Legal Med Chief Does Autopsy in Euthanasia Death

Dr. Richard Ford '36, head of Harvard's Legal Medicine Department yesterday performed a ten-hour autopsy on Mrs. Abbie Borrote, who died on December 4 after 40 cc's of air had been injected into her veins by Dr. Hermann H. Sander.

The autopsy, requested by the defense, suggested two possibilities. First, the defense might be trying to prove that Mrs. Berroto died of cancer and not from the air injections. Second, the defense might have thought that an autopsy would not show cause of death, thus throwing the burden of proof on the state.

Meanwhile, it is believed the defense is seeking an expert who can offer medico-legal proof that 40 ce's of air injected into a person's vein cannot cause death.

The sudden exhumation of the body came as a complete surprise. Both defense lawyers and the state refrained from announcements of the exhumation of the body from Pine Grove Cemetery.