What We Can Learn From Autopsy of Kathleen Savio

This is a rush transcript from "On the Record ," November 15, 2007. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, HOST: Sergeant Peterson's wife number three has been exhumed. The investigation is under way right now to find out how she died, accident or homicide. Wife number three died in 2004 in a bathtub, and at the time, a coroner's jury declared it an accidental death. But now there is a new prosecutor, James Glasgow, and he's investigating whether her death was really a homicide. They are inspecting her exhumed body. What will we learn about how Kathleen Savio, wife number three, died, and when?

Dr. Baden is going to tell us because he will be doing an autopsy tomorrow in Illinois. He joins us live in New York. Dr. Baden, if...

DR. MICHAEL BADEN, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: Hi, Greta.

VAN SUSTEREN: Good evening. If you heard Anna, Kathleen Savio's sister, a few moments ago, you got a lot of pressure on you.

BADEN: Well, I think what's happening is that once a mistake may have been made back in 2004, the family members, Anna and others, I take it, are questioning how much to believe what authorities tell her this time. And having a second autopsy with a second set of eyes on the autopsy can give them some kind of comfort that they're getting the story as independent as possible on what the findings are.

VAN SUSTEREN: Now, I know — I mean, you — now, I know there's been a slight leak in that casket, not perfectly sealed, so some water damage, which will give you a greater challenge. Without putting — you know, giving too high an expectation for the family and the viewers in terms of whether it's possible to learn something definitive, what are you expecting?

BADEN: Well, no matter how much deterioration there is, the bones, the teeth, the hair, the toxicology, for example, will all be there. They don't deteriorate very quickly. The soft tissues are going to be important because there's an issue as to whether or not she was beaten up before the drowning, the alleged drowning, happened. And there should be enough soft tissues on the chest and the abdomen be able to not only look with the naked eyes but to do microscopic studies, which weren't done the first time in '04, that can help tell how long those injuries had been there and can provide information about whether or not she slipped accidentally or was beaten up.

VAN SUSTEREN: All right. Now, on Gretawire.com, where people post comments during the show, Natalie from Simi Valley wants to know how long it will take to get the autopsy results.

BADEN: Well, that's a very good question. You see, from the official investigation — and they had a very good physician, Dr. Blum, do the second autopsy just a couple of days ago — that's all going to be held closed usually until there's a trial or during the course of the homicide investigation. So the family wouldn't know the results of that investigation maybe for months or even years. By having their own medical examiner do the examination, I can tell them immediately what the findings are, and they can decide what they want to release to the public right away or not.

VAN SUSTEREN: Now, I assume you have cooperation from someone so that you'll have a lab tomorrow to do all this work in?

BADEN: Yes. Coroner O'Neil has been very gracious. He's provided the autopsy facilities of the coroner's office, equipment, space and the laboratory for me to function fully because nowadays, we can't bring our autopsy equipment on an airplane, you know, all that metal, scissors and knives. And they'll provide that for me there. So they've been very cooperative.

VAN SUSTEREN: Great. Well, the family is very anxious to see you and have you get your work done. So Dr. Baden, thank you, and good luck.

BADEN: Thank you, Greta.

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