Autopsy

State officials say an autopsy has turned up no signs of why a University of Rhode Island baseball player died last week after collapsing during a team workout, and more tests will be performed. Twenty-year-old Joseph Ciancola of Orange, Conn., collapsed during a preseason workout on Oct. 24 and died three days later at Rhode Island Hospital. WJAR-TV reports ( http://bit.ly/u0DFUU) that the autopsy on Ciancola was inconclusive and more lab work and tests are being performed.

An autopsy Thursday showed a gunshot to the head killed a man at the center of an Oregon murder-suicide investigation, and the medical examiner said it was consistent with a self-inflicted wound. Police identified the man as Nikolai Lazukin, 27. His body was found Tuesday in a car 80 miles south of a burned house in Salem where his wife and three children were found dead. Authorities said the wife and two of the children had been shot, and an infant asphyxiated. Neither police nor Deputy State Medical Examiner Larry Lewman would officially call the death a suicide.

CHICAGO -- Fifty years after the murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till shocked a nation and galvanized the civil rights movement, his body will be exhumed as authorities attempt to determine who killed him, the FBI said yesterday. Till's body, buried in a cemetery in the Chicago suburb of Alsip, will be exhumed within the next few weeks for an autopsy, said Deborah Madden, spokeswoman for the FBI office in Jackson, Miss. The Justice Department announced plans last year to reopen the Till investigation, citing several pieces of information that included a documentary by New York filmmaker Keith...

Officials on Thursday released nearly 200 pages of previously undisclosed documents in the Trayvon Martin fatal shooting case in which neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman has been charged with second-degree murder. The newly released material is shedding new light on a case that has raised questions about racial profiling and "stand your ground" laws. The documents, photos and video were turned over by prosecutors to defense attorneys earlier this week before they were released to the media.

SANTIAGO, Chile - A scientific autopsy has confirmed that President Salvador Allende of Chile committed suicide during the 1973 coup that toppled his socialist government, court officials announced yesterday. British ballistics expert David Prayer said Allende died of two shots fired from an assault rifle that was held between his legs and under his chin and was set to fire automatically. The bullets killed him instantly. The forensics team's conclusion is unanimous, Spanish expert Francisco Etxeberria said: "We have absolutely no doubt" that Allende committed suicide.

Coroner's officials say they will not release any information on Whitney Houston's autopsy at the request of police detectives investigating the singer's death. Capt. John Kades says an autopsy on Houston was schedule Sunday but that a security hold prevents him from releasing any details on its status or whether any probable cause of death has been established. Beverly Hills Police Lt. Mark Rosen said Sunday that his agency may release more details about Houston's death Saturday afternoon on Monday, but it will depend on whether detectives feel comfortable...

Matthew Stuart died of a drug overdose, according to the results of an autopsy conducted by the state. The report cites "acute intoxication by the combined effects of ethanol and cocaine" and ruled the man's death an accident, said Terrel Harris, a spokesman for the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security. Stuart was found dead in September, in a Central Square, Cambridge, homeless shelter. In 1989, Stuart's brother, Charles, asked him to help cover up the murder of his pregnant wife, Carol DiMaiti Stuart, in Mission Hill.

An infant was found dead Thursday afternoon in a home in Brockton, a spokeswoman for the Plymouth district attorney said. The child was nearly 3 months old, and an autopsy is planned for Friday, said Bridget Norton Middleton, a spokeswoman for Plymouth District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz. Middleton declined to release further details before an autopsy is completed. Brockton police had no comment Thursday night.

The Rhode Island medical examiner's office is trying to determine what caused the death of prominent restaurateur Steve Marra, but police say it doesn't appear that a crime occurred. Marra's body was found at his home in Warwick on Wednesday after a friend became concerned and called police. He was 53 years old. Marra and his former business partner, Bill Pinelli, opened popular restaurants across the state, including several named Twist and Cucina and the Post Office Café and Grille in East Greenwich.

Merrimack police say an investigation into the death of an 8-month-old infant inside a home has confirmed that the boy drowned in a bathtub. Police say in a statement released Friday evening that an autopsy has confirmed the drowning. They say the infant's 2-year-old brother and mother were in the Wilson Hill Road home at the time of the incident Thursday. The child's mother was attempting to resuscitate the baby when officers arrived at the scene. Emergency personnel also tried to resuscitate the child.

