2014/12/06

The Watch December 2, 2014: The saga of Shawn Parcells, the uncredited forensics ‘expert’ in the Michael Brown case

Over the holiday weekend, CNN aired a pretty hard-hitting investigation of Shawn Parcells, the man who has become something of a cable news celebrity after assisting in an autopsy on Michael Brown.

Parcells became an overnight media star in August when he assisted in an autopsy commissioned by Brown’s family. He appeared time and again on major media outlets as a forensic pathology expert. He said over the years he’s testified in court dozens of times in several states.

But an investigation by CNN that included interviews with attorneys, law enforcement and physicians suggests Parcells isn’t the expert he seems to be . . .

Parcells, a Kansas native, says he became interested in death at age 12 when his grandfather passed away.

“I actually started doing autopsies my junior year in high school,” he said. “I’ve been doing this a long time. I love it.”

Right after high school, renowned pathologist Michael Baden made a visit to Kansas. Parcells snapped a photo with him.

By college, Parcells said, he was teaching first-year residents how to do autopsies. The campus newspaper, The Kansas State Collegian, wrote an article about him in 1999 headlined “Morbid Curiosity.” more