Reality Of Being An Autopsy Examiner: “I Burst Into Tears”

When a person has died in suspicious circumstances forensic autopsy examiners work at crime scenes and in labs to understand how injuries occurred and find cause of death.

But autopsy examiners aren’t cold and emotionless like movies might portray. “We’re still human,” said forensic pathologist Jo Glengarry.

Forensic pathologist Jo Glengarry unpacks what it’s like seeing first-hand the scene of someone’s untimely death on this episode of Crime Insiders:

Glengarry was the first responding pathologist for two horrific Melbourne murders that rocked Australia.

Comedian Eurydice Dixon and student Aya Maasarwe were both victims of horrific crimes six months apart. Glengarry facilitated the investigation and performed the forensic tasks which contributed to the convictions. 

“The injuries were certainly highly unpleasant in that case… It had been a very, very busy week, so I was probably a little bit fatigued,” Glengarry said.

Forensic autopsy examiners often work with unexpected and violent deaths.

Glengarry said once she returns home after a case like this, it takes a while to calm down and process what she’s seen that day.

“There was a lot going through my head of have I done this? Have I done this? Checking the boxes and just ruminating on it,” she said.

“One of my colleagues the next morning popped his head in the office just to say, how are you going?”

“And of course, I burst into tears on him,” she said.

“We deal with a lot of death and we deal with it without blinking an eye sometimes. So it’s nice to know that we’re still human underneath it all,” she said.

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