Death Investigation

Death Investigation: Learning Objectives

• Describe the role of the forensic pathologist

• Describe the external, internal, and toxicology
phases of an autopsy
• Distinguish cause and manner of death
• Describe the common causes of death
• List various categories associated with the
manner of death
• Describe chemical and physical changes helpful
for estimating time of death
• Describe the role of the forensic entomologist in
death investigation
Death Investigation: Vocabulary
• Algor mortis
• Autopsy
• Cause of death
• Forensic anthropology
• Forensic entomology
• Forensic pathology
• Livor mortis
• Manner of death
• Petechiae
• Postmortem interval (PMI)
• Rigor mortis
DEATH INVESTIGATION: HAROLD
SHIPMAN, DR. DEATH
• 1998—81-year-old widow Kathleen
Grundy, who was believed to be in good
health, is visited by her physician Dr.
Harold Shipman

• Hours later Mrs. Grundy is found dead

on her couch by friends that came by to
visit
 DEATH INVESTIGATION: HAROLD
SHIPMAN, DR. DEATH
• Dr. Shipman pronounces Grundy dead and informs
her daughter, Angela Woodruff, there is not need
for an autopsy

• Woodruff is surprised to find a will that leaves all

of Grundy’s money to Dr. Shipman

• The will is identified as a forgery, and Grundy’s

body is exumed
 DEATH INVESTIGATION: HAROLD
SHIPMAN, DR. DEATH
• The autopsy on Grundy showed lethal levels of morphine
• As police investigated, all Shipman’s victims appeared to all
be elderly women who were found sitting in a chair or lying
clothed on a bed
• Clinical audit estimated Dr. Shipman killed at least 236 of
his patients over 24 years
– Most were attributed to fatal doses of heroin or
morphine
• Convicted of murder, Dr. Shipman hanged himself in his jail
cell in 2004
 The Role of a Forensic
Pathologist
• Forensic pathologists are investigative
personnel, typically medical examiners or
coroners, who investigate the cause,
manner, and time of death of a victim in a
crime
 Scene Investigation
• Death investigation involves:
– Documenting and photographing the
undisturbed scene
– Collecting relevant physical evidence
– Attempting to determine the time of death
– Ascertaining any postmortem locations and
whether any postmortem movement of the
body occurred
 Scene Investigation
• Critical phase of death investigation will be a
preliminary reconstruction of events

• Blood spatter/blood flow patterns must be

documented
– Blood should be sampled when found at the scene

• When a weapon is involved, a concerted effort

must be made to find the suspect weapon
 Scene Investigation
• Paper bags should then be placed over the hands
& feet to preserve evidence

• Photographs must be taken before the scene is

altered in any way—may play a role in
reconstructing events

• Often the initial phase of investigation will focus

on determining the identity of the deceased
– May be complicated based on the degree of
decomposition
 The Autopsy
• An autopsy is a surgical procedure performed
by a pathologist on a dead body to ascertain
the cause of death
– Clinical autopsy: confirm diagnosis, presence and
extent of disease
– Forensic autopsy: determine cause of death

• All steps of forensic autopsy must be carefully

documented and photographed
– Documentation should include date, time, place,
examiner, and anyone in attendance
 Evidence from the Autopsy
• Tissues and organs are kept for pathological and
toxicological reasons
• Evidence should be collected ASAP!
• The following should be collected and sent to the crime lab:
– Victim’s clothing
– Fingernail scrapings or clippings
– Combing from the head and pubic areas
– Buccal swab
– Vaginal, anal, and oral swabs (in sex-related crimes)
– Bullets recovered from the body
– Swabs of areas, such as breasts or penis, suspected of being in
contact with DNA
– Hand swabs from shooting victims
 External Examination
• Broad overview of the condition of the body and
clothing
– Damage to the clothing should be matched up to
injuries on the body
• General characteristics should be noted:
– Sex
– Height
– Weight
– Approximate age
– Hair color
– Physical condition
 External Examination
• Presence of tattoos, scars, punctures and
track marks should also be noted

• Mouth/nose examined for vomit, blood,

and/or trace evidence
• Ears are checked for blood
• Nose is checked for irritations (drugs)
• Fingernails are checked for skin & DNA
 External Examination
• Classifying injuries:
– Distinguishing between different types of injuries
– Abrasions, contusions, lacerations, sharp wound
injuries, genitalia (sex-related crimes)

• Stippling (marks left by discharge of a

firearm)
• X-rays are sometimes performed (GSW &
stab wounds
Stippling
 Internal Examination
• Removal of all internal organs
– Weighing, dissecting, and sectioning of each organ
• Y-shaped incision from the top of each
shoulder to the pubic bone

• Examination of the cranium:

– Incision from behind one ear to the other
– Peel back scalp
– Saw the skull in a circular cut—removal of the
brain
Examination of the Cranium
 Internal Examination
• Special care is taken to identify any
preexisting conditions
• Toxicology Report:
– Blood, stomach contents, bile, & urine samples
are taken
– Blood is tested for drugs & alcohol
– Tests are also done for poisons
– Some drugs redistribute or reenter the blood
after death & thus may complicate the
interpretation of postmortem blood levels of
these structures
 Cause of Death
• The main objective of the autopsy is to
determine the cause of death

