WHO KILLED BANK ROBBER NOT CERTAIN, CORONER SAYS.

Byline: Michelle DeArmond Associated Press

Doctors were unable to determine whether a bank robber who shot himself during a gunbattle with police died from his own weapon or from a bullet fired by an officer, a coroner's spokesman said Thursday.

Larry Eugene Phillips Jr., 26, fired a gun under his chin, sending a bullet through his head, at about the same time a police bullet hit the back of his neck, severing his spinal cord, spokesman Scott Carrier said. It was unclear which bullet hit Phillips first, he said.

``Either one of those two particular wounds could have caused his death in and of itself,'' Carrier said. ``We're not able to say it's a homicide or a suicide.''

The cause-of-death category on the coroner's medical report reads ``undetermined.''

Phillips and Emil Matasareanu, 30, were wearing masks, gloves and full body armor Feb. 28 when they attempted to rob a Bank of America branch in North Hollywood. When police arrived on the scene, the heavily armed pair engaged in a bloody shootout that left 11 officers and six civilians wounded.

Matasareanu suffered 29 gunshot wounds and multiple cuts and bruises during the shootout, eventually bleeding to death from two gunshot wounds in his thigh. The shots fired by police went all the way through his leg and left two 1-inch tears in his thigh.

The gunshots did not hit the femoral artery and femoral vein, but severed multiple branches, causing him to hemorrhage, according to the coroner's report.

Matasareanu's death originally was listed at 9:50 a.m. in the report, but was changed to 11:10 a.m. in an amendment based on police and paramedic reports. Carrier could not explain why the change was made and said he did not know how long it took Matasareanu to bleed to death.

Phillips suffered 11 gunshot wounds and multiple cuts and bruises. His time of death was listed as 9:45 a.m. Television helicopters caught Phillips' death on tape, leading to speculation about the cause.

Toxicology tests found neither gunman was high on drugs at the time of the shootout, although both had taken phenobarbital, a mild sedative.

That is the same drug taken by 39 members of the Heaven's Gate cult who killed themselves in Rancho Santa Fe earlier this month.

Carrier said the drug did not appear to have any significant effect on the robbers.

Matasareanu also had taken Dilantin, considered an anti-seizure medication, although Carrier could not explain why the gunman had taken the drug.

Carrier said doctors do not have Matasareanu's medical records and thus are unable to answer most questions about his health. Matasareanu's mother has said he had epilepsy.

Matasareanu, who was born in Romania, had brain surgery several months before his death, his mother has said. The autopsy results confirmed he had the operation in 1996.

Phillips also had taken ephedrine and phenylpropanolamine, drugs commonly used to treat allergies.