The results of a post-mortem examination on the body of a middle-aged woman, exhumed by British police in Co Westmeath yesterday, are not expected to be known for a number of days.
In a statement last night, West Midlands Police said the outcome of the post-mortem was subject to a full report by the State Pathologist, Dr John Harbison, who had yet to conduct toxicology tests.
The English police, who are investigating the suspected serial killing of women in Birmingham, exhumed the body of Ms Patricia Lynott (47) from a cemetery in Athlone at 7 a.m. yesterday. It was taken to Dublin City Morgue for examination.
The body was due to be reinterred in a private ceremony by Ms Lynott's family last night.
During the operation gardai assisted the police, who are reexamining an estimated 40 murders of women in the English midlands dating back to the 1980s.
Ms Lynott, who was originally from Athlone, died in Birmingham last October. She was separated and had two children and had been living in Birmingham for almost a decade.
In its statement, West Midlands Police said a full report of the post-mortem would be forwarded to the coroner in Birmingham. A date for a reconvened inquest on Ms Lynott's death has yet to be set.
The multiple-murder investigation has been under way in the English midlands since 1996. A task force from several police forces was set up to investigate the killing of young women dating back to 1986, after common features were identified in a series of murders during the 1990s.
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