Mar 31, 2008 9:09 pm US/Eastern
Sources: Fallen Officer's Body Secretly Exhumed
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ―
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Officer Walter Barclay was confined to a wheelchair after being shot multiple times in 1966. (file photo)
CBS
In an extraordinary development, sources tell CBS 3 the body of
a Philadelphia Police officer was secretly exhumed more than seven
months after his death.
Sources told CBS 3 Investigative Reporter Walt Hunter that the body of Walter Barclay was exhumed last week in order to perform an autopsy.
Prosecutors hope the results of the unprecedented investigation will aid efforts to convict 71-year-old William Barnes, who was charged with Barclay's murder after shooting him over 41 years ago.
Officer Barclay was confined to a wheelchair for four decades after being shot multiple times while responding to a robbery in the 6600 block of North 5th Street in 1966.
William Barnes, who previously served a 15-year sentence for the shooting, was formally charged with murder after Officer Barclay's death on August 19 of last year at the age of 62.
During a preliminary hearing, Barnes' defense attorney argued because an autopsy was not performed after Barclay's died, the cause of his death could be connected to medical reasons not connected to the shooting.
Sources said investigators hope to recover a bullet from Officer Barclay's body to bolster the prosecution's case. The full results of the autopsy have not yet been disclosed.
Barnes is expected to be tried late this summer.
Stay with CBS 3 and CBS3.com for more on this developing story.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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