Autopsy Report Cites Accumulation of Fluid in Lungs
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) _ Christina Onassis died of acute pulmonary edema, or accumulation of fluid in her lungs, a judge said Monday. Investigators reportedly were focusing on whether the Greek heiress died from an overdose of barbiturates.
Judge Juan Carlos Cardinali said the cause of death was included in a partial report he received from forensic experts who performed the autopsy on Miss Onassis following her death Saturday, apparently of a heart attack.
Heart attacks can cause the accumulation of fluid in the lungs, or pulmonary edema.
Medical examiners reportedly were looking into various possible causes of death. Cardinali was quoted by the private news agency Noticias Argentinas as saying investigators were focusing on the possible ″excessive ingestion of barbiturates.″
Family members and friends repeatedly have ruled out suicide.
Three jars of medicine and other evidence found in Miss Onassis’ bedroom were taken by police Sunday for analysis, the private news agency Diarios y Noticias reported Monday. Another bottle of pills reportedly was missing.
Miss Onassis, the 37-year-old daughter of Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, died at the country club home of close friends.
One of three doctors who allegedly examined Miss Onassis at the country club and pronounced her dead was questioned by police and two judges who have jurisdiction in the case, Diaros y Noticias reported.
Miss Onassis frequently went on diets to combat a persistent weight problem, and she was known to take diet pills. It was not known if she was on diet pills at the time of her death.
Tissues taken from Miss Onassis’ body at an autopsy Saturday still were being examined, Cardinali’s secretary said in a telephone interview.
The full coroner’s report was expected to be delivered to Cardinali later Monday. It was unclear whether he would publicly disclose its contents.
The judge said he still is awaiting a determination on the cause of the edema as well as results of a chemical analysis and other pathological studies performed on the body.
Miss Onassis was the stepdaughter of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, the widow of President John F. Kennedy who married Aristotle Onassis in 1968.
When her father died in 1975, Miss Onassis inherited half of the family’s estimated $1 billion fortune. The other half is controlled by the Alexander Onassis Foundation, set up in memory of Onassis’ only son, Alexander, who died in a 1973 plane crash.
Miss Onassis had four unsuccessful marriages. Her last husband, French industrialist Thierry Roussel, arrived Monday from Geneva to wrap up legal proceedings and accompany the body to Skorpios, the Onassis family’s island in the Ionian Sea off the northwest coast of Greece.
Roussel is the father of Miss Onassis’ only child, 3-year-old Athena, who stands to inherit her mother’s entire fortune. Roussel will have custody of the child until she comes of age.
The newspaper Clarin reported Monday that Miss Onassis intended within the next two weeks to marry Jorge Tchomlekdjoglou, brother of her longtime friend and weekend host in Argentina, Marina Dodero.
The newspaper cited sources it did not identify in Buenos Aires’ Greek community. Telephone calls placed to the homes of the Doderos, the family Tchomlekdjoglou and Miss Onassis’ aunt, Mary, were unanswered.
On Saturday, Miss Onassis was taken from Tortuguitas Country Club, 25 miles north of the capital, to a private clinic and then to Clinica del Sol Hospital in Buenos Aires, where she was pronounced dead on arrival.
Federal Judge Alberto Piotti, whose district includes Tortuguitas Country Club, prohibited the removal of Miss Onassis’ body from Argentina without his authorization, citing ″errors of procedure″ in transfering the body from his district to Buenos Aires.
