Middlesex, MA: Judge delays burial of woman; family to argue for 2d autopsy

By Milton J. Valencia
Globe Staff / November 21, 2009

The family of Joan Baruffaldi, a 45-year-old veterinarian who was found hanged earlier this month in the US Virgin Islands, continues to suspect that her husband, Robert Harris, 47, killed her.

A hearing has been scheduled for Monday to determine whether Baruffaldi’s family has any say in what should happen to her body, though Harris’s lawyer said he has the sole authority as her husband. Harris’s lawyer, Kevin Reddington, said he was not part of yesterday’s court proceeding and that a full hearing will be held on Monday.

“In this case, they’ve already done an autopsy,’’ Reddington said yesterday. “This is just total speculation and guesswork.’’

Baruffaldi’s death was initially declared a suicide after authorities in the US Virgin Islands found her hanging from a shower curtain rod by the belt of a bathrobe. Harris told authorities that Baruffaldi locked herself in the bathroom after they had been arguing, and minutes later he heard a crash.

Security officials found her in the bathroom, hanged and slouched against a wall.

The Baruffaldi family’s lawyer, Donald McNamee, said the couple had a history of domestic violence.

Authorities in the US Virgin Islands sent McNamee a letter Thursday saying the death remains under investigation, and the family has called for a second autopsy to be performed.

Baruffaldi’s former husband hired an attorney to represent their two children, hoping the court will allow them to contract an outside pathologist.

Reddington said he would have agreed to hold off burial until a hearing could be heard anyway. But he rejected claims that Harris planned to have the body cremated. He said Harris will abide by his wife’s wishes to be buried in Lynnfield, near where her children live.

“I understand it’s horrible to think a loved one would do that to herself, and it’s easy to put the blame on someone else,’’ said Reddington, “but the bottom line is he did not kill her.’’

He said authorities in the US Virgin Islands only agreed to keep the case open because the family had asked and that toxicology results are still pending. He also questioned the objectivity of the medical examiner that the family said it wanted to hire, celebrity pathologist Dr. Michael Baden, host of the HBO series “Autopsy’’ and a former chief medical examiner in New York.