medical examiner

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Coroner Investigator Accused of Stealing From the Dead

Adrian Munoz charged in Los Angeles

(Newser) - An investigator with the medical examiner's office in Los Angeles County has been charged with stealing items from the dead, reports USA Today . Adrian Munoz, 34, first came under suspicion when the family of a man who suffered a fatal heart attack on the job asked about his missing...

Court Hears Case of Woman Stabbed 20 Times in 'Suicide'

Ellen Greenberg's parents may soon take their case to trial

(Newser) - After more than a decade fighting the Philadelphia medical examiner's office on their daughter's cause of death, lawyers for Ellen Greenberg's parents made their case in front of a Pennsylvania appeals court Tuesday. "We are cautiously optimistic that the panel will find the estate of Ellen...

Study: 55% of Police Killings Don't Appear in Statistics

Researchers call fatal police violence an 'urgent public health crisis'

(Newser) - Police killings in the US represent an "urgent public health crisis," the size of which is not accurately reflected in the official statistics that guide health policy, according to a new study in the Lancet medical journal. Researchers say they compared data from National Vital Statistics System to...

Insurance Broker Is First 9/11 Victim IDed in 2 Years

Dorothy Morgan was working on 94th floor of the WTC's north tower; a man has also been IDed

(Newser) - Two more victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks have been identified ahead of the 20th anniversary as part of "the largest and most complex forensic investigation in the history of the United States." New York City's Chief Medical Examiner's Office announced Tuesday that two victims have...

Work of Expert Who Testified for Chauvin to Be Examined

Maryland to review in-custody deaths from David Fowler's tenure as medical examiner

(Newser) - Dr. David Fowler's testimony about the death of George Floyd was so far removed from mainstream forensic practice that a review of his past work for Maryland should be conducted, hundreds of doctors have told the state. The state Attorney General's Office agreed that an investigation is needed,...

Medical Examiner Helped ID Every Flight 800 Victim
Man Who Helped ID
Every Flight 800 Victim Dies
obituary

Man Who Helped ID Every Flight 800 Victim Dies

Medical examiner Charles Wetli was at the center of a 4-year investigation

(Newser) - Dr. Charles Wetli, a pioneer in forensic pathology, was in demand as an expert in other people's cases across the country. In 1996, it was a case of his own—the explosion of TWA Flight 800—that made the Long Island medical examiner a national figure, the New York ...

On One Point, the Competing George Floyd Autopsies Agree

His death was a homicide, they both conclude

(Newser) - George Floyd's family disagrees with the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office on Floyd's cause of death—but the medical examiner did classify his death as a homicide. On that point the two autopsies (one performed by the ME's office and one ordered by Floyd's family...

A Virus First: The Dead Are Still Contagious

Scientists in Thailand say coronavirus appears to have spread to medical examiner from a corpse

(Newser) - Out of Thailand, a coronavirus first: a case in which the virus appears to have spread from a corpse to a medical examiner. "According to our best knowledge, this is the first report on COVID-19 infection and death among medical personnel in a Forensic Medicine unit," researchers write...

They Said He Died Naturally. The Funeral Home Said Otherwise

Georgia man was actually stabbed to death

(Newser) - "It was too much blood." That was the initial assessment of Michelle Smalls, the sister of Ray Neal, a 61-year-old Georgia man found dead over the weekend. A Gwinnett County medical examiner's investigator determined he died of natural causes. But it turns out the suspicions of Smalls...

Almost 18 Years Later, 9/11 Victim Identified
9/11 Victim IDed,
18 Years Later

9/11 Victim IDed, 18 Years Later

Man's name being withheld

(Newser) - A previously unknown victim of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center finally has a name. We just don't know it yet. According to the New York City Medical Examiner, DNA testing of remains recovered in 2013 has confirmed a man as the 1,643rd victim to be...

'She Sucks': But DNA-Test Doubter Just Won $1M

Toxicologist Marina Stajic sued New York City over her firing

(Newser) - A toxicologist who got fired after questioning a dubious kind of DNA test is doing her victory lap—to the tune of $1 million, the New York Times reports. Marina Stajic, a former official at the chief medical examiner's office in New York City, settled with the city Monday...

Medical Examiner's Son Dies of Drug Overdose

'No family is immune,' Wis. senator says

(Newser) - There have been more than 160 drug-related deaths in Milwaukee County, Wis., this year, 70 of them in the last seven weeks, and that is more than just a grim statistic for Chief Medical Examiner Brian Peterson. His own son, Adam Peterson, a 29-year-old with a history of drug use,...

Court: Coroners Don't Have to Return Bodies With All Their Parts

Parents buried son, learned of brain in a jar months later

(Newser) - Families who bury loved ones whose body has been looked at by a medical examiner may not be burying their whole bodies. And New York's highest court ruled yesterday that it's OK. The unusual case involves the death of 17-year-old Jesse Shipley of New York City in a...

Chicago to Post Photos of Mystery Stiffs Online

Cook County aims to give closure to victims, even if it's not pretty

(Newser) - If your loved one died in a grisly way, finding a grisly photo of them online might not be your favorite way of finding out, but the Cook County medical examiner's office is betting it's better than nothing. The county, which includes Chicago, has begun posting photos of...

NYC: We Bungled DNA Evidence in 26 Rape Cases

Single technician blamed for errors

(Newser) - New York City officials are cleaning up after a lab technician who reportedly bungled DNA evidence in at least 26 rape cases. The medical examiner's office is in the process of reviewing 843 cases; the technician missed biological evidence in 26 of those studied thus far. Officials were able...

Conn. Seeks Genetic Clue to Lanza's Rampage

Asperger's 'not on the menu,' medical examiner says

(Newser) - Investigators have brought in a geneticist in an effort to piece together a reason behind the Newtown school massacre, reports the Hartford Courant . Connecticut's chief medical examiner says he is still waiting for toxicology results on Adam Lanza and that he hopes the gunman's biology may offer some...

School Victims All Shot Up Close By Rifle
School Victims All Shot
With Semiautomatic Rifle
Names released

School Victims All Shot With Semiautomatic Rifle

Police release names, ages of the victims

(Newser) - The victims of the Connecticut school shooting were shot multiple times with a semiautomatic rifle, the medical examiner said today, and he called the injuries "devastating" and the worst he and colleagues had ever seen. All of the 20 children killed were 6 or 7 years old and each...

Storage Unit Find: Human Organs in Plastic Cups

Guy who bought contents at auction gets nasty surprise

(Newser) - A former medical examiner crudely preserved brains, hearts, and lungs from about 100 people in plastic food containers found inside a storage unit in Florida, authorities said yesterday. A man who bought the contents of the unit at auction last week in Pensacola made the discovery after being overpowered by...

The Scary Truth About America's Morgues
The Scary Truth About America's Morgues
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

The Scary Truth About America's Morgues

Mistakes have sent innocents to jail, let guilty go free, ProPublica finds

(Newser) - Misplaced bones and bodies, overlooked bullet holes, corpses cremated before an investigation was complete: Most real morgues bear little resemblance to the shiny, high-tech world of CSI’s labs, a new investigation reveals. ProPublica , Frontline, and NPR took a yearlong look at the country’s coroner and medical examiner offices...

Nancy Kerrigan's Dad's Death a Homicide: DA

Charges against Olympic figure skater's brother may be amended

(Newser) - The death of Nancy Kerrigan's father was a homicide, but the DA in the case hasn't decided whether to charge the Olympic figure skater's brother with murder. Mark Kerrigan was charged with committing assault and battery against their 70-year-old father just before he died. He pleaded not guilty and has...

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