– This means to identify the injuries or disease

that led to the chain of events resulting in
death
 Blunt Force Injury
• Caused by a non-sharpened object such as a bat or pipe
• Can abrade (scrape) tissue or laceration

• Can crush deeper tissue will cause contusions

(bruises)
– There is often trouble in determining the age of
contusions
– Can exhibit the pattern of the weapon used
• Outward appearance doesn’t always coincide with the
injuries sustained on the inside of the body
 Sharp Force Injury
• Occur from weapons with sharp edges
(knives or blades)

• Cutinjury that is longer than deep

• Stabinjury that is deeper than it is long

• Scenes that involve sharp force trauma are

usually bloody and unruly
• Examination of victim for defensive wounds
is important
 Asphyxia
• Variety of conditions that involve interference
with the intake of oxygen
• Fire victims—high levels of CO2
– Soot can be observed in victims that were alive
during the fire
• Cause of death in hanging—stopping of blood
flow to the brain
– Victims may show signs of petechiae on the
eyelids, swollen face
• Pinpoint hemorrhaging often observed in the whites of
the eyes
• Caused by capillaries bursting
Petechiae
 Asphyxia
• Petechiae more common in strangulation than
hanging
• Hyoid/Thyroid cartilage intact in hanging
broken in manual strangulation

• In hangings important to document exact

positioning of the body
– Type of knot could be extremely useful
– Defensive wounds common
• Smothering materials that block mouth, nose, &
internal airway
 Gunshot Wounds (GSWs)
• Estimated range of fire is one of the most
important characteristics

• Investigator will compare powder residue

distribution around the wound

• Gunshot residue on the victim’s hands

could indicate suicide, but not always
 Gunshot Wounds
• The autopsy must include a determination
of the “wound track”
– Following the path of the projectile from entry
to exit
• A gunshot wound may not explain death
– Victim could bleed to death in minutes or
hours
– Infection can also contribute
• Especially for abdominal gunshot wounds
• Pneumonia can set in for victims shot in the head
that haven’t died
 Substance Abuse
• Forensic pathologists will test for drugs in
almost all investigations

• Drugs can directly cause death, or can

cause complications that can contribute
to death
 Manner of Death
• Manner of Death is the determination made
by a forensic pathologist of the cause of death

• 5 Categories:
– Homicide
– Suicide
– Accidental
– Natural
– Undetermined
 Manner of Death
• Homicide
– Non-accidental death resulting from grossly
negligent, reckless, or intentional actions from
another person
• Suicide
– Result of an individual taking his or her own life
with lethal intention
– For determination of suicide, it must be
determined that the person acted alone
– If there is any doubt, the death is declared
accidental/undetermined
 Manner of Death
• Accidental
– There must not be intent to cause harm through
gross negligence on the part of the
perpetrator/victim
• Natural Causes
– Sometimes difficult to distinguish between
accidental and natural causes
– Can include disease and continual environmental
abuse
• Undetermined
– Declared only when a rational classification cannot
be established
 Estimating Time of Death
• Pathologist can never give exact time of death
• Algor Mortis is the process that occurs after
death in which the body temperature
continually cools until it reaches the room
temperature
– Must be performed at the scene as early as
possible
– At average room temperature of 70-720, the
body loses heat at about 1-1.50 an hour
– Influenced by the size of the victim, clothing,
and room temperature
 Estimating Time of Death
• Livor Mortis is a medical condition that occurs
after death and results in the settling of blood in
areas of the body closest to the ground
– Skin becomes bluish/purple in these areas
– Begins as soon as 20 minutes after death
– Continues for up to 16 hours after death
• Lividity, coloring is fixed
• Lividity indicates approximate time of death
– Environment and body temperatures affect livor
mortis
– Different lividity patterns may indicate the body was
moved
Livor Mortis
 Estimating Time of Death
• Rigor Mortis is a medical condition that
occurs after death and results in the
stiffening of muscle mass
– Begins within 24 hours of death and
disappears within 36 hours
– Develops in the position the body was in
at time of death (freezes the body)
– Roughly indicates time of death
Rigor Mortis
 Estimating Time of Death
• Potassium Eye Levels:
– Determining potassium levels in the ocular fluid
(vitreous humor) can help determine time of death
– Release of potassium is dependent on room
temperatures
• Stomach Contents:
– Quantity, consistency, color of bile, and degree of
digestion can help determine time of death
– Can contain partially digested or dissolved pills
• Decomposition:
– Degree of decomposition of the body can also help
determine time of death
The Role of the Forensic Anthropologist

• Forensic anthropology is the use of

anthropological knowledge of humans and
skeletal structures to examine and identify
human skeletal remains
• Gender of deceased can be determined by the
size and shape of various skeletal features,
especially those of the pelvis, skull, or cranium
• The height of a victim when alive can be
estimated by measuring the long bones of the
skeleton, especially those in the lower limb
Forensic Anthropologist

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIbbok9SbKY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nW1I2eYfdwc
The Role of the Forensic Entomologist

• Forensic entomologists can approximate how

long a body has been left exposed by examining
the stage of development of fly larvae on the
body
• Information about the arrival of another species
of insects may also help determine the
postmortem interval. The sequence of arrival of
these groups depends mostly on the body’s
natural decomposition process
• In general, insects first colonize the body’s
naturally soft orifices. However, if open wounds
are present, they will colonize
Forensic Entomologist