Wecht was born to Jewish immigrant parents in Pittsburgh in 1931, but spent his early years in a tiny mining village in Dunkard Township, Pennsylvania, called Bobtown.

[11][12] His father, Nathan Wecht, was a Lithuanian-born storekeeper; his Ukrainian-born mother, Fannie Rubenstein, was a homemaker and helped out in the store.

Some of the cases include; Robert F. Kennedy,[19][20] Sharon Tate, Brian Jones, the Symbionese Liberation Army shootout, John F. Kennedy, the Legionnaires' Disease outbreak, Elvis Presley, Kurt Cobain, JonBenét Ramsey, Dr. Herman Tarnower (the Scarsdale diet guru), Danielle van Dam, Sunny von Bülow, the Branch Davidian incident, Vincent Foster, Laci Peterson, Daniel and Anna Nicole Smith, and Rebecca Zahau.

[36] Wecht attested that Daniel Smith died as a result of the interaction of methadone, sertraline (Zoloft) and escitalopram (Lexapro).

[citation needed] Foerster teamed up with former Pittsburgh Mayor Pete Flaherty, and the two defeated Wecht and Coon in the primary election for the two Democratic nominations.

Wecht then lost the chairmanship of the county's Democratic Party in 1984 to Foerster's hand-picked candidate, Scott Township Tax Collector Ed Stevens.

Wecht then sought to become chair of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party that same year, but was defeated by Ed Mezvinsky, a former Congressman from Iowa.

[citation needed] In 1995, Wecht, after 12 years out of public life, was again elected as Allegheny County's Coroner.

[48] In 1999, he ran for the newly created position of Allegheny County Chief Executive, defeating one-term minority County Commissioner Mike Dawida in the Democratic primary, but losing to prominent Republican businessman Jim Roddey in his first bid for elective public office.

[49] While serving as the county's coroner, Wecht continued to operate a private forensic consulting business on the side known as Wecht Pathology Associates,[50] which charges clients for examining cases, conducting autopsies, and testifying in civil and criminal trials.

In his official capacity as county coroner, Wecht continued to squabble with DA Zappala, often over deaths that took place during encounters with police.

When Wecht ruled the death of Dixon a homicide, DA Zappala refused to press charges against the officers.

In response, Wecht, acting in his private capacity as an employee of Wecht Pathology Associates, wrote a medical opinion outlining the officers' alleged role in Dixon's death which was utilized by Dixon's family in a civil suit against the county.

[53] Although Wecht was acquitted in the criminal case, the County Controller levied a civil surcharge of $390,000 against him for mingling private and public work at the morgue.

Roughly two weeks prior to the trial, 43 of the 84 counts against Wecht were withdrawn; judge Arthur J. Schwab dismissed those charges with prejudice.

Congressmen Mike Doyle (whose district includes Pittsburgh) and John Conyers questioned the prosecution's tactics in the aftermath of the first trial and instituted Congressional hearings on the matter.

Shortly after the press release of this letter, Senator Arlen Specter publicly recommended against a retrial for Wecht.

[64] On May 14, 2009, a new trial judge in the retrial excluded most of the evidence against Wecht because it was seized under an illegal and improperly executed search warrant.

[65] On June 2, 2009, Buchanan announced that her office would file a motion to dismiss all charges against Wecht.

In the film, Wecht was a staunch supporter of Bennet Omalu's efforts to expose the link between concussions and football.