Wecht Wants to Work For County Again

Former Allegheny County Coroner and Medical Examiner Cyril Wecht says he wants his old job back.

The 80-year-old physician resigned as Medical Examiner in January 2006 after he was indicted on federal corruption charges involving misuse of his staff and county assets. Wecht's 2008 trial ended with a deadlocked jury, and prosecutors dropped the charges months later.

Wecht gained fame by inquiring into the deaths of well-known figures including Elvis Presley, JonBenet Ramsey and Vincent Foster.

Dr. Karl Williams currently holds the Medical Examiner position but his five-year term expired in December. That means he is technically “acting” Examiner. County Executive Dan Onorato says there is no question that Wecht is qualified for the job and he understands Wecht’s arguments for why he should be reappointed. “He and his family have been through over the last couple of years… that is now behind him,” says Onorato.

However, the County Executive says he is not ready to make an appointment today. “There are a lot of other things that are in play right now,” says Onorato. Among the things mentioned by Onorato is the ongoing County Executive’s race. Onorato would not go so far as to say he will put off the decision long enough to allow the next County Executive to make the choice.