The coroner shall have power to issue subpoenas to obtain the attendance of any person whom it may be necessary to examine as a witness at any inquest, and to compel attendance by attachment in like manner and to the same extent as any court of common pleas of this Commonwealth may or can do in cases pending before them, and also to compel in like manner the production of all papers and other things relative to such inquest. Such subpoena and attachment shall be served and executed by the sheriff or by the coroner himself or his deputy, as the case may require.
16 P.S. § 4243