In wake of the DA's ruling of suicide, the only avenue opened to the Davina's parents was to pursue death benefits. In April of 2001, mediation was conducted by the North Carolina Industrial Commission between the Buff family and the insurance carrier of Bald Head Island. The cause of death for Davina was changed from "suicide" to "undetermined." The family was awarded death benefits.

In 2003 on October 23rd and 24th, a hearing was held in Wilmington by the N. C. Industrial Commission. The ruling was favorable and benefits to the family was again awarded. But this ruling was appealed and in 2005 the case was again heard, this time before three N.C. Industrial Commission Judges. The family was awarded double benefits.
Later in 2006 the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. ruled for the family. After all of these rulings, D. A. Gore still can find no reason to re-open the case here in Brunswick County.

Clarifying the 45 degree Issue

During the latter hearing, the following clarification was written concerning the 45 degree issue of the fatal shot:
Mallak explained the 45 degrees as meaning 45 degrees to the right of the baseline. With the gun butt at the 4 o'clock position.

A review of the photo of the entry wound to the back of Officer Jones' head shows a large hole at the bottom of the back of the head with a splitting wound running up the back of the head, ending just to the left of the top of the head. The photo shows a mark slightly to the right of the bottom of the wound. The gun itself, the Mallak report concludes, caused this, - the recoil spring.
The error in the analysis arises when the mark is characterized as being at the 4 o'clock position. In reality, it is more at the 5 o'clock - 30 degree position. Hence, the angle of holding the weapon is not 45 degrees as the Mallak report incorrectly concluded, but is at the much smaller angle of about 30 degrees. This creates a critical difference in the position of the weapon when fired - and critically - makes it much more difficult for a person to shoot themselves.

Key Forensic Factors
1. Her weapon had no fingerprints on it, consistent with it having been wiped - something she could not have done after she died.
2. The angle of the shot to the head is either impossible or nearly so, such as to cause the casing to be ejected over 6 feet to the right of the body - conclusion of the Berman and Martinez reports.
3. The gun would not have likely remained in her hand - if she had managed to contort her arm and hand into a position to fire the weapon into her own head. Under the Mallak re-enactment where the grip on the gun is weak at best, the gun would have dropped behind Officer Jones after having been fired. The position of the gun is more consistent with an execution style killing and the placing the gun in her hand after the fact.
4. The logical conclusion is homicide. Considering the totality of the evidence here, the best possible consistent conclusion is homicide. The claimants in this matter have endured a woefully inadequate police investigation, and sloppy forensic investigation. Nonetheless, the clear weight of the 'credible' evidence supports a homicide theory.
In spite of all of these hearings and their rulings, the DA has not been willing to re-open and seriously investigate this case, trying to paint the Buff family as people bent on defying facts of suicide too painful to face. The facts prove that this was no suicide. Why won't he give this case the attention and justice it deserves?