Singer Tammy Wynette autopsied
year after death
April 14, 1999
Web posted at: 7:15 PM EDT (2315 GMT)
NASHVILLE, Tennesse (Reuters) -- The body of
country music star Tammy
Wynette was removed from her tomb and
autopsied Wednesday in an attempt to
answer questions raised in the year since her
death.
The steps were taken a week after three of
Wynette's daughters filed a
wrongful-death suit against her doctor and
her husband-manager, George
Richey, claiming they were responsible for
her death at the age of 55.
Richey told a news conference he had
requested the autopsy because of the
allegations made against him in the suit.
"I'm profoundly saddened her children are
willing to drag their mother's closely
guarded private life into the public, leaving
me no choice but to respond," he
said.
"I'm saddened that out of frustration over
financial matters, her daughters have
been willing to work so hard to discredit
their mother. ... I'm saddened that part
of Tammy's legacy is this fiasco," he said.
Richey said his late wife, known as the
"first lady of country music," had not
wanted to be autopsied or cremated. Her body
was entombed at Woodlawn
mausoleum in Nashville.
"Tammy was a woman who knew what she wanted
in life and in death," he said.
Bruce Levy, Tennessee's chief medical
examiner, said he had conducted the
autopsy and would issue a report in four to
six weeks.
One week ago, three of Wynette's daughters --
Georgette Smith, Jackie Daley
and Tina Jones -- sued Richey and Wynette's
doctor, Wallis Marsh of Pittsburgh,
in Davidson County Circuit Court for $50
million in compensatory damages and
an unspecified amount in punitive damages.
The suit alleged that Marsh was guilty of
malpractice by giving the singer
powerful narcotic drugs and Richey had
"improperly and inappropriately
maintained her narcotic addiction, improperly
administered narcotics to her and
failed to see that she would receive
necessary medical treatment."
Officials earlier this year asked the coroner
for an autopsy, but he refused,
saying he did not have sufficient evidence to
seek a court order for the removal
of her body from the tomb. Richey's request,
he said Wednesday, allowed him to
proceed.
Wynette, who had long suffered from
intestinal illness and other health
problems, died April 6, 1998. At the time,
her death was listed as due to natural
causes, and Marsh said it had been caused by
blood clots in her lungs.
