FULLERTON : Forensics Expert Exhibits Her Work

For Judy Suchey, being a world-renowned forensic anthropologist has led to “some interesting stories and wild times.”

Suchey, who has spent the past 20 years working in forensics, was one of the first women in the field. An exhibit of her work and the methods she uses is now on display at the Cal State Fullerton Museum of Anthropology.

“You have to be flexible to be in forensics,” Suchey said during a recent interview at the exhibit. For instance, one time she was at an odorous excavation site identifying three victims when she realized she was late for a lunch appointment with a university administrator.

She said she decided it was better to take a few minutes to clean up than arrive on time.

When the 46-year-old professor is not teaching one her four university courses or working with graduate students, she is usually involved with assignments from the coroner’s departments in Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside or San Bernardino counties.

William King of the Orange County coroner’s office said the department calls on Suchey often, usually when the identifying task is beyond the expertise of county pathologists.

She works on up to 100 cases a year for the coroners’ departments, whose staff, she says, has become an extended family of friends and associates. Over the years, she has identified victims of a number of well-known cases, including the 1986 Cerritos air crash, and victims of serial killers such as the Hillside Strangler, Charles Manson and Randy Steven Kraft.

“I’ve been to some really spooky and interesting scenes,” Suchey said.

The exhibit is open Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 1 to 5 p.m., on Tuesdays from 2 to 3 p.m. and on Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m. until the end of the year.