The body of a New Orleans man, exhumed on the order of Federal Judge J. Skelly Wright, has been reinterred after examinations and X-rays by physicians for the Lloyds of London insurance firm.
The body was that of Thomas Reagan Jr., who was found dead Dec. 19, 1960, in the shower of his home at 46 Lark.
The insurance company has refused to pay off two accident policies taken out by Reagan on April 26, 1960, for $100,000 each. Filed Motion
The insurers filed the motion for exhumation in opposition to a suit filed by Mrs. Reagan seeking to force the company to pay the $200,000 in insurance.
Judge Wright's opinion granting the motion for exhumation said that upon being taken from the shower, Reagan was given artificial respiration by Dr. Nicholas Chetta, Orleans parish coroner, who was a next door neighbor.
Reagan could not be revived, so his body was taken to the coroner's office where an autopsy was performed by Dr. Monroe Samuels. The initial pathologist's report showed no findings to indicate accidental death, the opinion related. Dr. Dunlap
The body was also examined that same day by Dr. Charles Dunlap, a pathologist retained by Mrs. Reagan, and he too was unable to find anything indicating accidental death, said the opinion.
The coroner on Jan.. 12, 1961, issued a report and found death "accidental" due to bone marrow and fat embolism to the lungs, Judge Wright continued. This was found by Dr. Chetta in examining miscroscopic slides of tissues of Reagan's organs, said the opinion.
"From this he concluded that Reagan must have fractured one or more bones in his body, causing the release of bone marrow and fat to the lungs," declared the opinion.
The federal judge pointed out that the finding of accidental death was made even though no fractures were revealed in the autopsy or in the examination of the body by Dr. Dunlap.
"The insurers suggest that the accidental death finding is an afterthought," he said.
