After several weeks of meticulous and thorough examination of all available forensic evidence, at the end of a grueling two-month investigation, the Baltimore city coroner's office ruled the deaths of husband and wife, best-selling authors, William and Patricia Marsden, officially an accident. The report indicated the two-year-old SUV, which William was operating at the time of the fatal crash, caused their deaths when it failed to stop due to a faulty brake line connection. When the vehicle collided with the DTX cargo train at the intersection of a busy railroad crossing, it was dragged for over a mile before the conductor, who was unaware of the crash had occurred, finally realized something was wrong and brought the train to a stop.
