Toxicology results will determine Lynn Turner's cause of death

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By Rhonda Cook and Marcus K. Garner

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Blood test results are needed before the Georgia Bureau of Investigation can say what killed Lynn Turner, convicted of using antifreeze to murder her husband and boyfriend, officials said Tuesday.

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Bita Honarvar, bhonarvar@ajc.com

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Lynn Turner listens as the jury is polled after she was sentenced to life in prison without parole in the antifreeze posioning of Randy Thompson.

Calvin Cruce, AJC Lynn Turner listens as the jury is polled after she was sentenced to life in prison without parole in the antifreeze posioning of Randy Thompson.

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"Hopefully we'll have the results back in a few weeks or sooner," said GBI spokesman John Bankhead.

The test is being rushed, he said.

Turner, 42, was found in her cell Monday at Metro State Prison in DeKalb County, according to Department of Corrections spokeswoman Sharmelle Brooks.

The state medical examiner found no obvious cause of death during her autopsy so a final decision on cause of death cannot be made without toxicology results, Bankhead said

Turner was convicted of the 1995 murder of her 31-year-old husband, Cobb County police officer Glenn Turner. She also was convicted of murdering her Forsyth County firefighter boyfriend and the father of her daughter, 32-year-old Randy Thompson, six years later.

The men didn't know each other and their deaths were not linked initially despite some similarities. Both suffered flu-like symptoms before they were discovered home alone, dead. Both were believed to have died of cardiac dysrhythmia, or an irregular heartbeat

But Lynn Turner had moved in with Thompson four days after her husband's death and they had a daughter 10 months after Glenn Turner died.

And once their Lynn Turner connection was realized, Glenn Turner's body was exhumed and tissues from both men were retested.

Both had died from poisoning by ethylene glycol, the sweet, odorless chemical in antifreeze.

News of Turner's death shocked some of the victims' relatives and friends but at least one of them, Thompson's mother, said Lynn Turner's death didn't matter to her.

"I don't think it makes any difference to us whether she's gone," said Nita Thompson.

"It's still strange," she said.

Mike Archer, a longtime friend of Glenn Turner's, said the news was as surprising as his friend's death nearly 15 years ago.

"I'm just kind of stunned," Archer said. "I have a lot of questions about her medical state before this happened. And about her mental state."

Turner collected more than $140,000 in insurance benefits and $700 per month in a police pension from her husband's death. She got another $36,000 from Thompson's insurance plan, according to testimony in her trials.

Penny Penn, Forsyth County district attorney, said Turner was still in financial distress after receiving those payouts and she had no doubt the woman could have killed again if she needed the money.

"I don't think it’s unreasonable to think there might have been a third victim," Penn said. "With anything, the more you do it, the easier it gets. You get emboldened. By locking her up, I think you could argue other people were protected."

Lynn Turner's appeal to have her Cobb County conviction overturned was denied, but her Forsyth County appeal was still pending at the time of her death, Penn said.

"We had an open case," Penn said. "In that regard, we can close it."

Staff writer Christian Boone and Dan Raley contributed to this article.