- TAMPA (AP) -- The medical
examiner completed the autopsy of Terri Schiavo on Friday, clearing the
way for the release of the body to her husband, who plans to cremate her
remains and bury the ashes without telling his in-laws when or where.
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- Results of the autopsy may not be released for several
weeks, the medical examiner's office said. Husband Michael Schiavo hopes
the autopsy will settle questions about her medical condition, but experts
differ on whether that will happen.
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- Michael Schiavo and his in-laws spent Friday planning
separate funerals for the 41-year-old woman, who died Thursday - 13 days
after her feeding tube was removed.
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- Her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, have scheduled a
funeral Mass for Tuesday in nearby Gulfport. The Mass will be preceded
by a gathering for people to express their condolences.
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- Michael Schiavo's family has said he plans to take the
cremated remains to Pennsylvania, where she grew up, but her parents want
to bury her body in Florida so her parents and siblings can visit her grave.
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- Michael Schiavo declined to comment on the autopsy. The
body is now ready for release to an unidentified mortuary designated by
her husband.
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- Terri Schiavo had been the centre of a long legal battle
over whether she would have wanted to be kept alive with the feeding tube
for 15 years after suffering a devastating brain injury.
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- David Gibbs, the Schindlers' attorney, said there have
been no further discussions between Michael Schiavo and the Schindlers
about their daughter's remains. The Schindlers do not plan to press the
issue in court, he said.
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- "The court has already determined that (Michael
Schiavo) will control the burial decisions," Mr. Gibbs said.
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- Outside the Pinellas Park hospice where Terri Schiavo
lived for five years, just a few protesters returned Friday for a brief
mass as city workers took down barricades used to control the crowd. Media
crews from around the country packed up their gear.
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