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FILE -In this May 30, 2014
file photo, Kerri Kasem, the daughter of ailing radio
personality Casey Kasem, leaves Kitsap County Superior
Court, in Port Orchard, Wash. A judge in Washington state
has granted Kasem's daughter a temporary restraining order
preventing the famous radio host's wife, Jean Kasem, from
cremating or removing his remains from a funeral home.
Kasem, the radio host of "American Top 40" and voice of
animated television characters like Scooby-Doo's sidekick
Shaggy, died June 15, 2014, at a hospital in Gig Harbor,
Wash. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) |
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Daughter
seeks
right
for
autopsy
of Casey
Kasem
By
PHUONG
LE
Associated
Press By
PHUONG
LE
SEATTLE
- A
judge in
Washington
state
has
granted
Casey
Kasem's
daughter
a
temporary
restraining
order
preventing
the
famous
radio
host's
wife
from
cremating
his
remains
or
removing
them
from a
funeral
home.
Kasem,
the
radio
host of
"American
Top 40"
and
voice of
animated
television
characters
like
Scooby-Doo's
sidekick
Shaggy,
died
June 15
at a
hospital
in Gig
Harbor.
Court
records
show his
body
remains
at a
funeral
home in
Tacoma,
south of
Seattle,
more
than a
month
later.
Kasem
suffered
from a
form of
dementia,
and his
three
adult
children
from his
first
wife
fought a
bitter
legal
battle
with
Kasem's
second
wife,
Jean,
over
control
of his
health
care in
his
final
months.
Daughter
Kerri
Kasem on
Wednesday
asked a
Pierce
County
Superior
Court
judge
for
authorization
to seek
an
autopsy
on her
father
as well
as a
temporary
restraining
order to
ensure
his body
is held
in cold
storage
and not
cremated
until
that
autopsy
is
completed.
FILE -
In this
May 30,
2014
file
photo,
Jean
Kasem,
right,
the wife
of
ailing
radio
personality
Casey
Kasem,
appears
in
Kitsap
County
Superior
Court,
with her
attorney
Joel
Paget,
left, in
Port
Orchard,
Wash. A
judge in
Washington
state
has
granted
Kasem's
daughter
a
temporary
restraining
order
preventing
the
famous
radio
host's
wife
from
cremating
or
removing
his
remains
from a
funeral
home.
Kasem,
the
radio
host of
"American
Top 40"
and
voice of
animated
television
characters
like
Scooby-Doo's
sidekick
Shaggy,
died
June 15,
2014, at
a
hospital
in Gig
Harbor,
Wash.
(AP
Photo/Ted
S.
Warren,
file)
Judge
Ronald
Culpepper
ordered
Kasem's
second
wife of
34
years,
Jean, to
ensure
that the
radio
host's
remains
are
preserved
and that
his body
stays at
the
funeral
home
until
the
court
decides
on the
autopsy
petition.
A call
to Jean
Kasem's
attorney
Friday
morning
was not
immediately
returned.
Kerri
Kasem
said she
is
worried
that her
stepmother
may
prevent
the
autopsy
by
having
his
remains
moved to
Canada
or
cremated,
according
to the
statement
she
filed in
court.
She said
she
learned
from the
director
of the
funeral
home
that
Jean
Kasem
planned
to have
an
autopsy
done and
that
worried
her
because
she
wondered
why it
was
needed.
"I'm
concerned
about
the
results
of any
autopsy
Jean
Kasem
may have
commissioned
and how
they
might be
used,"
Kerri
Kasem
wrote.
"Consequently,
I
thought
it would
be best
to ask
the
Washington
Court to
allow me
to have
an
autopsy
conducted
by a
forensic
pathologist
of my
own
selection."
A
hearing
has been
scheduled
for July
25 on
the
autopsy
petition.
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