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NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Officials say convicted serial killer Derrick Todd Lee, who was linked to the deaths of seven women in south Louisiana, died of heart disease.
Chaillie Daniel, a representative for West Feliciana Parish Coroner, informed The Advocate (http://bit.ly/1S3ique ) of Lee's cause of death on Tuesday.
Lee died Jan. 21, days after being taken to a hospital outside the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, where he was being held on death row. Nearly two months passed without any official information on the cause of his death.
East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner William Clark says his office performed the autopsy as part of an agreement with Daniel, the custodian of the autopsy records.
Kim Hodgin, an assistant to Daniel, said Daniel does not plan to release Lee's autopsy report, citing patient privacy laws. She said she couldn't provide more details about Lee's death.
Lee had been sentenced to life in connection with the killing of 21-year-year Geralyn DeSoto in January 2002, and to death in the killing of 22-year-old Charlotte Murray Pace four months later. Both women's throats were cut.
Authorities also suspect Lee killed five other women in south Louisiana between 1998 and 2003. He was linked by DNA to those slayings, but wasn't tried in those cases.
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