Dr. Wecht to talk JFK, Epstein and other famed cases in Midland

Famed forensic pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht returns to Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center Nov. 26 for another “Evening of Pathological Conversation,” with noted Pittsburgh media personality John McIntire.

MIDLAND — If you still believe a single gunman killed President John F. Kennedy then Dr. Cyril Wecht hopes to change your mind Tuesday in Midland.

As he did this past May, Wecht will take center stage at Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center for “An Evening of Pathological Conversation,” where the famed forensic scientist will continue to steadfastly dispute the Warren Commission ruling stating Lee Harvey Oswald operated alone in assassinating JFK in broad daylight with a history-shaping gunshot 56 Novembers ago in Dallas.

“That was a massive coverup. There’s no doubt about it,” said the Pittsburgh-based Wecht, a renowned coroner and forensics expert who has appeared on numerous national TV shows giving analysis on notable murders and suicides.

Depending on the audience’s wishes and guidance from the show’s moderator, KDKA Radio personality John McIntire, Wecht will talk about a number of cases.

One that’s sure to come up is the prison death of billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein that was ruled a suicide by hanging. Wecht disagrees.

“It was ligature strangulation. It was a homicide,” Wecht said. “I’ve done many programs on Epstein including a live, active Skype from London.”

From JonBenet Ramsey to Elvis Presley to the O.J. Simpson murder trail, Wecht has science-based opinions ready to share.

Though invariably, the conversation steers back to JFK whom Wecht believes was fired upon fatally by more than one gunman as part of a high-level conspiracy. It’s a belief shared by 62 percent to 85 percent of Americans, according to polls throughout the years

“And I’m not saying this in arrogance or egotistical fashion, but after an hour of my discussion — though it won’t be an hour at Lincoln Park — I know damn well that 100 percent of the people in that room agree with me after I’m done explaining the facts and details,” Wecht said. “And it’s not because of any brilliance on my part, or that I know things that nobody else knows, it’s just all there.”

Wecht worries if today’s high school and college courses gloss over the JFK assassination, quickly detailing it as an assassination solely by Oswald without considering the conspiracy theory rooted in forensic science and physics, believed by many to have been an orchestrated effort to overthrow the government.

“It wasn’t like a huge number of people were involved in a conspiracy. I don’t know, maybe three, four or five people, I think that’s all it was in the decision to kill the president, whether they were active or recently retired top military or CIA people,” Wecht said. “But that’s who did it. After that everything was planned, orchestrated and followed up, whether it was sheer negligence that fit it into their agenda, or conspiratorial. And some of the conspiracy was benign and some of it was malignant. For example, a decision to have the autopsy done at Bethesda Naval Hospital, taking the president’s body out of Dallas where it should have been done.”

The assassination was a defining moment in history still sparking fascination and debate.

Earlier this year, research scientist Nicholas Nalli created a model of the mechanics of Kennedy’s gunshot, making it the basis of a new study published in Helios magazine refuting the conspiracy theory that a second gunman shot Kennedy from a “grassy knoll” in front of the president.

“That’s total bull—- I’ll be addressing in Dallas on Friday,” Wecht said, referring to his keynote speech at a national conference on the JFK assassination. “We’ve totally, totally dissected that in a medical way.”

JFK’s assassination needs to be kept in the public’s mind, said Tuesday’s moderator, radio host and comedian McIntire.

“More likely than not, Lee Harvey Oswald was not a lone gunman. There actually was a second gunman in the grassy knoll. And if that’s true, why did our government want to bury the truth? And the answer to that question is beyond disturbing.”

It’s not your typical Thanksgiving week conversation, though Lincoln Park spectators can count on a lively, engaging evening.

“Cyril is brilliant, controversial, charming and always entertaining,” Lincoln Park Managing Director Stephen Catanzarite said. “He has a unique gift for holding an audience’s complete attention, even when dealing with difficult or challenging subject matter. He also takes time to meet and greet patrons after the show. People love him and really enjoy these performances.”

Wecht and McIntire did an “Evening of Pathological Conversation” at Lincoln Park this past May. The response was so overwhelmingly positive, “We began planning the next one the moment he walked off the stage,” Catanzarite said.

Wecht, who appeared Nov. 15 on NBC’s “Dateline” discussing the murder of Blairsville dentist Dr. John Yelenic, said his first trip to Lincoln Park was memorable.

“I’m embarrassed to say I had not heard of it before, and my impressions were extremely positive. My wife was with me and we were both very impressed. I was like ’My God, how can this be such a wonderful structure that’s got the whole shebang?’ There’s dressing rooms and big conference rooms.”

On a subsequent visit he found himself impressed by The Willows banquet facility in Industry.

Wecht will be making more Beaver County visits now that his name will adorn a new educational building in Midland.

The planned Midland Innovation and Technology Charter School will include the Cyril H. Wecht Academy of Forensic Science and Law among its inaugural programs for a grand opening targeted for the fall of 2020.

When Catanzarite first told him plans were afoot for a new Midland charter school for innovation and technology, Wecht was glad to hear there would be a forensic science component.

“His naming it for me was something quite unexpected and a true honor,” Wecht said. “A very meaningful honor so I look forward to it.”

Wecht’s son, Benjamin Wecht, will be administrator of the MITCS forensic science and law department, and is currently working on its curriculum, modeled after the studies he leads as program director for Duquense University’s Cyrl H. Wecht Institute for Forensic Science.

“But I’ll be involved directly with lectures,” Wecht said, also suggesting students could accompany him on an autopsy in Armstrong, Greene, Fayette or Westmoreland counties, for which his private practice still examines bodies for coroners.

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