Grave Secrets: Leading Forensic Expert Reveals Startling Truth Abt O J Simpson Vincent Foster D

The subtitle is an unfortunate bit of hype, since Wecht (Cause of Death), Pittsburgh forensic pathologist, reveals no ""startling truth"" of the three cases mentioned. The non-self-aggrandizing scientist is uncertain about the rightness of the Simpson verdict, although not about the bungling of the ""Keystone coroners"" who handled the evidence; he laments the government's action in the Koresh confrontation at Waco; he leaves no doubt that White House counsel Foster's death was a suicide, as reported. But Wecht's book becomes absorbing when he turns to older or less publicized cases and shows that the shooting of Chicago Black Panther leader Fred Hampton in 1969 was murder by the police, that the leisurely rescue attempts by Bay Area authorities after the 1989 earthquake caused at least four needless deaths and that the swine flu ""epidemic"" of 1976-1977 was a costly hype. The author's picture of the ineptitude of many local officials, especially in forensics, is chilling. Photos. (Oct.)