[corinagroeger]

My father died recently and was cremated the two days after. Although he was relatively old (80 years) he was in good heath and his death was very unexpected. At the time we didn't think much of it... that is until we were told, by his wife, that he left a will with her as the main beneficiary. She (an my father) were the only ones that new about the will.

No autopsy was performed and now we wonder if it is possible to analyze the ashes in search for chemical compounds (in case he was poisoned, etc.)... is there any hope? I know we should have done things differently but something like this never crossed our mind!

[DrJ]

I take it "his wife" is not your mother?

Im no expert but at a quick search around the net it appears there have been some studies done on human cremains. Some info I found said that larger portions are necessary to get any accurate information and to my understanding, modern day cremation results in very fine cremains.

As for hoping to find a poison that may have been in the body at the time of death, I see that as highly unlikely. I doubt very many, if any, poisons would leave such a trace in actual hard body matter (as oppsed to blood or soft tissue).

You may have better luck tricking someone into a confession ;)