Death doesn't end war of words among family members, backers

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. — Terri Schiavo died yesterday, 13 days after her feeding tube was removed, bringing to an end her tragic life but not the acrimony that surrounded her haunting ordeal and polarizing case.

Michael Schiavo, the husband who battled for years to have her feeding tube removed, was at her bedside when she died. Her parents, brother and sister, who had fought just as hard to have the tube remain in place, were not.

The two sides clashed angrily afterward.

George Felos, Michael Schiavo's lawyer, said Terri Schiavo experienced "a calm, peaceful and gentle death" sheltered in her husband's arms.

But Suzanne Vitadamo, Schiavo's sister, launched a veiled attack on Michael Schiavo in a statement to reporters.

"Terri is now with God and she's been released of all earthly burdens," Vitadamo said. "After the recent years of neglect at the hands of those who were supposed to protect and care for her, she's finally at peace with God for eternity."

Said the Rev. Frank Pavone, a spokesman for Schiavo's parents: "I would not describe this, by any means, as a peaceful death. This was a starvation."

Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, didn't appear in public. Their attorney, David Gibbs, said: "Their faith in God remains strong. God loves Terri more than they do. She is at peace."

Schiavo had been without food and water since March 18, when the feeding tube she had relied on for most of the last 15 years was removed under court order. She died around 9 a.m. at the Hospice Home Woodside, where she had been receiving care.

As Paul O'Donnell, a Roman Catholic monk, made the announcement, 12 supporters of her parents fell to the ground outside the hospice. They cried and prayed. Some sang: "How great thou art ... how great thou art."

A trumpeter played "Amazing Grace," and several people sang the hymn.

Several hours after her death, Schiavo's body was taken to the medical examiner's office, where it was to be autopsied. A spokesman said a final autopsy report would be available in about a month. Under Florida law, autopsy reports are public documents.

A statement said the autopsy will include X-rays and an examination of Schiavo's brain. Such details are likely to shed light on the degree of damage she suffered as well as on allegations of abuse that have been leveled in the case.

Schiavo was 41. Her right-to-life, right-to-death case will be remembered as the longest and most aggressively litigated in U.S. history.

The bitterness between the two sides colored the case to the end.

Pavone and others said Michael Schiavo compelled Bobby Schindler, her brother, and other relatives to leave the hospice room 10 minutes before her death.

"For them to have been escorted out of that room at that minute was unconscionable, unconscionable," said Randall Terry, an anti-abortion activist and Schindler spokesman.

Felos said Bobby Schindler was escorted out of the room as his sister was failing after he refused to leave when hospice employees said they needed to assess Schiavo's condition.

"She had a right to have her last and final moments here on this Earth be experienced by a spirit of love and not of acrimony," Felos said. "Mr. Schiavo was not going to permit a potentially explosive situation."

Michael Schiavo didn't speak publicly.