Delaware medical examiner determines cause of convicted killer Thomas Capano’s death
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Thomas Capano heads for the courthouse in Wilmington, Del., Friday, Oct. 9, 1998. Capano was convicted of killing Anne Marie Fahey, scheduling secretary to then-Governor Tom Carper, and dumping her body at sea on June 28, 1996. (AP Photo/Robert Craig, Pool)
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Murder suspect Thomas Capano is led into the courthouse by Corrections officers, for the third day of jury selection in Wilmington Del., Thursday, Oct. 8, 1998. Capano was convicted of murder charges in the death of Delaware gubernatorial secretary Anne Marie Fahey in 1996. (AP Photo/Tim Shaffer, Pool)
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This is a police handout photo of Thomas Capano, taken in Wilmington Del., Wednesday, Nov. 12, 1997. Capano was convicted of killing Anne Marie Fahey. (AP Photo/Wilmington Police, File)
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Kathleen Fahey, sister of murder victim Anne Marie Fahey, talks during a news conference after Thomas Capano was sentenced to life in prison Thursday, March 2. 2006, at the New Castle County Courthouse in Wilmington, Del. A Delaware Superior Court judge sentenced the once wealthy and well-connected attorney to life in prison without parole for the 1996 murder of Fahey, who was scheduling secretary to then-Gov. Thomas Carper. (AP Photo/Matthew S. Gunby)
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Assistant U.S. Attorney Colm Connolly, right, answers questions from the media as Delaware State Prosecutor Ferris Wharton, center, and Deleware Attorney General Jane Brady, left, listen after a jury convicted Thomas J. Capano for first-degree murder in the death of Anne Marie Fahey. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Convicted murderer Thomas Capano died of sudden cardiac arrest in his prison cell, according to the Delaware medical examiner.
The once-prominent attorney was serving a life prison term at the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center near Smyrna. Capano was 61 when he died Monday.
The medical examiner also says he had atherosclerotic and hypertensive cardiovascular disease, and that obesity was a contributing factor in his death.
Capano was the last person seen with Anne Marie Fahey when the two had dinner at a Philadelphia restaurant in June 1996. He was arrested in June 1997. One of Capano’s brothers told investigators that he helped Capano dump Anne Marie Fahey’s body at sea.
Capano told the court that another lover killed Fahey, but his dramatic trial ended with a verdict of guilty in January 1999. Judge Bill Lee sentenced Capano to death, but the death sentence was overturned by the state Supreme Court in 2006.
Anne Marie Fahey was scheduling secretary for former Governor Thomas Carper, who is now Delaware’s senior US Senator.
This is a story from the WHYY archives from the time of Capano’s conviction. Those connected to the case including one of jurors discusses what happened during the case.
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