World-renowned forensic pathologist Dr. Werner Spitz dies at 97

World-renowned forensic pathologist Dr. Werner Spitz, who made his name in Detroit and sat on the first of two government committees to review President John F. Kennedy's assassination, died Sunday at the age of 97, said his son, Dr. Daniel Spitz.

Werner Spitz, who spent decades as a forensic pathologist and helped pioneer the field, worked as a consultant in many high-profile death cases across the United States, including those involving O.J. Simpson, Casey Anthony, Jon Benet Ramsey and Phil Spector.

But his son said his father's legacy also includes what he estimates to be thousands of autopsies his father performed or oversaw when he served as a chief medical examiner in Michigan in Wayne and Macomb counties.

"I don't want people to forget just about the day-to-day work that would go on, because something didn't get any news attention," Daniel Spitz said.

"There's a tremendous amount of families that have been comforted and educated about things that they had questions about. The death of a loved one, whether it be doing an autopsy and answering your question, whether it be testifying in a local criminal case, whether it be, you know, just doing the bread-and-butter work that forensic pathologists do. ... The primary cases certainly get the attention, but there's an awful lot of work that goes on between those cases that it is important to remember."

Daniel Spitz said his father died "very, very peacefully surrounded by his family, and we're going to be doing a private service in the near future." He said his father died of natural causes.

Daniel Spitz said his father lived at home in Grosse Pointe Shores with his wife, Anne, and had a second son, Jonathan, and a daughter, Rhona, as well as 10 grandchildren.

Daniel Spitz said his father was born in Germany in 1926 and came to the United States in 1959 to work and train at the office of the medical examiner in Baltimore. He said his father came to Michigan in 1972 and became the medical examiner in Wayne County, where he served until the early 1990s, training the next generation. He spent decades testifying in trials as an expert on causes of death and more, often going head-to-head against other pathologists hired by the opposing side to offer their opinion.

Werner Spitz served as the medical examiner in both Wayne and Macomb counties for a time. He worked as a forensic pathologist in Macomb County and later became the chief medical examiner until he left that role in 2004. Daniel Spitz took over for his father in Macomb, announcing in the fall that he would end his pathology services contract with the county after nearly 20 years.

Werner Spitz had an office in St. Clair Shores and continued private consulting work, his son said, and was working up until about six weeks ago. Daniel Spitz said his father had been sick for several weeks.

"He was at it until the end, doing what he loved to do," Daniel Spitz said.

He said while his father was "incredibly devoted" to his work, he also loved taking people out to dinner and telling stories to his grandchildren and friends.

"He loved to reminisce about some of the things that he had done because so many people were interested in, in the work that he has done," his son said. "So many times it was sort of work-related, but he loved telling stories to his grandkids and, and just friends in general, because so many people were interested."

Daniel Spitz said his father came to the United States "really, when forensic pathology was just beginning, and was really one of the founding fathers of this field." He said his father wrote a textbook — "Spitz and Fisher's Medicolegal Investigation of Death: Guidelines for the Application of Pathology to Crime Investigation" — still present today with several new editions, and "had the luxury of being involved in a lot of interesting cases that the public was very interested in."

His son said Werner Spitz, with a few others, "really set the stage for what has become forensic pathology and certainly now it's advanced incredibly since then."

"I think people do realize the importance now because there are so many cases out there that, that are of public interest that have a forensic pathology theme to them," he said. "And, you know, he was a part of some of them and gave opinions on some of them and testified in court related to them."

Daniel Spitz said his father "worked the equivalent of probably three careers" from his 30s until his 90s.

Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel said he knew Werner Spitz since 1981, the first week Hackel was on the job as an emergency dispatcher and he took a call that involved the slaying of a woman and three children in Macomb Township. That was his first connection with Werner Spitz and understanding what he did as a forensic pathologist.

"So from that time, moving forward, I've come to realize how important the medical examiner is. Because of him. Being he's the person that not only is there looking at the body and trying to determine cause of death, but plays an important role in trying to get people to understand the crime scene as it relates to that body during that time of death."

"And he was a cult of personality," Hackel said. "It wasn't just a body that he was trying to determine cause of death. It was a person. It's almost like he's trying to put himself in that person's position as to what happened to them. ... And he also had a unique way of presenting it, not just to a jury, but even to the public."

Hackel said Werner Spitz was engaging during autopsies, conversational and explained to newer law enforcement officials what he was doing.

"He was ahead of his time. He was one of those medical examiners that the people got to know," he said. "And it wasn't that he was looking for the attention, but he truly understood and loved what he did. And so, he wanted to get that message across, and I think he did that really well."

"I think he certainly had a long, very successful career," Daniel Spitz said of his father. "He was certainly very dedicated to his profession and had a big family that certainly were very happy to have him for the long time that we did."

Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @challreporter.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: World-renowned forensic pathologist Dr. Werner Spitz, 97, dies