A dedicated, professional office

The criticism of our Medical Examiner’s office is totally without merit and inaccurate. As the retired manager of the Spokane County Forensic Unit for over 30 years, I have been involved in countless death investigations and attended hundreds of autopsies. When I started my job in 1982 we had a coroner system that was an absolute disaster. It got so bad at one point that we were forced to have a totally unqualified pathologist fly in and conduct an autopsy in a funeral home’s back room – and yes, it was as ghastly as it sounds.

Dr. Aiken and Dr. Howard took a broken system and turned it into a nationally accredited office. Becoming accredited by the National Association Of Medical Examiners is extremely difficult and they should be applauded for it. It takes fourteen years of school and training to become a Forensic Pathologist and there is a drastic shortage of them in the United States. Spokane County is extremely lucky to have two of them. They make their decisions based on medical science and facts that they can testify to in a court of law. Instead of criticizing them maybe the community needs to take a look at their website so they can get an informed understanding of the office and what it does.

During the crimes scenes and autopsies that I have worked on with Dr. Aiken and Dr. Howard I have seen nothing but dedication and professionalism. Their knowledge and experience are invaluable to this community, so instead of criticizing them on something most people know nothing about we need to just say thank you for what you do.

Carrie Christen, Retired Forensic Unit Manager

Spokane