Bored with Da Vinci’s Inquest? Barely stifling a yawn during the latest rerun of NYPD Blue?

It may be time to consider the true-life adventures of W. Ross Cheriton, P.Eng.

An urbane and courtly gentleman of the old school, Cheriton is a sharp-witted Edmontonian with a highly specialized skill set.

Corpses and blood-curdling screams aren’t exactly in his line.

Jack Dagley, for Business Edge
Ross Cheriton with a hydrocarbon ‘sniffer’, which can detect gas or diesel fuel.

But when he reconstructs the circumstances that led to an industrial explosion or fire, he combines the nose of a bloodhound with the integrity of Mother Theresa.

Cheriton is an 81-year-old forensic engineer whose sole allegiance is to the facts: “The key is to keep an open mind. In forensics, pre-conceived ideas can colour your thinking,” he wagged his finger at a neophyte.

Though semi-retired, Cheriton continues to follow up a half-dozen consulting files at any one time. Now the undisputed dean of an exclusive Canadian fraternity that consists of only about 50 forensic engineers, he stumbled into his specialty by chance.

His educational background was in electrical engineering. But while Cheriton was running his own engineering company in Edmonton in the 1960s, a lawyer friend asked for help on a puzzling auto-crash investigation.

When the case went to court, Cheriton was asked to testify as an expert witness. He did so well that his phone began to ring. It hasn’t stopped since.

One of the more compelling pleas for help came from a Saskatchewan lawyer, who had reluctantly taken the case of a small-town truck driver.

As Cheriton remembers it, the trucker’s modest home had burned about two years earlier.

Subsequently, five sets of investigators (they included the RCMP, the provincial fire commissioner and Saskatchewan Government Insurance experts) reached the same conclusion – the place had been torched.

The trucker wasn’t charged. Nor did he collect on his insurance claim.

Eventually, the man’s persistent denials convinced the local lawyer. He, in turn, persuaded the skeptical Cheriton to take a look.

Once at the scene, Cheriton detected gasoline fumes in the basement. As part of his typically thorough methodology, he gathered debris samples in sealer jars. Tests proved they contained “new” gasoline, never exposed to open air.

The trail led to a massive spill from a bulk gas station, less than a kilometre from the site. Clearly, the engineer concluded, gasoline seepage from the spill had contaminated the cellar.

Cheriton told the lawyer the insurance company would be well advised to settle. Their answer: No dice.

“So they hauled us into court,” he said.

The judge listened first to the testimony of those who ran the initial investigation. Then Cheriton spoke. After 15 minutes of recess, the judge ruled in favour of the trucker.

Then he praised Cheriton, saying he was the only sleuth to conduct a thoroughly professional investigation.

“That made me feel good,” chuckled the modest engineer. “Made me feel like Perry Mason.”

In 1979, he began to concentrate on forensics full time, investigating everything from the faulty installation of overhead power lines to pulp mill circuit breaker failures.

Since then, Cheriton has written that, since his cases are generally high-stakes affairs with extremely large sums of money at risk, he occupies a position of great trust.

To maintain his reputation for balance, he’s careful never to advertise or promote himself. Most often, he’s summoned because complexities have arisen surrounding an insurance claim or lawsuit. In one case, the financial stakes stood as high as $100 million.

Cheriton considers his work particularly well done when his investigation leads to an out-of-court settlement, which happens in most cases.

But should the disputants insist on a day in court, he’ll oblige. Nor is he concerned which side wins – as long as the truth comes out.

“I don’t take sides. A lawyer is in an adversarial position to do the best possible job for his client, but that’s not my role,” he said.

His written reports are models of concise erudition, as was the paper delivered to the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (he’s an elected fellow) in Chicago last February.

It’s his analysis of a perplexing tragedy in New Sarepta, southeast of Edmonton, several years back. A rural gasoline tank exploded, killing several onlookers.

“Now Hollywood is great for exploding gas tanks, but it rarely happens in real life. Yet it did in this case,” Cheriton murmured, the way a master detective teases his slow-witted assistant.

How did it happen? Why? Sorry, you’ll just have to wait for the TV series.