A string of suspicious deaths. Two cases of infanticide that were almost called Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. The death rate from opioid overdoses is surprisingly low. These are some of the red flags Idahoans have pointed to for decades as they try to get those in power to change Idaho’s death investigation system, which relies on elected county coroners with little state support or oversight.
Legislators came close to reforms several times. But all attempts failed. Often the reason is simple, current and former coroners and national experts have told ProPublica in recent months: No one wants to spend money on death.
But that leaves Idaho with a system in which one coroner may not follow national standards while a neighboring county coroner does.
Calls for reform of Idaho system have appeared almost every decade since at least the 1950s. Some of the earliest calls for change came from local doctors and state health officials alarmed by Idaho’s refusal to modernize its approach to death investigations.
November 1951
The Idaho Statesman singled out a national magazine article that called Idaho “the best place in the country for criminals to literally ‘get away with murder'” because the state shows “how an antiquated county coroner system can contribute to frequent Miscarriage” justice”.
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Statesman of Idaho. Featured by ProPublica.
March 1959
A doctor who served as coroner for Idaho’s largest county has resigned, citing “outdated and grossly inadequate” state law. He said lawmakers that year refused to introduce a bill that was “a middle ground between the appalling inadequacy of existing law and a central government system of medical examiners.”
September 1965
Dr. T.O. Carver, then the state health administrator, told the Associated Press, “I think … if somebody wanted to commit a murder without being detected, Idaho would be a good place to do it.” Carver praised Oregon’s medical examiner system and said replacing Idaho with a similar setup would cost more, but it would provide evidence and truth.
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Sandpoint News-Bulletin via Bonner County Daily Bee. Featured by ProPublica.
October 1965
The director of the Idaho State Coroner’s Office has raised the alarm about the qualifications of coroners, the state’s rate of autopsies and “questionable” death investigations. The director said coroners processed 600 to 700 deaths in Idaho each year, and 10% or fewer were autopsied.
Autumn of 1976
A pathologist at a rural Idaho hospital has called for a medical examiner’s office to replace the “archaic” system of coroners. “Idaho is a state where it would be very easy to commit a murder and go undetected,” he said, according to news archives. “With a little common sense and care, no one would ever know that this happened under the present system of coroners in our counties.”
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Times-News. Featured by ProPublica.
March 1997
After a series of suspicious deaths, the Idaho Statesman again called for reform in an editorial: “Idaho must recognize that an elected system of coroners can only take it so far,” the authors said. “The people of Idaho need protection. They need coroners, pathologists and medical examiners who can work with law enforcement” to catch criminals.
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Statesman of Idaho. Featured by ProPublica.
December 1998
The Post Register in eastern Idaho ran a series on child deaths that revealed a lack of autopsies, including two cases of infanticide that were nearly attributed to SIDS. Over the next five years, lawmakers considered coroner reform bills, but none passed. The district attorney told the newspaper, “It doesn’t work in the late twentieth century, it won’t work in the twenty-first.”
January 2006
A decade after her son’s death was ruled a suicide without an autopsy, a Boise woman-turned-attorney wrote in the Idaho Statesman: “Lawmakers should take a fresh look at the laws governing Idaho’s coroner system.”
February 2019
The former state senator, family physician and county coroner wrote on his blog that Idaho is “very likely” underreporting opioid overdose deaths, in part because coroners are not detecting and reporting them. “Ever since I was the Latta County Coroner for 15 years, I have wondered about the wisdom of Idaho’s county coroner system,” wrote Dan Schmidt. “To all county coroners, ask yourself, are you satisfied with the death investigation system? Are you doing a good job? Are there ways to do it better?”
Data reporter Alice Simani contributed to the data analysis.
