De Guzman's autopsy completed this week
De Guzman's autopsy completed this week
MANILA (AP): A second autopsy of a Filipino geologist who fell to his death from a helicopter in Indonesia amid controversy over his gold find will be completed this week, an official said yesterday.
The second autopsy was requested by the family of Michael de Guzman, chief geologist of the Canadian mining firm Bre-X, to verify whether he had an incurable disease as his alleged suicide note states.
De Guzman's brother Jojo said the family doubts the statement because medical tests in late February gave him a "clean bill of health."
Forensic experts expect to finish all the tests on de Guzman within the week, an official at the National Bureau of Investigation said.
However, the bureau will not be able to release the results without the consent of de Guzman's family, he said.
De Guzman, 41, discovered Bre-X's mining claim in Busang town in Borneo, an island in Indonesia. He claimed the mine may contain up to 200 million ounces of gold worth US$77 billion, which would make it the richest gold find this century.
De Guzman fell to his death from a helicopter on March 19 while en route to the Busang site. The pilot of the helicopter said de Guzman must have jumped, and police said they found a suicide note in which the geologist said he was taking his life because of illness.
A week later, Bre-X admitted the find may not be as big as it believed. The company's American partner, Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold, said there were "insignificant" amounts of gold at the site, leading to a frenzied sell-off of Bre-X stock.
Jojo de Guzman said Monday that his brother could not have written the 10-page suicide note during the 17 minutes he was aboard the helicopter.
"Writing that letter aboard a helicopter was impossible," he said. "The letter was so neatly written. It was so orderly. It was also impossible to write such a long letter on such a short time."
He said the family also doubts the authenticity of the note because it misspells the name of de Guzman's wife. Instead of "Teresa," the note says "Theresa," he said.
An earlier autopsy was conducted by Indonesian doctors.