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Utah Doctor Convicted Of Killing Wife Allegedly Linked To Brother's Death In NJ

By Mike DeNardo

CAMDEN, N.J. (CBS) -- Authorities in South Jersey are looking into allegations that the Utah doctor convicted this week of killing his wife in a bathtub (see related story) also killed his brother in a bathtub in Camden, NJ, decades earlier.

Dr. Martin MacNeill was convicted Sunday of drowning his wife in a bathtub in Utah.  Published reports quote court documents in which a former mistress of MacNeill says he told her he pushed the head of his suicidal brother, Rufus, under water in Camden in the mid-'80s.

Camden County prosecutor Warren Faulk says his office is first trying to find the medical examiner's determination of the cause of Rufus MacNeill's death.  "We're trying to see if we still have files," Faulk said.

He says it's possible the case may be reopened:

"We certainly will take a further look at it.  It may be something that we would reopen or it may not,  depending upon the nature of the proofs, witnesses, and everything that goes into making a prosecutable case."

An attorney for MacNeill is quoted as calling the claim a "fabrication," saying Rufus died of a drug overdose.

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