Jury convicts Harry Francis Lowenthal of manslaughter after expert ties death to illicit fentanyl

A Jefferson County jury on Tuesday found defendant Harry Francis Lowenthal guilty of manslaughter, concluding that the death of the victim resulted from drugs that included illicit fentanyl.

The verdict follows testimony from Dr. William McClain, a forensic pathologist with Forensic Medical Management Services, who reviewed the autopsy and toxicology reports and testified that the cause of death was “the acute combined intoxication of fentanyl, trazodone, doxylamine, clonazepam, hydroxyzine, and ethanol.” Dr. McClain also told jurors the fentanyl in the decedent’s blood tested at 13 nanograms per milliliter and that the presence of 4‑ANPP in toxicology suggested the fentanyl was illicitly manufactured rather than pharmaceutical.

Dr. McClain explained why the level and formulation were significant. “A lower level of 3 nanograms per milliliter is sort of the cut off that I use,” he testified, adding that concentrations must be interpreted in context of the individual but that in his opinion the fentanyl was “by far the most lethal” of the substances detected. He described the typical autopsy process, the internal findings…