James Starrs—the forensic pathologist who wanted to dig up the Bordens to reexamine their remains—is at it again. This time, he and Michael Baden are getting their chance at a posthumous investigation into the life and death of none other than Harry Houdini!
Experts to Test Harry Houdini’s Body
Thursday March 22, 2007 10:31 PM
AP Photo NYOL973
By LARRY McSHANE
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK (AP) – For all of his death-defying stunts, Harry Houdini couldn’t escape the Grim Reaper: the unparalleled performer, age 52, expired on Halloween 1926. Many of his trade secrets went with him to the grave – but rumors that Houdini was murdered soon took on a life of their own.
Eighty-one years later, Houdini’s great-nephew wants to exhume the escape artist’s body to determine if enemies poisoned his renowned relative for debunking their bogus claims of contact with the dead.
A team of top-level forensic investigators would conduct new tests once Houdini’s body was disinterred, the legendary star’s relative told The Associated Press.
“It needs to be looked at,” said George Hardeen, whose grandfather was Houdini’s brother, Theodore. “His death shocked the entire nation, if not the world. Now, maybe it’s time to take a second look.”
The circumstances surrounding Houdini’s sudden death were as murky as the rivers where his act often found the virtuoso emerging unscathed from chains, locks and wooden boxes. The generally accepted version was that Houdini suffered a ruptured appendix from a punch in the stomach, leading to a fatal case of peritonitis.
But no autopsy was performed. When the death certificate was filed on Nov. 20, 1926, Houdini’s body – brought by train from Detroit to Manhattan’s Grand Central Terminal – was already buried in Queens, along with any evidence of a possible death plot.
