BOSTON -- The family of a Lynnfield veterinarian who was found hanging in a Virgin Islands hotel last month can move forward with their request for a second autopsy.

Essex Probate Judge John Cronin vacated an order naming Robert Harris executor of his late wife Joan Baruffaldi's estate. Her alleged suicide in a bathroom at the West St. John Resort remains under investigation.

An attorney argued that Baruffaldi's sister, Mary Elizabeth Baruffaldi, be named executor, but Cronin ordered a special administrator be named as executor.

Cronin also ordered that Baruffaldi's body, which is already embalmed and at a funeral home, may not be cremated or buried until the administrator decides whether there should be a second autopsy.

Baruffaldi, 45, bequeathed $3 million in real estate to her husband. She finalized her will a year and a half before she accused her husband of raping her, the Boston Herald reported. She also accused her husband of having an affair with one of his co-workers, which he has denied.

Her father has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Harris, in which he accuses Harris of killing Baruffaldi during their vacation earlier this month.