UPDATE: 12/5/13 3:19pm EST
The LA Sheriff’s Office has spoken, saying it’s impossible that Paul Walker was flailing around the 23 second mark of the video as described below, because Paul died within a nanosecond of impact.
The sources tell us that, based on photographs of the wreckage … Paul’s body was pinned in an area of the car that makes it clear he couldn’t have been flailing outside the vehicle.
—-
As more information is released, we’re starting to get a picture of what happened on the afternoon of the crash that killed Paul Walker and his friend Roger Rodas.
Yesterday, after the autopsy results became public, we learned that Roger Rodas died from impact and Paul Walker died from trauma and the fire that resulted from the crash. This led investigators to believe that unfortunately, Paul did not die right away, but rather he was burned to death.
Now, TMZ is reporting that in the released crash video footage, a shadowy figure appears to be flailing and trying to escape.
There is now a swirl of speculation that the image, seen roughly 23 seconds into the clip, is Paul attempting to escape the death trap.
Law enforcement sources who participated in the investigation tell TMZ … there is strong evidence that Paul and Roger Rodas never got out of their seats, but when pressed they would not conclusively say that Paul didn’t attempt an escape.
The authorities are checking the tape, and have not made any official word.
At the time of his death, Paul Walker was in great spirits. He was raising his 15-year-old daughter Meadow full-time and enjoying every minute of it.
“He told me recently he was the happiest he’d ever been,” close friend Brandon Birtell tells PEOPLE. “It was directly because of the growing relationship with his daughter and the clarity that brought to his life.”
Paul’s father also gave an exclusive interview to E! News and revealed his last conversation with his son, telling him to promise he would stay safe.
“The last conversation we had, I sat there, I looked at him and I said, ‘You know, I love you very much. I love all of you. And we’re all very, very close. If anything was to happen to anybody in this family, it would be a rough deal,'” Walker’s father tells us.
“I said, ‘Promise me, no more daredevil stuff.’ I said, ‘If in your heart, you say, I can do this, then by all means, do it. If your mind says, maybe not. Then don’t.’ I looked at him, I said, ‘Will you promise me that?'”
He continued, “I said, ‘You know, promises are a very important thing here, Paul.’ I said, ‘Say OK,’ and he said, ‘OK.’ You know a lot of us, sometimes we make promises and get caught up in the moment and stuff like that, but I can tell I got to him. I can tell that I was very serious. Sometimes sons think of their fathers and their grandfathers as these bigger than life people.”
You can see the video on E! Online.
The outpour of love for Paul continues, as Universal Pictures released a tribute video for their fallen Fast & Furious star.
Lastly, Paul’s 23-year-old girlfriend, Jasmine Pilchard-Gosnell, was spotted for the first time since the tragedy — breaking down outside Paul’s home in Santa Barbara on Tuesday.
She was teary-eyed and seen hugging friends and family. You can view those pictures on TMZ.
SOURCE: E! News, TMZ | PHOTO CREDIT: INF
