daniel spitz will be able to make sense of the situation. the police call the medical examiner's office whenever they respond to a death. and dr. spitz begins an investigation that may include an autopsy. >> it's a different thing every day. i go to crime scenes. i work with the police, involving deaths, and involving injury cases. so i never know when my phone rings, what the next mystery may be. >> dr. spitz is a forensic pathologist and often testifies at trials to explain his findings. one of the most high-profile cases he's investigated is the death of tara grant, a 34-year-old mother of two whose dismembered body was found in her garage in 2007. >> all very indicative of a manual strangulation. >> her husband, steven grant, was found guilty of second-degree murder. dr. spitz has investigated thousands of unexplained deaths. but the scene he finds at the condominium ranks as one of the most perplexing he's encountered. >> it's totally a mystery. i think going in with an open mind as far as the exam tomorrow is the way to go. it could tur

daniel spitz is about to perform an autopsy on charles kreeger jr. e man found naked with his head crashed through a wall. dr. spitz' two asis stants prepare the autopsy room, and mr. kreeger. these two morgue attendants are the first to admit they live for death. >> it's considered taboo, definitely generally in our society. it used to be that way up until recently. but i find it interesting, because it is the number one universal in life. 100% of the people die 100% of the time. >> working in the morgue has taught me that tomorrow's no guarantee. i could walk out the door and get hit by a bus. i can take care of myself, exercise, still might die of a heart attack tomorrow. it's not my choice. >> the front door was locked. side door -- >> also here this morning is the investigator who attended yesterday's death scene, renee deegle. she shows dr. spitz the photograph she took of mr. kreeger so he can visualize the scene and begin to formulate a hypothesis. >> this is where the bifold door was. he's got blood coming from here. but no blood anywhere. no

daniel spitz is the medical examiner for macomb and st. counties just north of detroit, michigan. investigators from his office attend every death scene in the county, occurring outside a hospital, hospice or nursing home. his job simply stated, to perform autopsies and figure out why people died. >> we obviously don't like surprises. so we second an investigator to basically make sure that the death is what it seems to be. and many times, that allows us to comfortably release the body to the family, to the funeral home and other times, it prompts an investigation that involves the body coming into the medical examiner's offers and an autopsy being done. >> he's been fascinated with this subspecialty of medicine sincechildhood. his father, dr. werner spitz, is one of the country's best known forensic pathologists. after graduating from medical school in 1995, did he six more years of training in anatomic, clinical and forensic pathology. >> it's not a field that attracts huge numbers of people. it's not you know, billed as being glamorous