Days before his last as Dallas County’s chief medical examiner, Jeffrey Barnard still walks into the wide, blue, tiled autopsy room like it’s his first day.

It was more like the day of thirteen thousand six hundred.

He is now a 69-year-old accomplished man, not a 32-year-old novice.

His chin is still up and he’s smiling as he tours the Southwest Forensic Science Institute, where he was director until last Friday, Nov. 1.

“Ultimately you are responsible for everything,” he said. “Even when you’re not really in charge. I think we have 160 employees. That’s a lot. And so if something goes wrong, they call you, they don’t call anybody else.”

Global epidemics, cold cases, mass shootings and more than 10,000 autopsies during his 37 years in the Dallas County medical examiner’s office kept his mind constantly racing.

“If all I did was autopsies, frankly, with these years of experience, it would be an easy job,” he said. “When you’re doing autopsies and you’re supervising everybody and you’re dealing with the budget and you’re dealing with the crime lab and the problems that are inherent there, yeah, you’re busy all the time.”

Among the state’s most capable and respected medical examiners, Barnard was placed in charge of the Texas Forensic Science Commission by then-Gov. Rick Perry in 2011.

Barnard’s hunch, autopsy findings, attention to patterns and detail kept innocent people out of jail — and solved cases others couldn’t.

Death without resolution haunts him, as in some suicides.

That’s why forensic genealogy and DNA advances keep him excited.

They offer a chance at justice for victims who have had no other advocates, such as sex workers who have been raped and killed.

“Those cases, I really think the families have given up and they think no one is ever going to solve them, so they don’t have a voice,” Barnard said. “Nor the victim.”

Mary Kelly’s accused killer, for example, is now on trial because of forensic developments.

“I was able to go back after I had the DNA and work on that case,” Barnard said.

He testified in that trial this week.

Among many, one solved cold case was particularly rewarding.

“I get a call from the family thanking me for never giving up on the case,” he said. “Because most of the time no one ever pays attention.”

Barnard’s work and testimony also helped convict the guilty.

He has uncovered at least eight suspected serial killers — such as Charles Albright, the “Eyeball Killer,” in 1991 and Billy Chemirmir, who was convicted in 2022 of choking elderly women to death.

In 2020, Barnard went to great lengths to protect its staff from the then-unknown dangers of COVID-19.

“It was one of those situations where you just didn’t know the impact,” he said. “You didn’t know how contagious it was. I had to come up with different types of protective things for the office, personal protective equipment.

“I saw some things I hadn’t seen in the morgue before. I made them wear things they weren’t happy with, but I was trying to protect them.”

His office performed nearly 5,000 autopsies that year.

It’s time to go

Decades of dead don’t bother Barnard too much.

His wife, Terry, said that early in his career the death of a little boy who came in wearing Superman pajamas reminded him of their own son, who was about the boy’s age.

Fishing in Broken Bow keeps disturbing thoughts at bay. Enjoying a Luke Combs concert with his daughter or a second reading of his Belgariad Also, fantasy series help.

One murder haunts him: that of his assistant coroner Beth Frost.

Talking about her, he changes. He ties and unties his shoes. Tangle and untangle paper clips.

“It’s no coincidence, really, that the timing (of the retirement) is just days before the anniversary of her death again.” said Dr. Barnard.

Frost was shot and killed in her office by her future husband, just before he shot and killed himself on Election Day 2022.

“That’s when I started thinking about retirement,” Barnard said. “I was ready to go then. Yes. She was like a daughter to me.”

He told County Administrator Darryl Martin and Commissioner John Wiley Price that he was ready to retire.

“I said, ‘I realize this would be the time to go,'” Barnard said. “And they said, ‘You can’t do that.’ I said, “I know I can’t do this. But mentally, I understand why people would give it up.

“If you’re the captain of the ship, you have to stick with it, which I did. But then, a year later, I gave a year’s notice.”

On that date, Price accepted his decision.

“I said, ‘It’s time to leave me, Lucille! You can’t just up and leave,’” he said.

Price became commissioner two years before Dr. Barnard joined the county. He teased that Barnard had given up on their close relationship.

“I said, ‘You should have stayed with me. We were supposed to be the last two gunslingers going into the sunset. So you bailed me out. ok”.

Barnard will continue to lead the Texas Forensic Science Commission until next fall.

Meanwhile, he and Terry plan to travel the country and explore Europe, gathering clues about their ancestors.

Honoring the dead is important to Barnard.

His first holiday after retirement was Dia de los Muertos — part birthday celebration for his daughter, Erin McCann, but mostly a time to toast family ancestors and loved ones.

Marina Trahan Martinez

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KERA

“Dad was always interested in genealogy and our family story,” she said. “So in any way we could bring these images and talk about the people that got us to where we are.
It seems especially fitting that, you know, Day of the Dead comes right after his illustrious career telling the stories of the voiceless. So I feel like this year feels good.”

Barnard’s Deputy Head Jessica Dwyer was named the new Chief Coroner and Director — the first woman to hold the position.

He has been working with Barnard since 2017.

Dwyer said the county department needs little improvement, except maybe touching a woman.

“They’re getting a very well-oiled machine, so I’m not going to turn things around,” she said. “If anything, it’s just to continue the progress we’ve made.

“He’s done so much to support us as medical examiners and this office in general. The county has always been very responsive to our needs and I think it’s really because of the connections he’s made with them.”

Barnard’s friend and now Barnard’s successor spoke at the retirement party held for him.

Dwyer noted that his last day was All Saints’ Day.

“Consider this a celebration of your holiness,” she said. “I’m also sure your first order of business on your last day with us is to attend Mass and pray for us all.

“I find it even more fitting, however, that my first day as your successor, Dr. Bernard, falls on All Souls’ Day—a day that commemorates the faithful departed. After all, we serve the departed faithful.”

Do you have a tip? E-mail Marina Trahan Martinez at [email protected]. You can watch Marina at @HisGirlHildy.

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