An autopsy has revealed that a New York City lawyer and his wife, among the seven people killed when the Bayesian superyacht sank off the coast of Sicily last month, drowned.
Autopsies on the bodies of Jonathan Bloomer, chairman of Morgan Stanley's London-based investment banking subsidiary, and his wife, Judy, are scheduled for Wednesday, while the cause of death of Chris Morbillo and his wife, Neda, has been confirmed by an Italian coroner, according to the Associated Press.
The Baysian, with 22 people on board – 12 passengers and 10 crew – was hit by a storm in the early hours of August 19 when it capsized and sank within minutes. Civil defense officials said they believed a tornado, known as a waterspout, struck the vessel near the port of Porticello, where the yacht was docked.
Autopsies are pending on the bodies of Mike Lynch, a British tech entrepreneur who organised a yachting trip to celebrate a recent legal victory, his 18-year-old daughter Hannah and the yacht's chef, Recardo Thomas.
Luxury yacht captain under investigation for murder after deaths of six British tech tycoons
A Bayesian yacht spotted in Gibraltar in 2021. (@dannywheelz/TMX)
Morbillo served as Lynch's U.S. attorney in a fraud case surrounding the 2011 sale of search engine company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard for $11 billion, but the case was marred by allegations that Lynch had falsified books to overstate the value of Autonomy, according to the Associated Press. He was acquitted in June.
Yacht maker says deadly shipwreck off Sicily was caused by 'unspeakable' crew error
Neda and Chris Morvillo are pictured here in New York City in 2018. Autopsy results revealed the couple drowned last month after their Bayesian superyacht sank off the coast of southern Italy. (Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
Prosecutors are also reportedly investigating whether the captain and two crew members may be held responsible in connection with the sinking. Fifteen people, including Lynch's wife, were rescued from the 184-foot, British-flagged luxury yacht.
The CEO of the manufacturer responsible for building the yacht blamed the ship's sinking on a series of “unspeakable and unreasonable errors” by the crew.
Italian firefighter divers work at the site of the sinking of the Basian in Porticello, Sicily, southern Italy, on August 22. (AP Photo/Salvatore Cavalli)
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Giovanni Costantino He told Reuters. The yacht's crew made a “terrible mistake” by not preparing for the storm, which was included in the marine forecast, he said, and passengers should have been called from their cabins and told to assemble in a safe place, as the ship had taken measures to prepare for the storm, including raising anchors.
Fox News' Michael Dorgan and Greg Wehner and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
