Breitbart witness: He dropped like sack of bricks

A man who witnessed the death of Andrew Breitbart said the conservative media icon collapsed like a "sack of bricks" and died with bright red skin and a "thick white band" on his forehead.

The testimony comes from Christopher Lasseter, 26, who was walking his dog near the Brentwood Restaurant the evening of March 1 and saw Breitbart leave the eatery, cross the street and fall to the ground on the opposite side of the street.

On assignment from WND, Los Angeles private investigator Paul Huebl found Lasseter Tuesday evening.

In a video provided to WND and posted on YouTube, Huebl filmed the inside of the Brentwood Restaurant, showing the bar where Breitbart was in conversation with a Los Angeles marketing executive. Breitbart drank a glass of wine before leaving the restaurant to cross the street.

Standing at the site where Breitbart died, Huebl conducted a video interview with Lasseter.

Lasseter reported he noticed a big thick band of blanched white skin around the top of Breitbart's forehead, extending around the hairline to the back of Breitbart's head, that him do a "doubletake."

In the various reports of Breitbart’s death, WND is the first to report an eyewitness observed the thick white band around Breitbart's forehead.

"There was a thick white band around his forehead all the way around his hairline, bright red face, thick, thick white band – made me make a double take," Lasseter said.

He further described Breitbart's face and skin as "bright red," in a manner consistent with Huebl's first interview with him, as Huebl initially reported on his blog.

Lasseter said he knew Breitbart was dead as soon as he walked up to him. He shook off any suggestion he suspected foul play in Breitbart's death.

At WND's request, inquiries about the thick white band have been sent to noted board-certified forensic pathologists Michael Baden, former chief medical examiner for the city of New York, and Cyril Wecht, best known for his role as a critic of the Warren Commission's conclusions in the JFK assassination. Both Baden and Wecht have been responsive to WND-prompted inquiries in the Breitbart death.

Furnished with a transcript from the Huebl interview with Lasseter, Baden and Wecht were asked, "Does the thick white band give a further clue as to the cause of death?"

WND is waiting for Baden and Wecht to respond.

As Lasseter described the sequence of events, Breitbart jay-walked across the street at an angle.

Lasseter said he did not initially notice anything unusual about how Breitbart looked. He noted Breitbart was wearing a dress shirt, khaki pants and a pair of Jack Purcell Converse shoes that Lasseter described as "preppy."

When Breitbart reached the curb across the street, Lasseter said he observed, "Breitbart took one step up onto the curb and dropped like a sack of bricks."

In response to Huebl's question whether Breitbart said anything, Lasseter answered: "No. He was just growling, like a grumble as he passed away."

He also noted that Breitbart expelled his last breath with a "guttural sound from the bowels of his stomach that didn’t sound good."

Breitbart, according to Lasseter, was alone when he died.

An unidentified man called 911 and administered CPR until the police arrived and took over. That is when Lasseter said he left.

TMZ suppresses eyewitness video

Huebl earlier sold a video of his first interview with Lasseter to TMZ.com.

WND asked Casey Carver, a spokesman for TMZ.com, how much TMZ.com paid for the video interview and why it had decided not to air the interview with Lasseter that it purchased from Huebl.

Carver did not respond to WND's inquiries.

WND has previously reported that Ohio-based private investigator Susan Daniels recruited a local private investigator to find Lasseter. The California-based private investigator tried without success to find a cell phone or landline phone number for him.

After determining that Lasseter lived with his parents, Thornton, 64, and Elaine, 56, at a Los Angeles address, the California-based private investigator visited the residence in person.

But he was unable to make contact, and a voice recording identified the residents by names other than Christopher, Thornton or Elaine. At WND's request, Huebl returned to the scene of Breitbart's death and waited until evening, to see if Lasseter would return, walking his dog.