Husband Denies Role in Wife's Death

Tests show Fresno Woman Wasn't poisoned in mystery death.

By Kimi Yoshino
The Fresno Bee
(Published August 12, 2000)

The husband of a healthy 37-year-old Fresno woman who died suddenly in February released preliminary test results Friday that show no poisons in her system.

The independent toxicology tests -- some through the Mayo Clinic and others through the Mineral King Laboratory that performs tests for the Fresno County Coroner's Office -- show there were no signs of prescription drugs or toxins that may have led to the death of Linda Adanalian. Further testing is ongoing.

"I'm releasing these test results to dispel the rumors and innuendo that Mark Adanalian had anything to do with the death of his wife," Adanalian's attorney, Warren Paboojian, said Friday afternoon.

"Ever since the body was exhumed, people have been talking about Mark having something to do with his wife's death."

Linda Adanalian, a former Mayfair Elementary School teacher and mother of four, died Feb. 11.

So far, no one knows why.

Relatives said she complained of flulike symptoms the day she died, but took her children to an ice show at Selland Arena that evening. When the show was over, she complained of chest pains, said she couldn't breathe and passed out. She died hours later at Fresno Community Hospital.

Paboojian said the rumors have been fueled by the exhumation, which was conducted in June for a second autopsy and to allow the coroner's office to obtain additional specimens.

In addition, Mark Adanalian has been interviewed by police, though there is no criminal investigation under way. In an earlier statement to The Bee, he said that he loves and misses his wife and wants to get to the bottom of her death. He also said he believes she died of a cardiac disorder.

One Mayo Clinic pathologist, Dr. Eric Pfeiffer, said some of Linda Adanalian's symptoms were strange and that so far, there are no conclusive results. He also did not believe her death was heart-related.

"We still haven't tested for all the possible things yet," Pfeiffer said, explaining that some toxicology results are not in. "We still have a few left to do. You just need to comfortably rule out those things. ... Right now, we're not finished."

Fresno County Coroner David Hadden confirmed that tests for several hundred different prescription drugs and toxic compounds have returned negative. He also confirmed that Adanalian's heart is being sent to Stanford Medical Center for further testing.

No cause of death has been determined and the investigation is "active and ongoing," he said.

"There's an old saying in our business: You can have it now or you can have it right," Hadden said. "Scientific investigations cannot be rushed to meet emotional timetables. The process is one of constant change as you gain more information."

Linda Adanalian's parents on Friday reiterated their position that the investigation continue until they know why the woman died unexpectedly.

"We're still at square one," her father George Dalition said. "We have a healthy woman who is dead and there is no natural cause yet."