A former New York medical examiner has revealed the case that gave her the “worst nightmares” of her career; one she describes as the “worst death imaginable.”
Dr. Judy Melinek, who spent two years at the city’s Office of Chief Medical Examiner, shared the story in her book Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner, co-authored with her husband, T.J. Mitchell. While her work exposed her to countless tragic and unusual deaths, one case in particular has haunted her for more than two decades: the death of Sean Doyle.
The incident occurred in 2002, after Doyle spent an evening out drinking with a friend and the friend’s girlfriend. According to reports, an argument broke out on the way home when Doyle was accused of flirting. The confrontation escalated until Doyle’s friend shoved him down an open manhole. The fall was about 18 feet, but Doyle survived with no broken bones or serious trauma.
What awaited him at the bottom, however, was far worse. A ruptured mains pipe had filled the space with boiling water and scalding steam. When first responders arrived, they found the manhole clouded with 300°F steam, making rescue nearly impossible. By the time Doyle’s body was recovered, he had suffered catastrophic thermal injuries, The Mirror reported.
Dr. Melinek conducted the autopsy and recalled the horror of the discovery. While Doyle’s skeleton was intact and his head showed no signs of blunt force injury, his skin had peeled away and his organs were effectively cooked from the extreme heat. His body temperature still read 125°F (51°C), the maximum the thermometer could measure, suggesting it had been even hotter.
“I thought he’d been steamed like a lobster,” Melinek wrote, adding that the postmortem left her deeply shaken. “The worst nightmares I ever had in my two years at OCME came after I performed the examination of Sean Doyle.”
The New York Times later reported that Doyle’s friend was charged with second-degree murder.
Melinek’s book also explores other unsettling realities of her work, including a warning for pet owners who live alone. She wrote that while a dog might wait days by its deceased owner’s side, cats are far less sentimental. “Your faithful golden retriever might sit next to your dead body for days, starving, but the tabby won’t,” she noted. “Your pet cat will eat you right away, with no qualms at all. I’ve seen the result.”
For Melinek, cases like Doyle’s serve as stark reminders of the unpredictability (and sometimes unimaginable cruelty) of death.