Foul play not ruled out in woman’s fiery death in Bucks

October 18, 2010|By Larry King, Inquirer Staff Writer

Officials have not ruled out foul play in the death of a woman in a fire Sunday in makeshift shelter in Bucks County.

District Attorney David Heckler said that the cause of the blaze in Bristol Township remained under investigation.

"We haven't made a determination," Heckler said. "We are certainly looking seriously at the possibility that this was a criminal homicide."

According to Bristol Township police, the woman was found screaming and on fire shortly after 10:30 a.m. Sunday, her tarp-covered shelter engulfed in flames nearby.

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She died shortly afterward at Lower Bucks Hospital.

Bucks County coroner Joseph Campbell said the 44-year-old woman, whose name has not been released yet, died from a combination of blood loss, stress from burns and heart disease.

Campbell said an autopsy found that the woman had suffered the severe blood loss from a head laceration.

The wound was caused by trauma to her head, possibly while escaping the fire. There were no skull fractures and it did not appear the woman had been bludgeoned, Campbell said.

Campbell said the woman had suffered burns over about 50 percent of her body. She also had a history of severe heart disease, including a heart attack, and the autopsy found a blood clot near her heart. The heart condition was probably exacerbated by the stress of the fire, the burns, and the blood loss from the head wound, Campbell said.

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