Ex-Rockland medical examiner writes book on famous cases

By SARAH NETTER
THE JOURNAL NEWS

(Original publication: October 11, 2005)
 

Twenty-one years ago today, Dr. Frederick Zugibe, Rockland County's then-chief medical examiner, was called to the Holiday Inn in Nanuet to examine the decomposed body of a young woman.

She had been slashed across the face numerous times, and each incision was teeming with maggots.

Zugibe later identified her as 32-year-old Marie Jefferson. With an innovative study of the maturation of blowflies, Zugibe was able to help send her ex-fiance to prison.

Jefferson's case is one of 10 profiled in Zugibe's latest book "Dissecting Death: Secrets of a Medical Examiner."

In his more than 30 years as Rockland County's first chief medical examiner, Zugibe became an internationally renowned source on forensic pathology.

Zugibe, now 77, has given numerous television interviews and testified in dozens of trials around the country. He officially retired in 2002.

"Dissecting Death," released in July, delves into the forensic science behind some of Rockland County's most notorious crimes, including the 1981 robbery of a Brinks truck and the ensuing shootout that left two police officers and one security guard dead.

The book also details Zugibe's frustration with the bungling of nationally known cases, including the O.J. Simpson trial and the slaying of JonBenet Ramsey.

In the last chapter, Zugibe, an expert on the Shroud of Turin, pinpoints the forensic inaccuracies of the 2004 movie "The Passion of the Christ."

Zugibe, sitting in his home office on a recent rainy day, said each case in the book had a twist in which forensic techniques, some of which he had never used before, were used to unearth details of a crime.

In the case of Marie Jefferson, for example, Zugibe incubated blowflies to study their rate of growth. As they matured, he measured the maggots until they reached the same length as the maggots on Jefferson's face. The larvae, along with a weather study, led Zugibe to say with certainty when she had been killed, a key element for the prosecution.

"You show the people that many cases can be solved if appropriate examinations are being done," he said.

Zugibe said television shows like the popular crime drama "CSI" have led to a public interest in forensic pathology.

"People are very interested in solving crimes," he said, adding it excites people to learn how logic and science can catch a killer.

And the book, so far, has been a crowd pleaser.

"I must have gotten about 20 calls about the same thing: 'I can't put it down,' " Zugibe said.

David Carroll, a freelance writer from Tappan, co-authored "Dissecting Death."

Carroll, a forensics enthusiast, and Zugibe were connected by mutual friends several years ago. After years of stops and starts and writing and polishing, the book was complete.

Carroll, who fine-tuned Zugibe's cases into chapters, said he is pleased with the finished product.

"He's loaded with stories and information," Carroll said of Zugibe. "I think it's a good read."

Also impressed is Rosemarie D'Alessandro. The story of her daughter's murder is Chapter 7 in "Dissecting Death."

Seven-year-old Joan D'Alessandro was sexually assaulted, brutally beaten and strangled in 1973.

The New Jersey girl had been delivering Girl Scout cookies to neighbor Joseph McGowan when she disappeared. Her body was found in Harriman State Park.

Zugibe, the father of seven children, said Joan's case was among the hardest for him.

"It really hit me," he said. "I saw the way that this child had been beaten."

An intricate autopsy of Joan's body showed that she had been strangled not once, but twice. McGowan, a former chemistry teacher at Tappan Zee High School, subsequently confessed, confirming Zugibe's findings.

D'Alessandro said she wasn't aware that Joan's case was included in the book until Zugibe asked for a picture of the child. She gave him one of Joan in her Brownie uniform.

D'Alessandro, who after Joan's murder went on a national crusade for tougher sentences for child murderers, said she is glad the story of her daughter's murder is out there for everyone to read.

D'Alessandro first learned of the grisly details surrounding her daughter's murder from the book.

She read how Joan's teeth were loosened by the beating and how both of the child's sinuses were fractured.

"It was very hard," she said, "but it was very important to know."

Zugibe, who still does consultations, said that while TV shows and some books sensationalize forensic pathology, readers of his book will learn what really happens after a person is killed.

"They would see it's really not that easy to get away with murder," he said.

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