FRSC Death Investigation

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CHAPTER 1 (history of death investigation)

Forensic Science has its origins in early China. (basis for forensic entomology)

The Greek people did anatomical dissections.

In the 18th century, Morgagni wrote a book about autopsy dissections.

In the 19th century, a doctor declared that autopsies were a great teaching method to learn more about diseases.

Model Post-Mortem Examinations Act- a law passed in 1954 that stated in what instances deaths needed to be investigated (violent components).

  • This act was important because it allowed states to develop their own laws about how death investigations would be carried out.

Hospital Pathologist - an examiner who can perform basic autopsies (usually disease-related)


Forensic Pathologist - board-certified examiner who performs autopsies as part of the medical examiner’s office


Coroner - an elected official who has the legal ability to certify the cause and manner of death

  • comes from the word “crowner” (a tax collector for the dead)


Medical Examiner - forensic pathologist with education as a medical doctor


Medicolegal Death Investigators - trained personnel who serve as assistants to the forensic pathologist

Alphonse Bertillion - a French law enforcement officer who performed research in anthropometry (a study of physical characteristics of a person that makes them unique)

  • included the measurements of various body parts and regions of the body

  • to differentiate one person from another

  • the main purpose was to figure out a way to separate repeat offenders from first offenders

  • early 20th century, it failed to differentiate a pair of twins


Edmond Locard - “Every touch leaves a trace”

  • characteristics of fingerprints through microscopy (used in fingerprint identifications)

  • started the first lab for this

ABMDI - American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators

  • makes sure they have basic skills and knowledge


NAME - National Association of Medical Examiners

  • makes sure that death investigations are handled properly


AAFS - American Academy of Forensic Science

  • includes all divisions

(journal articles can be found here)


(1/15/2025)


Who is responsible for a death investigation scene?

  • dependent on jurisdiction

  • can fall on the coroner's office, ME office, or a combined coroner/ME office

  • the body itself is under the jurisdiction of the coroner/ME

  • some evidence overlaps jurisdictions

  • the scene AROUND the body is under the jurisdiction of law enforcement


Preservation of Evidence:

With gunshot deaths, it is important to secure the hands by placing brown paper bags over them prior to transport- they need to be secured with tape (not rubber bands) (tape the bags, not the body)

-money on the body should be counted and placed in an envelope to prevent loss

-jewelry needs to be documented (even if not expensive)

-things on the body are best left there to be removed by the ME


law enforcement must secure a house and lock it

cars can be towed to an impound lot

medications need to be collected (medical history can be obtained, and can help with the toxicology report)


scattered remains can present their own difficulties. (example body tissue scattered over terrain)

best to make a diagram and lebel the tissues in separate bags

identification is hard so paying close attention to teeth, jewelry and personal effect can aid in the identification and separation of tissues.

if possible names are known, search for law enforcement prints or records

family members can also be helpful in identification, (scars, marks, tattoos)


photographing the death scene,

an overall view should be obtained from all four corners, move inward and repeat at medium range, and then closer views of the body from all sides. close up photos of valuables are also important.

one suggestion is to photograph a 3×5 card or small dry-erase board with the address, location, photographer last name, date, case number. a separate sd card should be utilized for each case.

(1/17/2025)

Location of knives  and blood on them is important

  • The position it's in relation to the decedent

With revolvers the cylinder should be photographed as it is effected from the firing position

  • Also photograph the magazines, serial number, chamber, barrel

    • Barrel photography will ensure the presence or absence of blowback of tissue, blood, or foreign materials

 

If the weapon is embedded in the decedent- if possible leave the weapon in place

Any ligatures around the neck need to be left in place to allow the pathologist to view or remove these items

Once the body is moved, it is important to photograph where the body was

 

Important to know the preference and expectation of the pathologist and lab you work for

If wet specimen, needs to be collected on something that can dry

  • If still wet, it can deteriorate and may become unusable

  • Wet clothes on body should be left on- autopsy will remove it

 

Clothing is usually placed into a brown paper bag then biohazard bag to keep it from external contamination

Clothing should be hung to air dry in area where there will not be cross contamination

 

Dry specimens have more options for identification

Choose the smallest container based on the specimen without stuffing it tightly

Guns, knives, syringes, or other hazardous things- there are specific boxes they will be placed in

 

Tape ligatures, gags, plastic wrap and trash bags

  • These items are difficult to transport because they can get stuck inside the bag and lose the evidence

