Pubdate: Thu, 24 Nov 2005
Source: Chicago Sun-Times (IL)
Copyright: 2005 The Sun-Times Co.
Contact:  http://www.suntimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/81
Author: Kristin M. Hall

NORTH SHORE SURGEON CHARGED IN MODEL'S DEATH

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. -- A former Nashville plastic surgeon who has been 
disciplined by medical boards in Tennessee and Illinois has been 
charged with murder in the drug overdose death of a model.

Dr. Christ Pete Koulis was arrested Tuesday in suburban Wilmette on 
charges of second-degree murder and reckless homicide in the July 4 
death of Lesa R. Buchanan, a woman with whom investigators say he had 
a six-year romantic relationship.

This is the second time that Koulis has been arrested on charges 
involving giving Buchanan illegal narcotics that sent her to the 
hospital, a fact that will be used in the prosecution's case, said 
District Attorney Ron Davis.

"We're going to use it as proof of intent," Davis said Wednesday.

Buchanan was living in Franklin, a Nashville suburb, when Koulis, who 
worked in private practice in Illinois, came down to spend the Fourth 
of July holiday with her, investigators said.

"They apparently had a long-distance relationship," Franklin 
detective Eric Anderson said.

That night, Buchanan was taken to Williamson Medical Center, where 
she was pronounced dead from an "acute multiple drug overdose," 
Anderson said. Authorities declined to say which drugs were found in 
Buchanan's body.

Pleaded Guilty In 03

Koulis has a long history of disciplinary problems for multiple 
charges of mishandling drugs as a plastic surgeon in both Tennessee 
and Illinois. He eventually lost his Tennessee license in 2004, and 
Illinois suspended his license in August, according to regulatory 
records in both states.

Koulis came to Tennessee for his plastic surgery residency at 
Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 1997 and then worked at a 
private practice with staff privileges at three Nashville hospitals, 
according to the state Department of Health.

His physician's license was suspended in May 2002 and revoked two 
years later on drug-related charges, including habitual intoxication, 
personal misuse of drugs and illegal prescribing of drugs, according 
to the Tennessee Department of Health.

Two months after his suspension, Koulis was arrested in Boone County, 
Ky., on charges that he illegally supplied narcotics to Buchanan, who 
was living in Walton, Ky., at the time.

Koulis was arrested after Buchanan was treated at a hospital for a 
severe infection. Koulis pleaded guilty to one charge of dispensing a 
controlled substance and was sentenced to probation in 2003.

Got License Despite Suspension

Despite his suspended Tennessee license, the state of Illinois 
granted Koulis a medical license in December 2003 on the condition 
that another physician stay with him whenever he met with patients.

He worked at a private practice until August 2005, when his license 
was suspended after the Illinois Department of Financial and 
Professional Regulation found he had been seeing patients alone.

Koulis remained in custody in Illinois on Wednesday. Davis said he is 
confident that Koulis will waive extradition from Illinois.
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