Coroners have performed an autopsy on the body of blues legend B.B. King after they said family members alleged “foul play.”
Two of B.B. King’s daughters, Patty King and Karen Williams, made the accusations in identically worded affidavits: “I believe my father was murdered and that he was administered foreign substances.”
The allegations were reported by the Associated Press, which was provided the documents by the daughters’ lawyer. In it, the family members allege that King was poisoned by two of his closest aides.
John Fudenberg, the coroner for Clark County, Nevada, said initial autopsy results found “no evidence to substantiate the allegations.” But full forensic results will take six to eight weeks.
The autopsy
King died May 14 in home hospice care in Las Vegas at age 89. No investigation was conducted at the time of his death. And King’s attending physician listed the cause as multi-infarct dementia, which is caused by a series of small strokes.
Fudenberg, the coroner, told CNN the singer’s body was shipped from mortuary to the coroner’s office on Sunday.
“The family has made some allegations. I can’t go into specifics,” Fudenberg said Monday: “We were contacted by several of the family members’ legal counsel. They were making allegations of foul play.”
No comment
The daughters’ lawyer, Larissa Drohobyczer, did not respond to a CNN call for a comment. King and Williams also refused to comment.
CNN attempted to contact the Las Vegas Police late Monday night about the investigation but was unsuccessful. CNN was also unable to reach the associates who are being accused.
But one of them — King’s business manager, LaVerne Toney — told the AP that the the daughters have been “making allegations all along. What’s new?”
A public viewing for musician is scheduled for Friday at the B.B. King Museum in Indianola, Mississippi. Funeral services are set for the following day.
“Our investigation will not prohibit or delay the services they have planned,” Fudenberg said.
