Family Asks Autopsy Not Be Done on Martin

An autopsy on former New York Yankee Manager Billy Martin was canceled today at his family’s request, and a prosecutor said the decision could make it harder to press charges against the driver of the truck in which Martin died.

The Broome County Sheriff’s Department reported slow progress in investigating the Christmas night accident that killed Martin, 61, and injured his longtime friend, William Reedy of Detroit.

Sheriff Anthony Ruffo said it will be another day or two before the alcohol level in Reedy’s blood is confirmed through laboratory tests.

Reedy was charged Christmas night with a misdemeanor charge of driving while intoxicated and faces a fine of up to $1,000 and a year in jail.

Ruffo posted a sheriff’s deputy on the rural road where the accident occurred to direct a flood of traffic as reporters from across the country came to see the site where Martin, the pugnacious, hard-drinking former second baseman who was fired five times as Yankee manager, died.

Authorities say the pickup skidded off an icy road early Monday evening in front of Martin’s 148-acre farm near Binghamton, about 150 miles northwest of New York City.

Broome County Dist. Atty. Gerald Mollen said he hoped to persuade Coroner Patrick Ruddy to conduct an autopsy despite the family’s wishes in order to pinpoint the exact cause of Martin’s death.

“I’m hoping that’s not the final decision, to tell you the truth,” Mollen said. “It’s unusual that a coroner would not have an autopsy conducted when cause of death may be a legal question.”

Ruddy said an autopsy on Martin’s body would reveal little that an external examination did not.

“He died, basically, of a fractured neck,” Ruddy said. “The chest X-ray was reasonably intact, belly was normal, blood count was normal. It’s all in the neck area.”

The lack of an autopsy would mean that Martin’s state of intoxication at the time of his death might never be known. Mollen and Ruffo said whether or not Martin was drunk would be irrelevant to any case against Reedy.

Reedy, owner of Reedy’s Bar near Detroit’s Tiger Stadium, suffered a broken hip and possible broken ribs in the accident. He was listed in fair condition today at the Upstate Medical Center Hospital in Syracuse, where he was transferred after the crash.

Mollen said it would be “days, at least” before he decides whether to charge Reedy with anything more serious than driving while intoxicated, such as manslaughter.

He said a grand jury could take up the case as soon as the investigation was complete.

The lack of an autopsy would not preclude further charges, Mollen said. “It’s not necessary in every case to have an autopsy to determine the cause of death.”

Ruffo said investigators had not made much progress in tracing Martin’s movements in the hours before his death.

“They were out on an errand and apparently were doing a little bit of shopping before dinner,” the sheriff said.

Reedy said he and Martin had gone to a store and then stopped for a quick drink at a Binghamton bar Reedy could not identify, according to Deputy Steve Glanville, who issued the DWI ticket.

Icy, slippery roads and Reedy’s unfamiliarity with the area were believed to be factors in the accident, Ruffo said. He said the speed limit on the road that the truck skidded off was 55 m.p.h., but he did not know how fast the truck had been going.

In addition to his wife, Martin’s survivors include son Billy Joe of Lubbock, Tex., and daughter, Kelly, both from previous marriages.

A viewing for Martin will be Thursday at the Frank Campbell Funeral Home in New York. Services will be Friday at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.