Photos: Dr. Walter Birkby, forensic anthropologist
- Rick Wiley / Arizona Daily Star
Rick Wiley
Photo editor
- Updated
Dr. Walter Birkby, famed forensic anthropologist at the University of Arizona, died Saturday, Jan. 31, 2015. He was 84.
Dr. Walter Birkby
Updated
Walter Birkby, forensic anthropologist at the University of Arizona, reconstructs a skull in 1968.
Courtesy Arizona State MuseumDr. Walter Birkby
Updated
Walter Birkby, forensic anthropologist at the University of Arizona, with 19 skulls discovered in a Tucson home in 1988.
Linda Seeger / Tucson CitizenDr. Walter Birkby
Updated
Walter Birkby, forensic anthropologist at the University of Arizona in August, 1994. Photo by Rick Wiley / Tucson Citizen
Rick Wiley / Tucson CitizenDr. Walter Birkby
Updated
Dr. Walter Birkby of the University of Arizona shown in 1972 in his campus laboratory.
Michael Mally / Los Angeles TimesDr. Walter Birkby
Updated
Dr. Walter Birkby listens as former student Dr. Bruce Anderson of the Pima County Medical Examiner's Office talk about Birkby's career and influence on students during a 2009 ceremony to honor Birkby.
James Gregg / Arizona Daily StarDr. Walter Birkby
Updated
Walter Birkby and his wife, Carmen Birkby, left, watch a slide show put on by his former students at an event honoring him at the Pima County Medical Examiner's Office Dec. 11, 2009.
James Gregg / Arizona Daily StarDr. Walter Birkby
Updated
Dr. Walter Birkby, forensic anthropologist at the University of Arizona, in August, 1989, with the bones of the victim of a cannibal attack by Alfred Packer
Xavier Gallegos / Tucson CitizenDr. Walter Birkby
Updated
Dr. Walter Birkby, forensic anthropologist, at work at the University of Arizona in 1979
Manuel Miera / Tucson CitizenDr. Walter Birkby
Updated
Dr. Walter Birkby, forensic anthropologist, at work at the University of Arizona in 1979.
Manuel Miera / Tucson CitizenDr. Walter Birkby
Updated
The task of identifying unknown bodies often falls on Forensic Anthropologist Dr. Walter Birkby, who uses techniques such as boiling off flesh to reach bone that may yield clues in the person's identity. Birkby is shown in the "boil-down room" at the Pima County Forensic Science Center in 1999.
Aaron J. Latham / Arizona Daily StarDr. Walter Birkby
Updated
Skulls of unidentified border crossers rest in cabinets in the newly renamed Walter H. Birkby forensic anthropology lab at the Pima Country Medical Examiner's office Dec. 11, 2009.
James Gregg / Arizona Daily StarDr. Walter Birkby
Updated
Dr. Bruce Anderson, a student of Dr. Walter Birkby, looks over the remains of case no. 10-1157, a border crosser, while attempting to identify him at the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner on June 23, 2010.
Dean Knuth / Arizona Daily StarTags
Rick Wiley
Photo editor
As featured on
Dr. Walter Birkby, jokingly known as "Dr. Death" by local journalists, the internationally-k…
View this profile on Instagram#ThisIsTucson đĩ (@this_is_tucson) âĸ Instagram photos and videos
Most viewed stories
-
Horchata lattes and breakfast burritos: Tucson's Barista del Barrio opens 2nd location
-
What a delicious year: the best meals I ate in Tucson in 2025 đ
-
Nearly 50 fun events happening in the month of January! â¨
-
New eats! 10 new restaurants that opened in Tucson this fall
-
Free and fun events to check out this January!
-
Looking ahead to Tucson's new and cool for '26
-
23 exciting events to start your new year, January 2-4 2026! đĒŠâ¨
-
Get ready to eat all the spicy tuna rolls you can at this viral sushi spot đŖ
-
Create the icy dessert of your dreams at this new frozen yogurt spot đ¨
-
Strolls and Stories Tours liven up Tucson history



