Loose Talk and Stacked Cadavers

The coroner to the stars fights to stay in office

Stunning revelations, televised press conferences, racy conjecture about the hours before death—all are trademarks of Los Angeles County Medical Examiner Dr. Thomas Noguchi. But when Actor John Belushi, 33, was found dead in a Hollywood hotel bungalow, the "coroner to the stars" was uncharacteristically circumspect. He remained silent as the first ugly details of Belushi's .death drifted into print, and finally issued only a terse written announcement of his findings: "The deceased died of an overdose due to intravenous injections of heroin and...