Dauphin County coroner Graham Hetrick 'Speaks for the Dead' in new television series

Dauphin County Corner Graham Hetrick press confrence

Pictured is Dauphin County Coroner Graham Hetrick as he talks about a case Tuesday, July 28, 2015. Hetrick will have his own Discovery series that will detail eight cases from his 25-year career. (James Robinson | PennLive.com)

(James Robinson)

As a child, Graham Hetrick would talk to his father as he embalmed the dead.

The Middle Paxton Twp. man didn't think it was unusual then. Death was a normal part of life when he lived above his father's funeral home. It's what led him to become Dauphin County's coroner for the last 25 years.

Hetrick will talk about some of his investigations as part of Investigation Discovery's upcoming eight-part forensic series "The Coroner: I Speak for the Dead," which premieres 10 p.m. Monday, July 18. Each episode will reconstruct one of Hetrick's investigations, from serial killings to crimes of passion, according to a news release. All of the cases that will be featured on the series have already been adjudicated.

That doesn't mean they'll all be Dauphin County cases, though, as Hetrick also "investigates many cases outside of (the) county."

"Folks are flown in to two of the large medical facilities that we have here and, if they are in my county, I have to investigate those cases," he said.

Hetrick's not just the county's coroner, though. He's also a grief counselor; an adjunct professor at the Harrisburg University of Science and Technology;  and a funeral director at Hetrick-Bitner Funeral Home in Harrisburg, the same business his father ran when he was a child.

PennLive.com caught up with Hetrick ahead of the premiere to talk about the series and his career as a coroner.

How many shows have you been a part of in the past?

"Well, I've been on a couple of 'Forensic Files.' I did a show for the History Channel called 'Corpse Tech,' another one called 'Medical Detective'... and I did a pilot at one time for A&E called "Graham of Evidence," but it never went to shoot. (There have been about) eight shows that I have been on, but I've never done a series."

How long have you been a coroner in Dauphin County? How long have you practiced forensic science?

"Twenty-five years. I had some experience with (forensic science) in the military, so (I've been practicing for) 28 years."

Why do you think people are so attracted to death?

"The scriptures themselves call it 'the last great enemy.' It's something that we are attracted to and we also try to ignore our own mortality, so it's sort of a paradox. This show is very heavy on the methodology and the science behind trying to understand how the person died and the mechanics behind it and what they're trying to tell us as a society (because) if we look at the way people die, we can tell about the way we live."

How far back do these cases go?


Are the identities of the victims and families kept anonymous?

"There are different interviews throughout the show. Each case is reconstructed. I give commentary on the show and then, many times, there are interviews of detectives, (district attorneys) and families that were integral parts of telling the story. Sometimes, names may be changed but generally not the name of the primary victim (because) that's public record."

How do families react when you approach them about telling a victim's story?

"You have to watch the series, but most of them are very grateful that the story is being told. That's been the reaction... So far, we haven't had any negative experiences."

You're going to publish essays and additional videos on CrimeFeed.com as a part of the series. Why offer that level of access?

"What I'm trying to do is show the scientific process rather than opinions. You can't give opinions. Forensics is basically science applied to law so what I'm going to do is talk about the science behind it, and I might also talk about some of the social and psychological significance of what we learn from some of these cases. I think that it's important that we have discussion about how society functions and, obviously, there are realities about death that are important and talk about how we live. We just had a case where a poor man was hit with a rather substantive stick and died last week down on Green Street and the important thing there isn't the fact that he was hit by the stick but somebody felt the need to kill him before they robbed him. And that talks about the value of life today, and how we consider life to be valuable or invaluable. These are discussions we should have."

Is part of your outlook on death going to be expressed on the show as well?


Could you tell me about one of these cases that was emotionally taxing for you?

"I think that they are all emotionally taxing. Some of them went on over years, and I think that anybody who works on the case -- whether it's the (district attorneys) or the police or the (crime scene investigators) or myself -- when it's unresolved for years and years, they never leave your mind."

Could you bring me to the moment that sparked your interest in forensic sciences?

"I grew up above a funeral home. I would talk to my dad while he was embalming, preparing people for funeral services. To me, death was a normal part of life. I didn't realize it was an oddity until later on in my life... I did not realize as a child that was an unusual thing."

"At one point I was doing graduate work in psychology and (the kind of) psychology that I was interested in was called thanathology, which is the study of death and dying. I concentrated on that, wrote papers about the grieving process, lectured for years on grief and grief recovery so I've been interested in that area in the grieving process, but I was also interested in the investigation side."