The family of Harry Houdini is requesting the body of Harry Houdini the world’s most famous illusionist be exhumed to examine it for evidence that his death was not accidental.

“It needs to be looked at,” George Hardeen told The Associated Press. “His death shocked the entire nation, if not the world. Now, maybe it’s time to take a second look.”

Houdini’s family scheduled a news conference for Friday to give details on the plans. Prominent New York lawyer Joseph Tacopina is helping clear any legal hurdles to the exhumation.

A team of top forensic investigators would conduct new tests on Houdini’s body, said Hardeen, whose grandfather was Houdini’s brother.

The circumstances surrounding Houdini’s sudden death are as murky as the rivers where he often escaped from chains, locks and wooden boxes.

The generally accepted version was that Houdini, 52, suffered a ruptured appendix from a punch in the stomach, leading to a fatal case of peritonitis. But no autopsy was performed.

When the death certificate was filed on Nov. 20, 1926, Houdini’s body — brought by train from Detroit to Manhattan — had already been buried in Queens, along with any evidence of a possible death plot.

Within days, a newspaper headline wondered, “Was Houdini Murdered?”

Source: Associated Press

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