Coroner’s office has no plans to exhume James ‘Buffalo Jim’ Barrier’s body

Assistant Clark County Coroner John Fudenberg said today that his office has no plans to exhume the body of James “Buffalo Jim” Barrier for further tests.

Family members said last week they are requesting that Barrier’s body be exhumed to take hair samples and determine whether he had a history of drug use.

Barrier, a colorful mechanic and former professional wrestler, was found dead in his motel room in April. The coroner’s office announced that he suffered from dilated cardiomyopathy, a condition in which heart muscles become inflamed. Cocaine overdose also contributed to his death, it determined.

The family contends that Barrier was not a drug user and was murdered.

Fudenberg declined to discuss specifics about the Barrier case, but spoke about the exhumation process in general. He said bodies are exhumed only if a law enforcement agency needs that for criminal prosecution.

The coroner collects all the samples possible during its examination for a body so that if new evidence is revealed, it has the necessary information. The coroner, who has the last call to exhume a body, does not unearth a body based on hunches by family or friends, he said.