describes numerous small hemorrhages in various areas but in the hip area, he describes: “On the right anterior and lateral hip is a 7-by-5 inch area” that is partially blue and purple and partially yellow-green.

Watson said despite the fact that the autopsy found Barksdale died of natural causes he still wants access to prison records.