Bailey James A, Resk Thomas K
Department of Political Science and Law Enforcement, Minnesota State University, 109 Morris Hall, Mankato, MN 56001, USA.
Forensic Sci Med Pathol. 2008;4(1):55-9. doi: 10.1007/s12024-007-0033-2. Epub 2007 Aug 22.
Suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of wealthy socialite Mary Lily "Lil'" Kenan Flagler Bingham in 1917 prompted a secret autopsy conducted by renowned physicians at the request of her relatives. Mrs Bingham, who was formerly married to railroad magnate, Henry Flagler, was among America's richest people at the time of her death. Mary Lil's untimely death occurred approximately six months after her marriage to Judge Robert "Bob" Worth Bingham, a college boyfriend whom she married three years after Flagler's death. In order to establish Mary Lil's medical condition prior to her death, a book about Mary Lil's life written by Pulitzer Prize author, David Chandler and articles from the New York Times; The Louisville Courier Journal, a Kentucky newspaper; and Mary Lil's hometown newspaper, The Morning Star, in Wilmington, North Carolina were examined. Although a team of medical experts performed a secret autopsy following her death and released their findings to her family, the examination and tests results remain undisclosed to the public.
1917年，富有的社交名媛玛丽·莉莉·“利尔”·凯南·弗拉格勒·宾厄姆之死的可疑情况，促使知名医生应其亲属要求进行了秘密尸检。宾厄姆夫人曾与铁路大亨亨利·弗拉格勒结婚，她去世时是美国最富有的人之一。玛丽·利尔在与法官罗伯特·“鲍勃”·沃思·宾厄姆结婚大约六个月后意外离世，鲍勃是她的大学男友，在弗拉格勒去世三年后她嫁给了他。为了确定玛丽·利尔死前的健康状况，查阅了普利策奖得主大卫·钱德勒所著的一本关于玛丽·利尔生平的书，以及《纽约时报》、肯塔基州报纸《路易斯维尔信使日报》和玛丽·利尔家乡北卡罗来纳州威尔明顿的《晨星报》上的文章。尽管一组医学专家在她死后进行了秘密尸检，并将结果告知了她的家人，但检查和测试结果仍未向公众披露。
