They are likely to include desecration of a corpse and murder, said Chitwood and Joseph J. Brielmann, a spokesman for the District Attorney's Office. Charges may be filed today.
"The Upper Darby Police Department will make the decision on charges with cooperation from the District Attorney's Office," Brielmann said.
Sardella is the granddaughter of Albert E. Piscopo, chief executive of the Glenmede Trust Co., an investment firm that manages the assets of the Pew Charitable Trusts and other high-end clients.
Sardella's attorney, Arthur T. Donato Jr., said he had not seen the medical examiner's report as of late yesterday afternoon. "To the extent that there are any murder charges, we'll vigorously defend them," Donato said.
Donato, who was briefed by authorities on the findings, said the family would retain an independent expert to analyze Hellman's conclusions.
There has been extensive coverage of and public interest in the case, which Chitwood said stemmed in part from the prominence of Piscopo. He serves on a variety of boards, including those of the Opera Company of Philadelphia and Community College of Philadelphia.
Also, none of Sardella's friends, relatives or associates knew she was pregnant, Chitwood said. The baby's father, an unidentified former boyfriend of Sardella's, told police he asked Sardella about an apparent weight gain during a chance meeting with her in the fall. He said she blamed it on an adverse reaction to a birth-control patch, police said.
In a search of the Drexel Hill home where Sardella lived before attending college, police confiscated an article on the "denial of pregnancy" syndrome, which typically affects young girls who convince themselves they cannot be pregnant.
Doris C. Vallone, an associate professor at Widener University who has studied pregnancy denial, said, "Teenagers have magical thinking; they believe, if they don't deal with it, it will go away."
