jobs that medical examiners and coroners do. coroners in kentucky, like bill lee, are elected law enforcement officials. they go to death scenes, take charge of the bodies. and then try to help the families cope. medical examiners are forensic pathologists who perform autopsies. who determine cause of death. possibly providing answers to grieving family members and criminal investigators alike. but we re there to try to answer the questions of how did this person die? when did this person die? what was happening during the death. but dr. corey never could have imagined that we d be here for a one-of-the-kind who done it. with her office playing a unique starring role. that s because as you ll see, the autopsy in this case will do much more than determine cause of death. in the end forensic science utilized by the medical examiner, the real csi, will
it s all part of the extensive documentation process required by the chief medical examiner, dr. corey. they assume nothing, because they know they won t get a second chance to examine the body. and i have only one opportunity to document the findings as i see them that day. they have to be prepared for anything that could happen with the case in the future. for example, if it does go to trial. what if a defense attorney suggests that natural disease contributed to roy s death? dr. corey s office looks for evidence of natural disease. answering that question, even if it never comes up. no obvious natural disease processes noted, period. the more thoroughly we can document our case, the better off we are, because we don t know where the case will be, or what questions will be asked next week, next month, next year. this position of evidence, we ll call it the handbag, labeled right and left, comma. as the autopsy continues, the observers in the room are watching it play ou
it upbeat and share fond remembrances, there was no escaping the cruel fact that a 29-year-old man was murdered senselessly. i mean, it s hard enough to bury a parent, but when you out live your kid, that s really hard. a fatal shooting fueled by a jealous rage over something so small as a possible flirtation. i want to know what makes him think he s god? why would you do such a stupid thing? what puts it in a person s head that just because you don t get what you want, that you just go kill somebody? it s what medical examiners like dr. tracy corey face all too often, the consequences of human nature at its worst. end of dictation. thank you. humans can be quite creative in the ways they can think to hurt each other and in the ways they can actually end up causing the death of someone else
own puzzles and its own mysteries to try to figure out. and when you can figure out a particular case and put the whole picture together, that s very rewarding. dr. tracy corey, kentucky s chief medical examiner, is the star of a real-life drama, which plays out daily in this room in an old converted hospital in downtown louisville. the other thing that i find personally rewarding is when i can help families find the answers that they re seeking. her professional life has some similarities to the highly stylized depictions in shows like crossing jordan and csi. mostly, that each day at autopsy, she faces death in many of its most violent forms, the tragic accidents, the suicides, the murders. the types of cases that forensic pathologists deal with are generally completely unexpected. you know, this morning at 8:00, their loved one was alive, they thought.
x-rays will help the medical examiner find the bullet that killed roy. but they won t help determine whether or not he was buried alive. that will require visual examination for evidence of dirt and debris in the upper airways, windpipe and the mouth. i need a picture of that too. we need the first one over here. after the x-rays, roy s body is wheeled into dr. corey s bustling autopsy room, filled to overflowing with tragedy. oh, my gosh. that catastrophic fire coroner bill lee heard about earlier in the day turned out to be the worst fire in kentucky in 30 years. ten deaths in one small house. six of the fatalities, children. some are number five. we don t even have him yet. we got up to number four i think. dr. corey and her team of medical examiners are sharing