Jury To Decide In Wecht Case

The scheming in the Allegheny County morgue had no Snidely Whiplash character, snickering wickedly while plotting the demise of Dudley Do-Right, a federal prosecutor told jurors Monday.

Instead it was Dr. Cyril H. Wecht, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney James Wilson, who as county coroner schemed and devised a plan to use county employees and resources to benefit his private pathology consulting business. That business, Cyril H. Wecht and Pathology Associates, grossed nearly $800,000 in 2004 while using public workers on public time, Wilson said.

Jurors will begin deliberations in earnest today, after getting the case about 4 p.m. Wecht, 76, of Squirrel Hill faces 41 counts of fraud and theft.