Family troubled by hubby’s claim that wife hanged herself

The body of a Lynnfield mother of two lies in limbo while her family - troubled by her husband’s claim she hanged herself in their U.S. Virgin Islands hotel room one month after confronting him about an alleged affair - implores a judge to bar her burial pending an independent autopsy.

“They have grave, grave doubts,” attorney Donald McNamee said on behalf of the family of Dr. Joan Baruffaldi, owner of the North Reading Veterinary Clinic.

Robert Harris, 47, an employee of IBM, called his sister-in-law Mary Baruffaldi on Nov. 4 and told her his 45-year-old wife of three years had hanged herself with a bathrobe sash from a shower curtain rod after the two had quarreled in their St. John hotel room, according to documents filed in Salem Superior Court.

Mary Baruffaldi, 40, of North Andover, said in an affidavit she “strong (sic) discouraged” her sister from taking the trip.

A temporary restraining order McNamee obtained from Salem Superior Court Judge Howard Whitehead preventing Harris from burying or cremating his wife’s remains lapsed at 5 p.m. yesterday.

McNamee filed a wrongful-death suit against Harris yesterday in Middlesex Superior Court, seeking to accomplish the same goal.

Dr. Francisco Landron, medical examiner for the U.S. Virgin Islands, ruled Baruffaldi’s death a suicide by hanging. But in a letter to McNamee yesterday, Wilson Campbell, chief of the criminal division of the U.S. Attorney General’s Office in the Virgin Islands, said, “Mrs. Baruffaldi’s death is part of an on-going investigation by the Virgin Islands Police Department, Major Crimes Unit.”

Campbell told McNamee he has “no objection” to a second autopsy - and Baruffaldi’s “devastated” elderly parents in Winchester apparently plan to spare no expense.

Read more: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1213235

I don't blame her family for asking for a second autopsy. I'm not saying the husband is guilty, but it does sound suspicious that she went in the bathroom and hung herself after an argument. It seems like arguments lead to homicides more often than they lead to suicides.

I agree, J4A... it does sound a tad suspicious. And if it truly was a suicide, a second autopsy should only confirm that. But if it was a homicide, the family has a right to know that.

I find the suicide highly suspicious. It would be more likely for a woman to chose a less painful and much more surer method. This seems to be a violent painful way to end one's life. After an argument - no less. The bathrobe belt and a shower rod - that shower rod must have been greatly reinforced to withstand the impact. The husband obviously has to come up with a better alibi.
Why would she"desert" her children in such a manner.