Don't Rely on Roosters: Death's Most Gruesome Paths, Explored by a Medical Examiner

Australia’s ‘Doctor Death’ has spoken candidly regarding some of the most unusual and chilling cases he’s been involved with. Share Article Share Article Facebook X LinkedIn Reddit Bluesky Email Copy Link Link copied Bookmark Comments

The Aussie ‘Doctor Death’ has revealed insight into the most awful ways individuals can die, following a career spanning decades dealing with the ghastly and ghoulish.

Forensic expert Roger Byard has looked into countless fatalities, spanning from ones perpetrated by serial murderers to lethal encounters involving roosters and other creatures.

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“I’ve been amassing animal-related deaths. Canines, serpents, sharks, roosters, mackerel,” Roger confessed during a recent broadcast of the I Catch Killers podcast, presented by former detective chief inspector Gary Jubelin.

“Unfortunate timing, unfortunate locale,” the pathologist stated when detailing how a man angling in Australia’s Northern Territory passed away after a 25-kilogram mackerel leaped from the water and collided with him, killing him instantly, in Darwin Harbour.

During the program, Byard, who occupies the George Richard Marks Chair of Pathology at the University of Adelaide, also recounted one of his initial assignments, which remains a notorious event in Australian history, recognised as the ‘bodies in barrels’ slayings.

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This crime wave captivated Australia during the 1990s. “I didn’t understand that when the chief of Major Crime summons you, it’s really serious,” Roger articulated.

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These homicides occurred in Snowtown, South Australia, and were enacted by the main instigator John Justin Bunting, along with Robert Joe Wagner, and James Spyridon Vlassakis, as a heinous embodiment of twisted justice which encompassed torturing and murdering presumed paedophiles, with minimal to no substantiation, as well as singling out individuals from the LGBTQ demographic and victims based on their size.

“That was my initial week being on call, in fact,” Roger stated, “there were eight corpses partially dismembered within the barrels,” which he and his team had to scrutinise after a colleague discerned “there are feet sticking out” from the interior of one.

Doctor Death’s narratives become even more peculiar than this, though, as he proceeded to delineate how an elderly woman encountered her end by her own roosters, which Roger depicts as being “vicious beings”.

“An old lady out the back gathering eggs… (the rooster) attacked her and she had varicose veins, and it pecked her leg (leading to her death).”

Varicose veins represent a health issue where veins grow enlarged and contorted and can bleed copiously if injured.

Roger proceeds: “I’ve encountered multiple deaths of individuals with varicose veins who merely underwent minor injuries. There was a feline scratch (that resulted in the victim’s death).

“This constitutes the rationale behind me publishing this material; it’s not simply due to its oddity and strangeness. It’s to make individuals aware that if you’re afflicted with varicose veins and sustain a small puncture, recline and apply pressure with your finger while elevating the area… you’ll pull through.

“However, never place trust in a rooster.”

Despite locating fleeting humorous interludes throughout the discussion, Roger underscored the emotional burden the vocation of being a forensic pathologist can levy upon an individual.

“No one addresses PTSD concerning forensic pathologists,” he conveyed. “We observe charred remains, segmented bodies, children starved to death. Subsequently, we must depict all details in court—occasionally while experiencing our credibility being dismantled.

“Upon commencing, I assumed I was set to uncover the origins of all these demises – I was zealous. Then, as I progressed further within my profession, I came to the realisation that, no, I’m not consistently going to locate answers.

“And I’m going to be compelled to converse with families and admit ‘I have no idea’. The extent of what I can convey to them is ‘It wasn’t something that you did’. Also, frequently they simply desire to encounter the individual that cared for their infant between the timeframe when they last observed the infant, and when they observed their infant at the funeral establishment.”