  • Cut or torn ends need to be preserved during removal to use as a potential match for a recovered roll of tape

  • Tape also has the possibility of fingerprints and trace evidence from the scene/ body

Photograph the gag or ligature from all sides to document it's placement

  • When removing- use scalpel while protecting underlying skin

  • When removed- remove with forceps and place into gun box or pizza box

 

Plastic wrap

  • Wrapped bodies will be treated similarly to an unwrapped body

  • Fingerprints may be on the layers of plastic as it was applied

  • Trash bags are extremely good for fingerprints and need to be handled carefully

 

For permanent storage, all evidence mist be pealed prior to storage to ensure that been tampered with or cross contaminated

 

Chain of custody

  • Form listing any seized evidence in sequence and noted in the same fashion as the identifying marks on the packaging

  • If the chain is broken, evidence can become inadmissible to court

 

Always have

  • Laptop with roving internet

  • Paper pad and pen

  • Digital camera- waterproof and shockproof- extra batteries and SD card

  • Evidence collection bags

  • Gloves

  • Clean collection evidence

  • Paper towels

  • Hand sanitizer

  • Pocket knife

  • Business card

  • Office brochures- may include contact info

  • Body ID tags/ bracelet

  • Black permanent markers

  • Flashlight

  • Cut-resistant gloves

In vehicle

  • Safety vest

  • Body bags- all different sizes

  • Body tags

  • PPE

  • Tape measure/ ruler

  • Small tarp

  • Small shovel

  • Pruning shears/ bolt cutter

  • Rope

  • Bottled water/ snacks

  • Bug collecting equipment

  • Backup camera

  • Extra batteries

(1/24/2025)

Medical and Social History

  • the reporting party may have some info about the current or past health of the dead person.

  • important to ask about drinking, drug use, smoking, occupation, recent hospitalization

  • family history may also be important


  • the name of the treating physician is important for requesting medical records

  • it also may be necessary to get dental records


Notif of next of kin

  • state law usually indicates the order of next of kin notification: spouse, parents, siblings, and children


Written report formats

  • concise summary of the course of events (everything) that surrounded the time of death

  • have a logical flow of information


how does a case come to the attention of an investigator?

  • state law mandates reporting certain cases by anyone having knowledge of a death

  • include unnatural, suspicious, or unusual deaths, or those posing a public health hazard

  • some can be managed over the phone, while others need a scene response


death investigation

  • the body always needs to be placed on its back

  • wrapping the body in a sheet will minimize the amount of blood welling up in the bag and soaking the clothing

(1/27/2025)

Death Certification

  • certificates are completed by a treating physician. by coroners, or by medical examiner

  • state law determines who will be eligible for its completion depending on the circumstances in which the dead person is found


two main purposes:

  • allows estates other be closed and finances to be resolved

  • National statistics are derived and monitored for public health trends for the prevention of diseases or health hazards


document has…

  • name, date of birth, address, social security, parents names, and location of death

  • cause and manner of death


need a basic understanding of human anatomy and physiology


on the document, the cause portion has three lines, a,b,c, and “due to....”


pathological vs physiological (know this)


  • many states have mandates for how long a death certificate can be outstanding and unsigned

  • burials cannot occur without a valid death certificate signed by a physician (for proper burial or cremation permits)


know the five manners of death.

  • some states have an additional category called therapeutic misadventure hen the death is related to a medical intervention


info for completion:

  • legal name

  • birthdate

  • date and time of death

  • location

  • date, time, and location of incident

  • home address, next of kin, social security number

  • medical history, medications, physicians


Example causes of death:

  • Pneumonia

    • can cause death alone but will usually be the complication of multiple other illnesses, including trauma (part of the health department’s reportable diseases)

    • it is best to speak with the physician and rule out trauma

  • Brain hemorrhage

    • can be of various types: intracerebral, subdural, subarachnoid, cerebral, or stroke

    • some can occur due to things like hypertension or trauma

    • it may mean that surviving family members receive certain benefits if the death is certified as an accident

  • Fractures

    • most commonly due to falls

    • determining if the death is due to an accident or not can be difficult

    • factors to take into account: time duration between incident and death, the mechanism causing death

    • some offices set a timespan for the time between the incident and the death

    • can be caused by brittle bones

    • can be ruled as natural in some instances

  • Falls

    • should be investigated in alcoholics, the elderly, and when there are bruises over the bony prominences (knees, elbows, etc)

