Coroner: Bevilacqua Died of Natural Causes

By John P. Martin
Philadelphia Inquirer
March 8, 2012

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20120308_Coroner__Bevilacqua_died_of_natural_causes.html

Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua died of natural causes, the Montgomery County coroner said Thursday.

Coroner Walter I. Hofman said toxicology tests revealed nothing suspicious or unusual about the Jan. 31 death of the longtime leader of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

"Elderly people often die suddenly," the coroner said. "This is a natural death."

His ruling ends a month of speculation stoked when District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman asked the coroner to review the 88-year-old cardinal's death. Ferman said she had no reason to suspect foul play, but she and others found the timing of his death "peculiar."

Bevilacqua died a day after a Philadelphia Common Pleas Court judge declared that, despite claims of his failing health and mental state, he was presumed to be competent enough to testify at the forthcoming conspiracy and child-sex abuse trial of three former and current priests.

Hofman agreed to defer the ruling until he received results of a toxicology exam on fluids retrieved from the cardinal's body. He also requested, and reviewed, a list of medications that Bevilacqua had been taking.

Hofman said he had received hate mail since the decision to review the death was made public.

Since retiring in 2003, Bevilacqua had been largely confined to his residence at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood, just outside the city limits. Lawyers for the archdiocese had said that he had been diagnosed with cancer and dementia.

In November, prosecutors and defense lawyers in the criminal case questioned the cardinal for seven hours in a private deposition. His videotaped testimony could be aired during the trial, which begins March 26.

Contact John P. Martin at 215-854-4774 or jmartin@phillynews.com Follow him on Twitter @JPMartinInky.