Jessica Dwyer spends her days in a place where bodies arrive without answers.
As chief medical examiner for Dallas County, she works to solve what she calls “the ultimate jigsaw puzzle” — examining the human body to determine how someone died.
In Dwyer’s office, dozens of skulls of all shapes, sizes and colors bare their teeth. The word “Autopsy” glows from an electric purple neon sign over her desk.
A medical examiner is a licensed physician with specialized training in forensic pathology. Dwyer, 42, leads a tight-knit team of 13 full-time medical examiners who work alongside 20 forensic investigators and 12 autopsy technicians.
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Dallas County Director and Chief Medical Examiner Jessica Dwyer is pictured in her Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences office, July 27, 2026.
Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News
Finding her calling
Dwyer was always fascinated by the human body, compelled by subjects like biochemistry and anatomy, and medicine seemed like the natural path.
She stumbled upon forensic pathology — a specialty that combines medicine and science with law enforcement, the legal system and on-scene investigations — while listening to a lecture in medical school.
She joined the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences in 2017 as a medical examiner staff member and became the director and chief in 2024 after the previous chief retired. She is the first woman to hold the position in Dallas County.
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On a recent day, Dwyer leaned back in her chair against a round pillow with a grinning skull on it. The decor might seem morbid, but for those who regularly encounter traumatic deaths and disturbing scenes, dark humor is a coping mechanism.
“I think all of us have a little bit of a twisted personality, a little bit of dark humor,” Dwyer said. “But really, that’s the key thing. This is not for everybody. And if you don’t do well with blood and guts, this is definitely not going to be good for you.”
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An advocate for the dead
For Dwyer, one of the most important parts of the job is connecting the evidence when someone dies under suspicious circumstances.
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“Putting those pieces together is hopefully ultimately providing some justice for this individual,” Dwyer said.
That responsibility follows her from the autopsy rooms to the courtroom, where she has testified close to 100 times in her career. Each appearance is another opportunity to speak for someone who no longer can.
Dallas County Director and Chief Medical Examiner Jessica Dwyer is pictured in a Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences lab, July 27, 2026.
Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News
But there is a limit to a medical examiner’s testimony, as their job is only to figure out why someone died, not necessarily the context behind the death. In a courtroom, that can be a thin line to walk.
“What if you have somebody that fell off a cliff? An autopsy can tell you that they have blunt force injuries from that fall, but an autopsy cannot tell you if they jumped, if they were pushed, if they tripped on a rock and accidentally fell,” Dwyer said.
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The body can provide important clues, but cannot always tell the whole story.
“My role here is just to tell you why the person died,” she said. “And when it’s really egregious and violent, I actually am very proud to be an advocate for this individual when it comes to the litigation.”