Was it mercury poisoning or typhus? Was it a murderous relative or a night on the town? What exactly was it that killed the famous Bard, William Shakespeare? James Starrs, a GW law and forensic science professor, is trying to find out.

To solve historical mysteries such as Shakespeare’s death, Starrs likes to go straight to the source: the body. The professor has completed 25 exhumations, in which he digs up bodies to search for clues that might explain a cause of death – and he hopes Shakespeare will be his next case.

Between teaching classes at GW since 1964, Starrs has unearthed American outlaw Jesse James, John F. Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, 18th century explorer Meriwether Lewis and Louisiana politician Huey Long to find answers to historical mysteries. If Starrs has his way, he will be the first person to unearth Shakespeare.

Starrs said no one has ever determined what exactly caused Shakespeare to die at 52 years old. Some say he went out for a night on the town – “boozing it up” as Starrs put it – and drank something laced with typhus. John J. Ross, a Tufts University professor, studied Shakespeare’s handwriting and theorized that Shakespeare died of mercury, which was a popular cure for syphilis at the time. Others believe he was murdered by a family member, since he died only about a month after he wrote his will, which gave most of his estate to his favored daughter and snubbed the other one.

Starrs said he uses his expertise in law and forensics to help him solve such mysteries. For Shakespeare, Starrs said he could find traces of mercury or typhoid in the bones – if they are there. He said his plan to exhume Shakespeare, who has been buried at the Church of the Holy Trinity in Stratford, England, for 389 years, has long been in the making, but the excavation is still tentative and in the planning stages.

“There are still plenty of roadblocks,” he said, adding that he has to get permission from several sources before he can begin the dig. While Starrs has gotten permission from the Shakespeare Historical Trust to complete the exhumation, he still has to get family members and other groups to agree before he can begin.

Another significant obstacle to his project, Starrs said, was the premature disclosure of his plans by one of London’s largest tabloid newspapers, The Daily Mirror. After speaking with someone in Starrs’ exhumation group, the paper printed a story about him in its Oct. 31 issue.

“Premature disclosure is never good,” he said, noting that once the media gets involved, accusations of being a media hog usually follow – as do protests from family members and other groups. Starrs said the tabloid “over-egged the pudding,” meaning it had inflated the story, and he has already had four to five media outlets ask him if they can come along on the dig to make a documentary.

Starrs said the tabloid “over-egged the pudding,” meaning it had inflated the story, and he has already had four to five media channels ask him if they can come along on the dig to make a documentary.

Starrs said he did not want to give a potential timetable for Shakespeare’s exhumation because of all the factors that have to be considered, including international travel and scheduling, as well as the content he needs before he can begin.

“It could well be that the roadblocks are too large. It’s a good mystery to solve, but there are so many pitfalls. Those who have custody of the body, the relatives and church officials, would all have to agree,” he said, adding that “there are very strong feelings (of) ‘do not disturb the dead.'”

Another barricade comes from Shakespeare himself. Engraved on a stone covering his body is a curse that reads “blest be the man that spares these stones, and curst be he that moves my bones.” But Starrs said he is not going to let an old plaque scare him away.

“Was it him or is it a sign from a person who killed him?” Starrs asked, referring to the curse’s author. He added that there would be no better way to hide the evidence of a murder than to put a curse on the tomb so no one would dig the Bard up.

Starrs described how he became involved in solving the mysteries surrounding some of history’s most famous figures.

“It began as burnout as a professor,” he said. “Staring at distant faces, not feeling like you’re reaching them,” led him to provide his students with some hands-on work in the field. Today his exhumation team consists mainly of experts, but he said he usually asks students to join when a project gets underway.