Autopsy results for Busch girlfriend expected soon

ST. LOUIS (AP) - An autopsy detailing the cause of death of the girlfriend of former Anheuser-Busch CEO August Busch IV is expected to be released this week, an official in the St. Louis County Medical Examiner's office said Tuesday. Meanwhile, the county prosecutor's office has the report and continues to investigate.

Adrienne Martin, 27, of St. Charles, was found dead on Dec. 19 at Busch's estate in suburban St. Louis, where she had spent the night.

Suzanne McCune, forensic administrator for the St. Louis County Medical Examiner's office, said the autopsy report could be released as early as Wednesday. She said it will list both the cause and manner of death.

McCune said there are four possible manners of death: homicide, accident, suicide or natural causes. She clarified that "homicide" doesn't necessarily mean criminal homicide, but refers to a death caused by another person.

The office of St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch already has a copy of the report and is reviewing it, spokesman Don Schneider said.

"This investigation is ongoing and we hope to have something in the near future," Schneider said. He would not elaborate.

McCune said it was not unusual for the report to be given to investigators and prosecutors before it is released publicly.

"It's standard procedure for something of this type, a high-profile situation," McCune said.

Busch's attorney, Art Margulis, said he has not seen a copy of the report.

Martin, an aspiring model and former Hooters waitress, was working as an assistant at a small alternative energy firm. She had an 8-year-old son from a previous marriage.

Busch, 46, was the last in a long line of members of his family to head the iconic brewery that makes Budweiser, Bud Light, Michelob, Busch and other beers. Despite his efforts to ward off a takeover, Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. was sold to Belgian brewer InBev in 2008, two years after Busch took over as chief executive officer upon his father's retirement.

Busch told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch last month that his love for Martin was so strong that he had put aside his playboy ways.

In 1983, Busch, then a University of Arizona student, left a bar near Tucson, Ariz., with a 22-year-old woman. His black Corvette crashed, and the woman was killed. Busch was found hours later at his home; he had suffered a fractured skull and claimed he had amnesia. After a seven-month investigation, authorities declined to press charges, citing a lack of evidence.

Two years later, Busch was acquitted by a jury in St. Louis on assault charges resulting from a police chase that ended with an officer shooting out a tire on his Mercedes-Benz.