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BOOK REVIEW
MORguE A life in Death
By Dr. Vincent Di Maio and Ron Franscell
Reviewed by Fred H. Olin, M.D.
You should read this book. If I
were an English professor or a pro-
fessor of Pathology supervising
your residency or fellowship I’d say harsh criticisms of the Bexar County Hospital System (now Univer-
“You must read this book, there’ll
be a test nest week.” Many of us
who have been around a while will
remember Dr. Di Maio as the
Bexar County Medical Examiner, a position he held for 25 years before
retiring in 2006. He has written (with help) an eminently readable tome
that combines autobiography with gripping case reports, vivid descrip-
tions and, at the beginning of each chapter, an italicized paragraph or
two of personal reflection and philosophy. Here’s the introduction to
the first chapter:
“I don’t know what’s in the human heart.
“I have seen more than my share of hearts, held them in my hands.
Some were young and strong; some were worn-out, shabby, choked.
Many had leaked away an entire life through neat little holes caused
by bullets or knives. Some had been stopped by poison or fright. A
few had exploded into a thousand tiny bits or were shredded in some
grotesque trauma. All of them were dead.
“But I never truly knew what was inside these hearts, and never
will. By the time I see them, whatever dreams, hopes, fears, ghosts
or gods, shame, regrets, anger, and love they might have contained
are long gone. The life—the soul—has all seeped out.
“What’s left is just evidence. That’s where I usually come in.”
So, what does Dr. Di Maio write about? He tells us stories about
cases he has handled personally, consulted on or just found interest-
ing. These include fairly recent ones such as the Trayvon
Martin/George Zimmerman incident in 2012, as well as more re-
mote ones, as in the final chapter, which is titled “The Curious Death
of Vincent Van Gogh.”
He gives us one chapter of true autobiography: His grandfather was
a general practitioner in Brooklyn who emigrated from Naples in
1911. His father was a pathologist who evolved into a forensic pathol-
ogist, and became New York City’s fourth Chief Medical Examiner
in 1974. Our Dr. Di Maio becomes an expert on gunshot wounds,
writes definitive texts on that subject and on Forensic Pathology. All
three of his sisters became physicians. I see a trend here…
The cases include consultations for both prosecutioners and de-
fense lawyers, as well as some that he dealt with in his various jobs
around the country. Locally, the 1980s case of the “Killer Nurse,”
Genene Jones, L.V.N., is dealt with in considerable detail in a chapter
titled “Monsters Among Us.” Even though I read all about it as it
30 San Antonio Medicine • October 2016
occurred, I learned all sorts of bits and pieces that told me how the
Ms. Jones was identified, and what Dr. Di Maio and his office con-
tributed to her prosecution. Inserted into this chapter are some rather
sity Health System) and the local medical school that are accused of
denying and covering up that there was a problem with excess baby
deaths in the NICU. At her trial, the prosecutor pointed out that
there was only one week no kids had unexplained seizures in the Ker-
rville pediatric practice Ms. Jones worked for after she left Bexar
County Hospital. The reason: Genene was in the hospital herself.
Ms. Jones has been denied parole nine times. However, because of a
law in force at the time of her sentencing to ninety-nine years in
1984, she has been given three days credit for every good-behavior
day served and will be released on March 1, 2018.
Perhaps the grimmest, grimiest chapter deals with the exhumation
of Lee Harvey Oswald 18 years after the assassination of President
Kennedy. An Englishman named Michael H. B. Eddowes was con-
vinced that the Soviets had substituted a secret agent for Oswald to
come here and kill JFK. According to Eddowes the agent was subse-
quently shot by Jack Ruby and buried as if he was Oswald. Mr. Ed-
dowes was very tenacious and had some credibility because he had
successfully proven that an innocent man had been hanged in Eng-
land, and, as a result, the death penalty was done away with in the
U.K. His efforts and those of other conspiracy theorists resulted in
the exhumation and second autopsy, which were attended by a rather
large group of interested people. It turned out to be Oswald of course,
but how it was proven is the story.
The book includes eight pages of photographs (several pictures to
each page) that I found myself referring to as I read the related chap-
ters. I don’t know if the pictures would appear in an e-book.
When (not if!) you read Morgue you’ll get an impression of the
life of a forensic pathologist, and, I think, a real feel for Dr. Di Maio
and his dedication to truth. As I was writing this review I Googled
him and found a petition by a Georgia woman which was presented
to the Texas Medical Board accusing Dr. Di Maio of harboring a bias
for the defense. The TMB’s website says that there haven’t even been
any investigations.
The book is available at the San Antonio Public Library where
there is currently a fairly long wait for it. Amazon will be happy to
sell you either the print version or an e-book.
Fred H. Olin, M.D., is a semi-retired orthopaedic surgeon
and a member of the BCMS Communications/Publications
Committee.