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Coroner Examining B. B. King's Body Following Allegations of Foul Play

Blues legend B.B. King's body has been examined by a Nevada coroner following allegations of foul play in his death two weeks ago, officials revealed Monday.
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Blues legend B.B. King's body has been examined by a Nevada coroner following allegations of foul play in his death two weeks ago, officials revealed Monday.

"At this point, we don't have evidence that these allegations of foul play will be substantiated," said Clark County Coroner John Fudenberg. "However, we are taking them very seriously and will be conducting a thorough investigation. We are coordinating our investigative efforts with the Homicide Division of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. I expect the investigation will take a minimum of 6 to 8 weeks."

The Coroner's Office conducted an autopsy of King's body Sunday and returned it to the mortuary the same day, the statement said, noting that the investigation would not delay the funeral services from being held.

Sergeant John Sheahan, with the Las Vegas Metro Police, told NBC News that they are not yet pursuing an investigation and will not "until such time as the Clark County Coroner determines Mr. King's death to be from other than natural causes."

Two of B.B. King's daughters, Karen Williams and Patty King, have alleged that two of the late musician's closest aides sped up his death by poisoning him, according to a report from the Associated Press on Monday.

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The heirs reportedly say that family was kept away from King in his final days while personal assistant Myron Johnson and business manager LaVerne Toney administered poison to him.

"I believe my father was poisoned and that he was administered foreign substances," say affidavits from both daughters, obtained by the AP from the daughters' lawyer Larissa Drohobyczer.

"I believe my father was murdered," they go on.

King died May 14 in hospice care at the age of 89. Johnson was present, though no family members were.

Toney has worked with King for 39 years and is named in King's will as executor of a large estate. Toney on Saturday said that she has had King's best interests in mind and that she would not immediately respond to the daughters' allegations.

King is set to be buried on Saturday, May 30 on the grounds of a museum dedicated to his life in Indianola, a small Mississippi Delta town where his career began.

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A public viewing will be held on Friday, May 29 at the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center in Indianola. The funeral service will be held at the nearby Bell Grove Missionary Baptist Church, followed by a private burial on the grounds of the museum that evening.

The 15-time Grammy winner and member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was born Riley B. King to sharecroppers about 20 miles from Indianola in the tiny Delta community of Berclair, Mississippi, on Sept. 16, 1925.

— Hasani Gittens and Andrew Blankstein, with Reuters