An infant was found dead Thursday afternoon in a home in Brockton, a spokeswoman for the Plymouth district attorney said. The child was nearly 3 months old, and an autopsy is planned for Friday, said Bridget Norton Middleton, a spokeswoman for Plymouth District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz. Middleton declined to release further details before an autopsy is completed. Brockton police had no comment Thursday night.

A preliminary autopsy shows liver cancer killed a Thai prisoner who was serving a 20-year term for sending insulting text messages about Thailand's royal family. An observer at Wednesday's autopsy said Amphon Tangnoppakul had late-stage liver cancer that likely developed after his 2010 conviction. Cherdchai Tontisirin said there were no signs of physical abuse. The case of 62-year-old Amphon drew attention to Thailand's severe lese majeste laws. Known as "Uncle SMS," he had denied his guilt and testified he didn't know how to send text messages.

Families of Anders Behring Breivik's victims sought to balance the technical details of how they died with testimony Friday of how they lived before he unleashed a shooting spree on an island youth camp. The far-right fanatic, who has admitted to the massacre and a bombing in Oslo on July 22, listened impassively as lawyers for the bereaved read emotional statements and showed pictures from the victims' lives alongside the coroner's autopsy reports. "We will fight for your ideals, we will see each other again," the family of 17-year-old Lejla Selaci said in a...

A man from South Boston is expected to be arraigned Monday on murder and home invasion charges in the death of Barbara Coyne, 67, who authorities said was found fatally stabbed inside her South Boston home one week ago. Timothy Kostka, 26, was identified as the murder suspect by forensic evidence and information from witnesses, Boston police said in a statement Sunday. He was already in custody on an unrelated charge when a warrant was issued for his arrest, said Jake Wark, a Suffolk District Attorney spokesman.

A man whose body was found in Old Orchard Beach, Maine, under "highly suspicious" circumstances is being identified. State police say the victim was 49-year-old Roger White of Old Orchard Beach. Steve McCausland of the Maine Department of Public Safety says White's body was found behind a downtown apartment building Saturday morning. McCausland says the body was taken to the state medical examiner's office, where an autopsy is planned on Sunday.

Whitney Houston's full autopsy report may offer more clues about whether the singer suffered a heart attack before her drowning death, officials said Friday. The full report, which is expected to be released in a few weeks, may include test results and physical descriptions of the singer's heart that will show whether she suffered a heart attack, Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said. The report is being compiled and Winter said he did not have access to its findings, which might show whether there were any obvious signs such as discoloration of her heart that would suggest Houston...

A full autopsy released Friday shows a 15-year-old Texas student fatally shot by police inside his middle school after brandishing a pellet gun wasn't under the influence of any illicit substances. Jaime Gonzalez died shortly after the Jan. 4 shooting at Cummings Middle School in Brownsville. The autopsy released by the Cameron County officials confirmed he died of two gunshot wounds, one to the chest and another to the abdomen. A police report released earlier this week said a sergeant gave the order to "take him out" after Gonzalez turned toward another student.

An autopsy is being planned on the body of a Maine man shot and killed by state police in Farmingdale. Officials say 41-year-old Paul Fritze was shot around 8:30 p.m. Saturday after confronting members of the Maine State Police tactical team. Police were called after Fritze allegedly entered a neighbor's home with a gun during a birthday party and opened fire. No one was hurt inside the house. State Police spokesman Steve McCausland says Fritze was shot after a four-hour standoff.

One adult remains in critical condition following a collision involving a loaded school bus and a tractor-trailer that killed the truck's driver in western Pennsylvania. Authorities are still trying to determine why 31-year-old Robert Dodson Jr. left his lane Wednesday afternoon, colliding nearly head-on with a Turkeyfoot Valley Area School District bus on a rural Somerset County road. State police say 21 students and two adults were on the bus. One adult was listed in critical condition Thursday morning, with another adult and two children in fair condition.

Officials in Philadelphia say the death of a Ukrainian hockey coach awaiting trial on federal child molestation charges was a suicide by hanging. The city medical examiner's office said Wednesday that Ivan (ee-VAHN') Pravilov (PRAH'-vuh-lahvz) killed himself in his prison cell. The 49-year-old Pravilov was found dead Feb. 10 at the federal prison in Philadelphia. He hadn't been on suicide watch. Pravilov was a mentor to several NHL and U.S. college players and ran a Ukrainian hockey school before coming to the U.S. in 2007.