Is victim dead or alive? Cops won't say

   Police in Colorado Springs wouldn't acknowledge Thursday that assault victim William Wilson is dead even though the hospital signed his death certificate a day earlier.

   "It's 100 percent true. He's dead. There's no doubt about that. We've spoken to the Police Department a number of times today to educate them about that," said Memorial Hospital spokesman Chris Valentine.

   Wilson, 42, of Colorado Springs was declared dead in a certificate signed by a doctor Wednesday afternoon, he said.

   Wilson, who was a transient, was admitted Tuesday after police said another homeless man bludgeoned him with a rock in a daylight attack in Dorchester Park. The suspect, Jeremiah Phelan, 27, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and first-degree assault a few hours after the attack and advised of the charges against him in court on Tuesday. He is to be arraigned July 17.

   Colorado Springs police spokesman Sgt. Mark Stevens said Wilson is brain dead, but police are waiting for the hospital to disconnect him from a life-support device before acknowledging his death.

   "If there's a possibility of organ donation they'll keep the body alive, but the person is dead," Valentine said.

   Dr. Robert Bux, El Paso County coroner, would not comment because "the police PIO" - or public information officer - did not permit him to release information, he said. The coroner, an elected official, withholds details on cases that involve police investigations, even though there is nothing in the law that requires him to do so, he said.

   Bux said doctors may declare a patient dead when there is no brain activity.

   "That's accepted in every state that I'm aware of," Bux said.

   The attack occurred about 2 p.m. Tuesday in front of several witnesses, many of them homeless.

   In a statement accompanying Phelan's arrest warrant, detective Luke Skifstad gave the following account: Wilson's girlfriend told police she was standing in the park when Wilson yelled, "Hey babe. Come over here!" At that moment, Phelan rushed toward the man, asking "You want some of this?"

   Phelan then struck the older man with a rock the size of a softball, witnesses said, causing Wilson to fall onto the concrete and bleed heavily from the head.

   Phelan, who police say waived his Miranda rights, acknowledged that he fought with Wilson at the park but said he was approached by Wilson and that he hit him with his hand, not a rock..