Accused Tennessee fake ID worker burned to death

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - A state Highway Patrol report released Tuesday confirmed a driver&#39;s license examiner charged in a bogus license scheme was not killed by the impact of her car ramming into a utility pole last month. <br> <br> Investigators are still awaiting a coroner&#39;s report on the cause of Katherine Smith&#39;s death. Smith, 49, was found Feb. 10 burned beyond recognition in her car about 20 miles from her Memphis residence. <br> <br> Witnesses told the FBI that the car was ablaze before it crashed into a utility pole. Smith had been scheduled to appear in court the following day on charges she helped five Middle Eastern men get licenses illegally. <br> <br> Tennessee Highway Patrol Capt. Jimmy Erwin said an investigation determined Smith was traveling just over 20 mph, which he called a survivable crash. He did not to speculate on the cause of the fire. <br> <br> Erwin said the few pieces of her clothes recovered from the car showed traces of gasoline. <br> <br> &#34;This was not a traffic fatality,&#34; Erwin said. <br> <br> Memphis FBI spokesman George Bolds said Tuesday that the cause of the fire remains undetermined. <br> <br> &#34;We know she was alive but not necessarily conscious after the impact with the pole. She did breathe in superheated gases from the fire,&#34; Bolds said. <br> <br> Smith was arrested five days before her death along with the five Middle Eastern men. She was accused of taking payoffs for helping them get driver&#39;s licenses without proper documentation. <br> <br> Smith had been released on her own recognizance. The other suspects are being held without bond and were behind bars when Smith died. <br> <br> The men are charged under federal law with illegally trying to produce identification documents. <br>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/3/202877