Suicide Note Suit Against Coroner Dismissed

A woman had alleged that Montgomery County Coroner Walter Hofman violated her due process rights by withholding a suicide note written to her by her deceased son.

Suicide Note Suit Against Coroner Dismissed

A woman had alleged that Montgomery County Coroner Walter Hofman violated her due process rights by withholding a suicide note written to her by her deceased son.

Montgomery County Coroner Walter I. Hofman did not violate a woman's due process rights when he refused to release a suicide note written to her by her deceased son, a federal judge ruled on Jan. 23. The Pennsylvania Record reports that U.S. District Judge Ronald Buckwalter dismissed a lawsuit filed last summer by resident Lisa Feldman against Hofman. Feldman's son, Evan Clausen, committed suicide in September 2011. He left a suicide note to his mother and others on the dining room table of his home. When Hofman took possession of the body for a coroner's investigation, he also took possession of the suicide note. According to court documents, Hofman returned Evan's possessions to Feldman on the same day he ruled the death a suicide, but …

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VIDEO: Coroner Releases Bevilacqua Autopsy Findings

Montgomery County Coroner Walter Hofman said Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua died of natural causes.

Montgomery County Coroner Walter Hofman addressed the media in a press conference at Montgomery County Human Services Center today to reveal his findings in the Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua autopsy. According to Hoffman, Bevilacqua's official cause of death was arterial sclerotic cardiovascular disease and contributing carcinoma of the prostate, or prostat cancer. The manner of death was declared as natural causes. Hoffman said there was no injury to the body and no indication of any strangulation or choking and the prescribed medications found in the cardinal's body were all within generally accepted levels. After walking reporters through the series of events leading up to the autopsy, Hofman took questions about Cardinal Bevilacqua's …

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