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For six decades, Pittsburgh-based forensic scientist Cyril Wecht has been an outspoken authority when horrible things happen to everyday people--murders, childhood deaths, tragic accidents and police brutality. His expertise and testimony have been called upon in high-profile cases, including the deaths of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., Elvis Presley, JonBenet Ramsey, Laci Peterson and others.
As a criminal defendant, in 1979, he was acquitted on charges of personally profiting from his office as Allegheny County Coroner; a federal public corruption charge was dismissed in 2008. Both cases, his attorneys argued, were politically motivated. Wecht's memoir describes his work on famous cases, his life in the public eye and his legal battles with determined and powerful authorities, from his hometown DA to a U.S. Attorney and the FBI.
List of contents
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Preface
Introduction
My Hometown
Lessons in Malevolence
Federal Trial Part I: Choose a Victim, Invent a Crime
"Be a doctor and you will be your own boss"
Love and Early Skirmishes
The Golden Rule: "he who has the gold, rules"
Federal Trial Part II: Mad Dogs at the Door
To Sin by Silence: The Assassinations of JFK and RFK
Media Darling
Federal Trial Part III: The Aftermath
I Did It My Way
The Cyril H. Wecht Institute of Forensic Science and Law
Witness for Truth: Casework
Contributors
The Authors in Brief
Other Books by Cyril Wecht
Index
About the author
Cyril H. Wecht M.D., J.D., is an internationally acclaimed forensic pathologist, attorney and medical-legal consultant who has become famous for consulting on deaths with a high media profile. His expertise has been called upon in cases involving John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., Elvis Presley, JonBenet Ramsey, Laci Peterson and Kurt Cobain, the fatal stabbings of the family of Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald, the O.J. Simpson slayings, and the Waco Branch Davidian fire, among many others.Jeff Sewald is an award-winning writer and filmmaker who specializes in defining the cultural significance of people, places, things and events. His films include Gridiron & Steel, a documentary focusing on the spiritual relationship that exists between the sport of football and the people of southwestern Pennsylvania; Peter Matthiessen: No Boundaries, about the legendary author and environmentalist; and We Knew What We Had: The Greatest Jazz Story Never Told, which chronicles the history and significance of jazz music in his hometown of Pittsburgh.
