When I first went into this field, I was amazed at the number of deaths that occurred in certain categories. For example, I never knew more deaths were attributed to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome than to abuse. On one hand, it appears the media likes to focus more on the abuse cases because they...
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On most apparent natural deaths, patrol officers may be the only ones dispatched to the scene with instructions to notify police investigators if the M.E./Coroner (ME/C) finds anything out of the ordinary. As such, it is the responsibility of the ME/C to search the scene for anything that may have played a role in...
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I recall years ago seeing people on television or out in public having important conversations on their cell phones. That was long before every teenager, grandparent, and civil servant succumbed to the technological appeal of staying connected with everyone other teenager, grandparent, and civil servant outside of North Korea. Back when ownership of a...
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I suppose everyone at one time or another has learned of something that in retrospect they realized they could have gone their whole life without knowing. For some, it may have been an embarrassing family secret they were privy to. For others, calculus—or in my case, basic algebra—may be the one thing they considered...
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When I talk to people about death investigation, I usually don’t go into a lot of detail about things I have done or seen. Their imagination seems to have given them a much more graphic impression about what my job entails. Most everyone assumes the job is stressful simply because of the routine exposure...
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