  • Remote Injuries

    • motor vehicle accidents, gunshot wounds, head injuries

    • Some patients survive with a head or spinal injury and survive many months with deficits, eventually dying of some kind of natural disease or infection

    • important to recognize these cases to get all the evidence

    • no statute of limitations

    • in some states, the original charge of assault can be upgraded to murder

  • (remember most hospitals only keep their medical records for about 7 years until they destroy them)

  • Death can be listed as a complication of another injury on the certificate


5 manners of death

  • Homicide

  • Suicide

  • Accidental

  • Natural

  • Undetermined

 

The cause of death and manner of death are not the same

 

Seizures

  • Due to irregularity of the brain's electrical current causing abnormal movements and breathing

  • May result in sudden death

  • Can also be a pathologic disease process with an unknown etiology

  • Can be a symptom of another disease

 

Children

  • Should be evaluated through an autopsy or external examination by a forensic pathologist

  • May be infectious causes, prolonged injury, accidental ingestion of chemicals/ object

 

Miscarriages

  • Fetal deaths are usually defined as those under 20 weeks gestation period and 350 grams in weight

  • Live births are those in which the infant has taken a breath

  • May be necessary to access the maternal prenatal and delivery records with toxicology and culture results

 

Cremation authorizations

  • Many states require death certificates to be reviewed by the coroner or medical examiner's office to evaluate the causes of death

 

(1/31/2025)

Time of Death:

Necrosis- cells dying while we’re alive

autolysis - cells dying after death


Death is the cessation of both respiration and cardiac activity


(it is possible to lose the majority of the brain cortex and maintain the primitive cardiac and respiratory functions)


Rigor mortis:

  • created by lack of oxygen, resulting in calcium build-up calcification

  • lack of ATP-unable to reset

  • the body will assume a position of relaxation towards gravity or the object it is resting on

  • the amount of muscle mass a person has will increase the duration or strength of the rigor

  • exercise prior to death will cause the rigor to begin more rapidly because of the already depleted ATP within the body

  • full rigor is seen at the height of muscle rigidity, and at an average household temp, it occurs about six to eight hours after death

eventually, as the body progresses toward a state of early decomposition, it will become absent

absent in the immediate period following the death

full rigor can last 3-4 hours in a normal adult, but it is dependent on other factors (specifically ambient temp, clothing, body fat)


it is important to assess and note the extent of rigor, body warmth, livor, and environmental temp prior to the body being placed into a body bag


Livor Mortis:

  • the postmortem setting of blood

  • blood no longer circulates, causing it to pool within the capillaries and small vessels closest to gravity

  • in the early postmortem interval, the blood will remain liquid, and if the body is moved, the blood will partially realign in the new position of gravity

  • in areas where the body has been resting against an object, lividity is prevented due to the pressure on the surface (it will be seen as a pale area surrounded by pink)

  • liquid condition of the blood remains for the first 3-4 hours following death and becomes more fixed in position after about six to eight hours (following this, it will no longer move)

  • blanching = white discoloration of the skin caused by applied pressure


(2/3/2025)

heat causes rigor and livor to pass through their stages more rapidly and cold slows the progression

decomp:

generally, flies are the first infestors and they may lay their eggs on fresh bodies

flies are especially attracted to injuries

  • the first stage of decomposition is venous marbling

    • occurs when blood decomposes within the vascular system and produces brown vessel arborization on the skin

  • this is followed by red-green discoloration of the skin with fluid-filled skin blisters of decomposition fluid

  • rupture of capillaries within the mouth and nose causes oozing of thick-dark red decomposition fluid

  • the body then progresses to black-green discoloration with subcutaneous gas formation containing hydrogen sulfide gas

    • most pronounced in the face, torso, and genitalia

  • skin slippage, actually sheets of skin can peel off the body

  • Subcutaneous blistering and fluid accumulation, along with skin slippage, occur because bacteria break down body fat and proteins.


decomposition fluid is watery, red-brown, and tends to have a mucous slimy quality


mummification is another decomposed process that occurs in hot, arid environments where the body is partially protected from the sun and the air is blowing across the body and drying it

(skin shrinkage happens)

  • internal examination after mummification will show dried, shrunken organs and no residual body fluids. prints are unavailable because the hands are dried.



saponification-decomp in cold-wet environments

Adipocere - soap formation by chemically changing the composition of body fat

the first insects to attack a body are flies, usually blowflies

various beetles and other insects also feed on the body


embalming - replacing blood with formalin


2/19/2025