Calvi's body dug up for tests

AS HIS son and a judge looked on, the body of Roberto Calvi was exhumed in Italy yesterday to determine whether his 1982 death was murder or suicide.

Prosecutors hope a new - and fourth - examination of the body will shed light on the death of Calvi, whose corpse was found hanging from Blackfriars Bridge in London, following Italy's biggest post-war banking scandal. Banco Ambrosiano, in which the Vatican bank held a significant stake, collapsed in 1982 when it could not collect $1.4bn in loans made to companies in Latin America. Calvi, the bank's chairman, was found dead days later.

Calvi's coffin was taken from the family tomb in Drezzo,sealed with lead and loaded on to a hearse for the trip to a morgue in Milan. Judge Otello Lupacchini said he was certain forensic medicine could determine the cause of death.

A businessman, Flavio Carboni, has been charged with conspiracy to commit homicide in connection with the case. Prosecutors asked for the exhumation after Mr Carboni's lawyers presented a report based on a preliminary examination of the body that indicated Calvi hanged himself.

"What do I think of the exhumation? It was Carboni's right to seek it in his defence. For us, it's traumatic," said Calvi's son, Carlo Calvi, who came his Montreal home. (AP)