Disgraced medical examiner dies at 74

A former metro Atlanta medical examiner who helped solve thousands of homicide cases died Friday while serving a prison term for a criminal scheme that brought a catastrophic end to his career.

Joe Burton, 74, died of cardiac arrest at the federal prison in Butner, North Carolina, which houses inmates needing medical care. Burton was already in failing health in August 2018 when he was sentenced to eight years in prison.

Burton’s storied career ended in disgrace when he pleaded guilty to trading hundreds of opioid painkiller prescriptions for sexual favors.

Over a two-year period starting in July 2015, he wrote more than 1,500 prescriptions to 350 people for controlled substances. About 60% of the prescriptions were for oxycodone pills with an estimated street value of more than $2 million, prosecutors said.

At Burton’s sentencing, his lawyer, Buddy Parker, disclosed that a 2010 stroke severely damaged the right frontal lobe of Burton’s brain and robbed him of his executive function and ability to control himself.

On Sunday, Parker noted that five current and former district attorneys wrote letters of appreciation for Burton prior to his sentencing. They called him a dedicated public servant and thanked him for helping resolve many criminal cases. They also noted Burton became one of the nation’s leading authorities on shaken baby syndrome, and his work led to legislation in Georgia and elsewhere requiring autopsies of children when there was no obvious cause of death.

“He was one of the most prominent medical examiners in the country during the previous years of his life,” Parker said. “Unquestionably, he solved thousands of cases and brought closure to many families whose loved ones were killed, assaulted or raped, notwithstanding his clear admission of guilt to the serious charges he was sentenced for.”

Over his decades-long career in public service, Burton served as chief medical examiner in Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Gwinnett and Paulding counties and as associate medical examiner in Fulton. During an interview in 2016, Burton estimated that he had performed more than 10,000 autopsies.

At his sentencing hearing, Burton appeared disoriented when he rose to address U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross before she handed down her punishment.

“I don’t know why I did that, but I did,” Burton said of his criminal conduct.