Accused Spouse Would Not Get Body Under New Bill

BOSTON (CBS) - What Norman and Ginny Marcheterre wanted to do last August is bury their daughter Heather Alleyne.

The 19-year-old mother from Framingham was stabbed to death, prosecutors say, by her husband Kyle.

Under state law, Kyle, as next of kin, had custody over Heather's body - even as the primary suspect in her murder.

And he refused to allow the medical examiner to release her body to her grieving family, delaying the burial.

"We had to wait three-to-four weeks before we could bury my daughter because of a lack of the signature from the accused killer," Ginny told WBZ-TV.

WBZ-TV's Peg Rusconi reports

Heather's family sat before lawmakers on Beacon Hill during a hearing Tuesday morning, pushing to change the law.

State Senator Karen Spilka of Ashland is co-sponsor of a bill that would strip a person charged in the death of a spouse of any legal rights to the body and giving those rights to the parents or next-of-kin.

"The Marcheterre family could have buried their daughter and walked away," said State Rep. Kate Hogan.

"They didn't want to walk away they wanted to make sure this didn't happen to another family and a double tragedy could be averted for anyone else who may have to face this."