CINCINNATI — If you ever meet up with Justin Weber you're likely on one side or the other of crime scene tape.
“I tell people, I have seen more ways to die and probably experienced more death in my lifetime than what most people would in theirs,” Weber said.
Weber is the chief investigator for the Hamilton County Coroner's Office. He and his team investigate deaths throughout the county ranging from natural causes of death to murder.
“I can't help but think back to everything that I've been through has led me to where I am today,” Weber said.
That journey had a dark start after he graduated from Hamilton High School and waited to join the U.S. Marine Corps. It was June 9, 1998, when he met with his mom at the company where they were both working at the time. His mother pointed out that her ex-boyfriend, Franklin Saunders, was standing outside across the street.
After confronting Saunders in the parking lot, he and his mother left in separate vehicles. It wasn’t long after they left that Weber said Saunders caught up. After a car chase, crash and both of them trying to run from Saunders's relentless pursuit of Weber’s mother Lisa, the chase came to an end.
“I look over my shoulder and Frankie's chasing us with a gun. He's got a double-barrel shotgun that he's chasing us with. So we get as far as we can and he catches up to us,” Weber recalled.
As Weber described it he was doing everything he could to protect his mother while dealing with a situation he never anticipated.
“There's a couple of exchanges of grabbing and fighting and pointing the gun and threatening to shoot people. And at one point, my mom looks at me, she's like, 'I'll be okay. Let me go.' And I let her go,” Weber said. “I just, I didn't know. I didn't know what to do at that time. Probably one of the most scariest points in my life. And I just, I'll never forget that her watch looking at me as he drug her off, and me not knowing what to do at that time. And it's the last image I'll ever remember my mom.”
With his mother’s death still fresh in his mind and Saunders convicted of her murder following a plea deal, Weber swore an oath to his country by signing up to the United States Marine Corps.
He said during basic training the drill instructors had recruits write down what was on their minds and how they were feeling. Weber explained that he had recently lost his mom and the impact it had on him.
“They literally pulled me aside, the commanding officer came in and was like, 'Are you sure you're okay to be here?' And I said, 'No, I'm 100% sure I am okay to be here,'” Weber told them. “My mom supported this. So I'm going to do this for her. There is nothing that's going to stop me from completing this and becoming a Marine.”
His journey in the Marine Corps eventually put him into the epicenter and reality of war in Iraq working for Mortuary Affairs.
“Don't get me wrong here in Hamilton County, we see some we see dramatic stuff on a daily basis. But seeing someone that's been hit by a roadside bomb, or someone that's been, you know, hit with an RPG, or someone that's been ran over by a tank, it clearly is a little bit different than what we see here,” he said.
He recalls to this day the burden of responsibility and level of respect he had to ensure each soldier he helped recover received the honor they deserved.
“I remember dog tags, personal facts, letters from home pictures of, of kids off of fallen U.S. service members that, you know, their family members don't even know that they're dead yet. And here I am handling all of their personal effects. And they have no idea what they're getting ready to experience,” Weber recalled.
Through the loss of his mother as a young man and the experience of war Weber said he’s been able to channel what could be deemed as dark energy and focus it on something to help members of the community he comes face to face with while conducting and overseeing the examination of death scenes.
“I remember going into the Butler County Coroner's Office and collecting my mom's personal effects or jewelry that was on her when she was killed. I remember going in there and I know that when family members come here to pick up personal items it effects what they're experiencing and how traumatic that's going to be because I've done it,” Weber said. “So, I tried to have that empathy and sympathy as well for that family because I know what they're going through. I understand what they're going through more so than what most people can understand. So, I try to live that every day in this line of work that I do.”
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