Peter Hoffman, Coroner, Cook County, examines a hammer used to murder George Dietz, April 18, 1913. Hoffman (1863-1948) worked as a grocer and a railroad clerk before his election as Cook County Coroner in 1908. Indicted on corruption charges in 1925, he retired from politics the following year, after serving six months in jail. A coroner is a government official who investigates human deaths, determines cause of death, issues death certificates, maintains death records, responds to deaths in mass disasters and identifies unknown dead Local laws define the deaths a coroner must investigate, but most often include those that are sudden, unexpected, and have no attending physician and deaths that are suspicious or violent.