Poet Pablo Neruda Was Not Poisoned, Officials In Chile Say
It was prostate cancer, not an assassin's poison, that killed famous Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, officials in Chile announced Friday. The Nobel laureate's body was exhumed for testing this past spring, due to claims from an employee and Neruda's family that he had been murdered at age 69.
From The Santiago Times:
"'Each of several examinations revealed the presence of metastatic lesions scattered throughout several segments of the skeleton, corresponding to the disease for which Mr Pablo Neruda was being treated,' Bustos said Friday.
"These results mirror those released in May. Perhaps most important this week was the information from toxicology reports. Bustos announced these results explaining that what they found matched the original cause of death listed in 1973.
"'The toxicological analyses of the bones of Mr. Pablo Neruda confirmed the presence of pharmaceuticals used for the treatment of cancerous diseases, specifically prostate cancer, which were used at the time,' Bustos said. 'Chemical agents which could have caused the death of Mr Pablo Neruda were not found.'"