OUR INTERVIEW WITH DR. FROBERG,

FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST

Jenilee Drilling, Katie Martinetto, Ryan George

Whenever a person dies, a medical examiner is handed the task of determining the cause and manner of death. The information that a medical examiner receives from an autopsy or other investigations can be used to convict a criminal or bring closure to grieving families. St. Louis County has a staff of about six medical examiners, with the main lab in Hibbing. The morgue for

the Duluth area is housed in the University of Minnesota Duluth Medical School, which is where Dr. M Kent Froberg works. It is Dr. Froberg's responsibility to fill out death certificates, cremation authorizations, and autopsy reports for people who die in the Duluth area. An autopsy is not always necessary, but the St. Louis County Medical Examiner's Office still conducted 124 autopsies last year. An autopsy is necessary whenever the manner and cause of death are not obvious. There are five manners of death: Suicide, Homicide, Accidental, Natural, and Unknown. The manner of death is sometimes hard to determine because some accidents may have been suicides or homicides. Dr. Froberg said that the most disturbing part of the job is seeing the unpleasant self-destructive behavior of some people. But there are great parts of the job too, including the satisfaction received by helping a grieving family or putting a criminal behind bars. A huge part of the job involves communicating with other people, such as families, police, prosecutors, jurors, and doctors. Dr. Froberg said that law enforcement officials do a good job of bringing perpetrators to justice, and different agencies work together very well. The job of a medical examiner can be very rewarding, but also disturbing to some people. For anyone interested in becoming a forensic pathologist/medical examiner, Dr. Froberg recommends that you have an interest in science, a fondness of mystery, and a strong stomach.

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/ - Ryan George

The Smoking Gun has an archive of hundreds of death certificates and autopsy reports from famous people such as JFK, Marilyn Monroe, and more. They also have numerous documents surrounding suspicious deaths, such as Jonbenet Ramsey, Gianni Versace, and Nicole Brown-Simpson.

http://www2.fbi.gov/hq/lab/labhome.htm - Jenilee Drilling

The FBI Laboratory website offers a lot of information about forensics at the federal level of investigation. A few of the many laboratory services offered at the FBI Laboratory include Special Photographic Analysis, Explosives, and Hazardous Materials Response. The website goes into detail with all 20 special units within the laboratory. Each unit has an extensive breakdown of the process that goes into that particular forensic service, example, is the Special Photographic Analysis which is broken down into sections like the silver prints and digital darkrooms, forensic photography, and aerial photography sections. The website also offers a list of employment opportunities in the forensic laboratories within the FBI, which allows for qualified people to get jobs all over the United States.

http://www.forensicmd.com/ - Katie Martinetto

This is the website of Robert H. Goldberg, J.D., M.D., a forensic case analyst and expert in legal medicine and pathology for the U.S. Department of Justice. It contains his resume, credentials, consultation information, and actual reconstructed cases that he has solved. BEWARE! These case studies contain graphic photographs of victims. Useful links are also available to other forensic pathologists, the National Library of Medicine, a virtual autopsy, drug uses and interactions, and the American Board of Forensic Examiners, among others. This site enables the viewer to look at cases from a professional medical examiner, while also having access to other relevant pages.