Synopsis
America's premier forensic pathologist has written his most eye-opening book yet - as he illumines the most shocking crimes and spellbinding trials of our time.
Others include cases to which Cyril Wecht was summoned from around the globe, along with the Connecticut killing where the wrong man may have been convicted of the savage murder of his wife and her parents, the tragic truth about a fatal Kentucky nightclub fire, and probing revelations about needless deaths caused by U.S. government health programs.
Whether describing bullet wounds or blood samples, chemical compounds or courtroom tactics, conflicting opinions or medical certainties, no one tops Cyril Wecht in expertise, objectivity, and outspokenness. Shocking eyewitness testimony and crucial findings of facts make Grave Secrets a fascinating and enlightening perspective on contemporary times.
Reviews
The subtitle is an unfortunate bit of hype, since Wecht (Cause of Death), Pittsburgh forensic pathologist, reveals no "startling truth" of the three cases mentioned. The non-self-aggrandizing scientist is uncertain about the rightness of the Simpson verdict, although not about the bungling of the "Keystone coroners" who handled the evidence; he laments the government's action in the Koresh confrontation at Waco; he leaves no doubt that White House counsel Foster's death was a suicide, as reported. But Wecht's book becomes absorbing when he turns to older or less publicized cases and shows that the shooting of Chicago Black Panther leader Fred Hampton in 1969 was murder by the police, that the leisurely rescue attempts by Bay Area authorities after the 1989 earthquake caused at least four needless deaths and that the swine flu "epidemic" of 1976-1977 was a costly hype. The author's picture of the ineptitude of many local officials, especially in forensics, is chilling. Photos.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Wecht, M.D. and J.D., is the Allegheny County (seat: Pittsburgh) coroner. Consulting work takes him all over the world, so others obviously believe he has the credentials to credibly opine on such famous deaths as those of Vince Foster, Fred Hampton, and Nicole Brown Simpson. He believes that more than one culprit was involved in the Brown-Goldman murders and that the most dramatic disclosures will occur during the pending Goldman suit trial. For each case he considers, Wecht inspects the investigation carefully and often points out sloppy forensic work, so his book is predominantly about what a properly qualified forensic pathologist does. Especially interesting is Wecht's review of the Oakland earthquake (better rescue work, he says, could have saved some victims), and his report on the 1976 swine flu "epidemic" will be an eye-opener for those interested in public health. His fascinating and detailed book should captivate many kinds of reader. William Beatty
Pathologist Wecht, author of Cause of Death (Dutton, 1993), relates 14 cases involving forensic detection. Ignore the hyperbole of the tag line: "A leading forensic expert reveals the startling truth about O.J. Simpson, David Koresh, Vincent Foster, and other sensational cases." There is nothing very startling in Wecht's discussion of Vincent Foster and David Koresh, and, in the book's longest section, he is uncharacteristically circumspect about O.J. Simpson. His less recent investigations, including the murder of Black Panther Fred Hampton, the 1989 earthquake-caused Oakland, California, freeway collapse, and the Legionnaire's Disease case of 1976 and his sojourns to Taiwan, Pakistan, and Singapore, are more intriguing. A common theme in his book is the misdiagnosis or injustice caused by forensic incompetence, overzealousness, or corruption. Popular forensic accounts seem to be in vogue (Colin Evan's The Casebook of Forensic Detection is coming in October from John Wiley) and Grave Secrets is a suitable addition where interest warrants.
-?Gregor A. Preston, formerly with Univ. of California Lib., Davis
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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