Send us a textAs a forensic pathologist, I’ve spent most of my career unraveling the cold truths the dead leave behind—examining evidence that often speaks more clearly than the living ever could. Most of the cases I cover on Kohroner Chronicles are ones I’ve performed the autopsy for or at least reviewed directly for a local jurisdiction. But now and then, I get a case that’s entirely outside the norm.This one came from a thousand miles away.I’d never set foot in Montana before—still haven’t, actually—but a public defender out there found me during my semi-retirement and asked me to review a case involving a shooting. The catch? The circumstances involved an unfamiliar cast of characters, a love triangle gone sideways, and—most bizarrely—a can of bear spray.
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Death in Darkness
Send us a textDr. Roland Kohr, forensic pathologist and host of The Kohroner Chronicles podcast, is no stranger to the murky waters of death investigations. But in episode 19, he pulled back the curtain on a disturbing case where a combination of questionable police conduct and a deeply flawed investigation allowed a woman who likely murdered her husband to walk free.
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Meningitis Morons
Send us a text“This Is Not How It’s Done”: Dr. Kohr on Missteps, Misinformation, and a Crime Scene Gone WrongBy the time Dr. Roland Kohr, forensic pathologist and former Vigo County coroner, found himself in conflict with the Terre Haute Police Department, he had already been involved with more homicides than most local detectives had even seen.“I found out I was the bad guy,” he recalls. “I heard through the grapevine: ‘Who the heck does Dr. Kohr think he is telling us how to run police work? He’s never been a cop.’”What they overlooked, however, was that Kohr had examined far more homicides than the entire detective division combined. Many of whom, at that point, had only handled two.“That set the tone for the next four years,” he says, “and it was a great tragedy.”
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Q & A with Dr. Kohr
Send us a textQ&A with Dr. Roland Kohr, Host of Kohroner ChroniclesQ: Dr. Kohr, how did you choose forensics as your career path? A: I often say forensics chose me. I decided to become a doctor as early as ninth grade, inspired by a classmate who said he wanted to go into medicine. I liked science and math, and medicine seemed like a stable and respected career. My original interests leaned toward medical genetics. I even considered pursuing an MD/PhD, but after my first year of medical school, I realized that wasn’t the right direction.Eventually, I gravitated toward surgery because I liked the idea of doing something definitive, fixing problems rather than managing chronic conditions. I began a general surgery residency but didn’t complete it. During medical school, I had done rotations in pathology, partly to help with surgical training, and I found it fascinating, especially the autopsy service.
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Parts is Parts
Send us a textDr. Roland Kohr, longtime forensic pathologist and host of the Kohroner Chronicles podcast, is no stranger to serious and sometimes chilling stories. But in a recent episode, he recounted a case that brought unexpected humor, involving hearts, pranks, and an unforgettable Thanksgiving Day.A Midwest Prank Takes a Bizarre TurnAs Dr. Kohr explained, mischievous pranks have long been a Halloween tradition across the Midwest, such as lighting a bag of dog feces on fire on someone’s porch. But one year, a prankster raised the stakes.Instead of a flaming bag, homeowners in Terre Haute found an unlit paper sack containing a piece of meat. Upon closer inspection, they realized they were staring at what appeared to be a heart, possibly a human one. Alarmed, they immediately called 911.First Stop: The ER — And More QuestionsPolice arrived quickly and retrieved the strange specimen. With the hour growing late, officers took the heart to Union Hospital’s emergency room, hoping an ER doctor could identify it.However, as Dr. Kohr noted, ER doctors rarely handle whole human hearts outside of very specialized fields like open heart and transplant surgery or autopsy pathology. The doctor on duty admitted he couldn’t tell if it was human, and recommended they call the coroner.The task fell to Dr. Kohr, who arranged to meet officers the next morning at the hospital.
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