Cyril Wecht - Forensics Career

Forensics Career

Wecht became famous appearing on television and consulting on deaths with a high media profile. Some of the cases include; Robert F. Kennedy, Sharon Tate, Brian Jones, The Symbionese Liberation Army shootout, John F. Kennedy, The Legionnaires’ Disease panic, Elvis Presley, JonBenét Ramsey, Dr. Herman Tarnower (the Scarsdale diet guru), Danielle van Dam, Sunny von Bülow, the Branch Davidian incident, Vincent Foster, Laci Peterson and most recently Daniel and Anna Nicole Smith. During his career, Wecht performed more than 14,000 autopsies. He is a clinical professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and an adjunct professor of law at Duquesne University.

Wecht is both outspoken and controversial. In 1979, Wecht examined Elvis Presley's medical records for 20/20 and disputed earlier autopsy results suggesting Presley may have had cardiovascular disease. Wecht argued Presley died from a lethal drug cocktail overdose. In his book Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey?, he argues that the death was likely an accidental result of a sex "game" committed by her father.