Asked whether the autopsy would include a body scan to check for broken bones, Felos said he did not know.

"We assume and are confident that [Pinellas County Medical Examiner Jon Thogmartin] will do an excellent, appropriate job," he said.

A March 1991 bone scan performed on Mrs. Schiavo showed evidence of "compression fractures" to her back, ribs, legs and ankles. Prior to being found unconscious in her St. Petersburg apartment the year before, Schiavo had not broken any bones, her friends say.

Jackie Rhodes, who worked with Terri at a local insurance office, said she often showed up at work with noticeable bruises - but never complained of being hit.

"They were smaller bruises, like maybe someone had grabbed her or, you know, like, squeezed her arm or leg really tight," Rhodes told Fox News Channel last week, adding that the couple were planning to divorce.

During a 2002 court hearing, Michael Schiavo took issue with allegations that he abused his wife prior to the accident that ended her normal life.

"I've never, ever struck a woman, especially my wife," he insisted, in quotes picked up by the Tampa Tribune. "I was raised better than that."

Mr. Schiavo blamed physical therapists for Terri's injuries, saying that doctors who performed the 1991 bone scan knew that bone loss caused by her paralysis made her susceptible to injury during the therapy sessions.

He called the abuse allegations "utterly ridiculous."

Editor's note: