Most longtime Pittsburghers already have an opinion about famed forensic pathologist Cyril Wecht. The man has been in the public eye since the 1960s and his legal and medical expertise has been called on in some of the most high-profile deaths in American history. He’s also never been shy about speaking his mind, which is arguably just as important to his legacy.
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The longtime Allegheny County coroner knows his trademark outspokenness occasionally rubs people the wrong way, including many in positions of power. So, he decided to tell his side of the story with film producer and magazine columnist Jeff Sewald on an autobiography, “The Life and Deaths of Cyril Wecht: Memoirs of America’s Most Controversial Forensic Pathologist.”
The book chronicles Dr. Wecht’s life from his childhood mostly spent in the Lower Hill District to his rise to prominence as one of the country’s (and the world’s) go-to authorities in his field. In addition to medical and legal professionals, he’s earned respect from the likes of filmmaker Oliver Stone and actor Alec Baldwin, whom he consulted with on the movies “JFK” and “Concussion,” respectively.
People who find the 89-year-old charming and incisive will probably have that perception solidified by this book. So will anyone who believes his blunt candor is a symptom of an inflated ego. It’s Cyril Wecht raw and unfiltered — for better or worse.
There’s a certain arrogance that comes with the territory, and it comes through in Dr. Wecht’s writing. He is a man who won’t back down from his beliefs, and to hell with everyone else. Those who who know him either appreciate his conviction or roll their eyes.
But no one questions his hard work. How many other forensic pathologists have been asked to consult on President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, the O.J. Simpson trial, Elvis Presley’s death, the attempted assassination of Taiwan’s president and many, many more?
Dr. Wecht’s reputation as both an expert and an irritant has created a complicated relationship between him and the government. He has some choice words for fellow Democrat and Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala — “I don’t believe that the words ‘integrity’ and ‘transparency’ are in his vocabulary” — and labels others “bastards” for making his life miserable with what he thought were politically motivated legal actions against him.
He also goes after the media, especially local newspapers. He claims former Pittsburgh Press Executive Editor Leo Koeberlein’s animosity toward him was based in anti-Semitism and calls former Post-Gazette Editor John Craig a “terribly unpleasant individual” with an animosity toward him. Dr. Wecht also seems to have a blood feud with former Post-Gazette columnist Brian O’Neill, who “got under his skin the most.”
In terms of structure, the book jumps around from notable moments in his life before devoting the last 50-plus pages to a true-crime extravaganza of his takes on famous cases. Sprinkled in fairly often are italicized block quotes from colleagues, friends, family and others showering him with praise. The admiration avalanche grows tiresome after a while, but it does provide a few gems that illuminate Dr. Wecht’s character.
Famed criminal defense attorney F. Lee Bailey said Dr. Wecht “couldn’t be intimidated if you faced him with a Sherman tank”. Ophthalmologist and friend Gary Aguilar wrote that he’s “built on a bedrock of moral indignation and has a thirst for justice that drives his every move”. Legal scholar Alan Dershowitz declared that Dr. Wecht “is not a witness-for-hire,” but “a witness for truth.”
It all adds up to a portrait of a man aware of why some people don’t like him and perfectly at peace with it. He does admit this: “If I had been a bit more diplomatic and patient, and a little less antagonistic and controversial, I might have achieved more.”
But then he wouldn’t be Cyril Wecht.
