Media blackout lifted on Bevilacqua death

Now that the days of viewings and services marking the death of Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua have concluded, it is apparently safe for the Inquirer to wade into reporting on the circumstances surrounding the former archbishop's unexpected demise.

In a story that appeared on Philly.com shortly after 10PM tonight, Inquirer reporter John Martin details how Montgomery County coroner Walter Hofman has been involved in probing the prelate's death since shortly after Bevilacqua passed away last week:

A representative of the coroner's office came to the seminar(sic) the night the cardinal died, according to Donna Farrell, a spokeswoman for the archdiocese...

Hofman said he was asked the next morning by county prosecutors to conduct his examination. He arranged for Bevilacqua's body to be transported to the coroner's office in Norristown.

It had already been embalmed, but Hofman said embalming would not interfere with his exam. The body was returned to the funeral home later Tuesday.

The coroner also asked the archdiocese to turn over medical notes and any medicines Bevilacqua had ingested in the three weeks before his death, Farrell said.

For the record, it has taken 10 days for this story to make its way into the news. No explanation is offered in the Inquirer article for the delay in reporting these developments.