CrimeScene:#3

EvidenceBeingExamined:VictimsBody
ForensicScienceUsed:ForensicPathology
Name:EmilyVierling
EvidenceReport:#4

ForensicPathologist,ormedicalexaminersarespeciallytrainedphysicianswhosemain
purposeistoexaminethebodiesofindividualswhodiedsuddenly,unexpectedly,orviolently.The
forensicpathologistisresponsiblefordeterminingtheultimateandimmediatereasonsforthecessation
oflife.

Theearliestrecordedcaseusingforensicpathologywasin44BC.Oneofthefirsthistorical
accountofaforensicpathologyexaminationoccurredimmediatelyafterthesleighingofJuliusCaesar
byhiscollaborators.Theexaminerofthattimeconcludedthatofthethe23woundsfoundonthebody
onlyonewasfatal.Thefirstforensicmedicinebookwaswrittenin1247bySongCi,anoutstanding
forensicscientistintheSouthernSongDynasty,whoisnowrememberedasthefatherofforensic
medicine.ThefivevolumemasterpieceistitledXiyuanJilu,andwaswrittenfromSongCis
experiencewithforensicmedicineduringhislifetime.InEurope,thefirstwrittenrecordsconcerning
forensicpathologyappearedin1507,whenavolumetitledtheBambergCodeappeared.Interesting
enoughafewyearsafterthebookcameout,EmperorCharlesVoftheHolyRomanEmpirechanged
thepenalcodeinanveryextensivemanner,dubbingitConstitutioCriminalisCarolina,inwhich,
amongother,forensicpathologyintrialwasgivenahighimportance.Thus,medicaltestimonywas
requiredduringatrial,suchthatthemannerofdeathhadtobeconcluded,whetheritwasinfanticide,
homicide,abortionorpoisoning.Pathologywasbranchedasanintegralpartofmedicineintothe
investigationofdeathsinthelatterpartofthenineteenthcentury,inAmericaatleast,whenin1890in
BaltimoreacityordinanceauthorizedtheBoardofHealthtoappointtwophysicianswiththetitlesof
medicalexaminerandassignthemthedutyofperformingallautopsiesrequestedbythecoroner.
ForensicPathologystartedtobecomeevidentintheUSAduringtheyear1959.Althoughtherewere
manypeopleperformingsimilardutiespriortothisdate,forensicpathologywasonlyofficially
recognizedinthisyearbytheAmericanBoardofPathology.

Therearemanystepstocompleteanexaminationofabody,oranautopsy.Theveryfirststep
istoevaluatethecrimesceneandcreatearecordofallevidencethatispresent.Thesecondisto
completetheInitialExamination.TheInitialExaminationpreferablyoccursatthesceneofthecrime
andalsoinvolvesdeclaringthevictimlegallydeceased.Duringtheprocessofthisexamination,donot
touchormovethebodyanymorethanwhatisnecessary.Whenthetimecomestoremovethebody
fromthecrimescenemakesuretocoverthehandsandfeetwithpaperbagstopreserveanytrace
evidencethatmaybepresent.Finishbywrappingthebodyinasheetandthenplacewithinanautopsy
bag.NextistoconductthePreliminaryStageofPostMortem.EnsuretheCrimeScenePhotographer
takesadequatepicturesofthebody(bothclothedandunclothed).Makesuretoexaminealltheclothing
andthebodyforanytraceevidence.Beginthesearchwiththenakedeyeandthenswitchtoan
alternatelightsource.Finally,useamicroscopetoexaminefingernails,toenails,andothersuspicious
areaswheretraceevidencemightbepresent.NextistheprocessofIdentifyingtheVictim.Ifthebody

isnotidentifiableatthesceneofthecrime,ensurethatfingerprintsaresenttothePrintAnalystfor
comparisonwithpolicerecordsandalsomakesuretocontacttheForensicOdontologisttodoadental
mouldforidentificationpurposes.Fingerprintsshouldalsobeexaminedfrequentlysothatthevictims
printscanbeeliminatedfromthecrimescenetoenableeasieridentificationoftheperpetrators
fingerprints.Next,examinetheclothing.Examinealltheclothinginordertomakesureallwounds
haveconsistentmarkersonthevictimsclothing.Ifwoundsarenotconsistentwithmarkingsonthe
clothing,thatsuggeststhevictimwasredressedandstagedafterdeath.Clothingmustbecarefully
removedfromthevictim,packagedandtakentoacleanenvironmentfortheExhibitsOfficertogivea
closerinspectionifnecessary.
ThentakeGeneralmeasurementsandXRays.XRayshelptorevealdepthandimpactof
woundsthepathandfinallocationofabulletandanyknifefragments.Thiscouldalsohelptoidentify
themurderweapon.Thencomestheevaluationofanyinjuries.Allinjuries,whetheroldorrecent,
shouldbeexaminedandphotographed.TherearemanyinjuriesthatcanpresentReconstructive
Evidencetohelpidentifytheactionsthattookplaceatthesceneofthecrime.Ifcontusions(bruises)
arewidelyscatteredthroughoutthebody,itsuggestsastruggleand/ortorture.Bruisesandcutsonarms
usuallyspecifydefensivewounds.Instabbingcasescountthewoundsifpossibleandmeasurethe
width,thicknessanddepthofeachwound.Ifyouhaveapossiblemurderweapon,attempttocompare
thedimensionsonthebodytotheweapon.ProceedbytestingthevictimforRigorMortis,Algor
Mortis,andLivorMortis.RigorMortisisisoneoftherecognizablesignsofdeath,causedby
chemicalchangesinthemusclesafterdeath,causingthelimbsofthecorpsetobecomestiffand
difficulttomoveormanipulate.AlgorMortisisthereductioninbodytemperaturefollowingdeath.
Thisisgenerallyasteadydeclineuntilmatchingambienttemperature,althoughexternalfactorscan
haveasignificantinfluence.Livormortisisasettlingofthebloodinthelower(dependent)portionof
thebody,causingapurplishreddiscolorationoftheskin.Whentheheartstopsfunctioningandisno
longeragitatingtheblood,heavyredbloodcellssinkthroughtheserumbyactionofgravity.
ProceedwiththeprocessbyconductingaDissection.ThedissectionbeginswithaYincision
overthecheststartingattheshouldersandextendingdowntothelowerendofthestemumwithathird
linecontinuingdownthemidlineoftheabdomentothepelvis.Theribsandclaviclesarethecutwitha
saworshearsandthebreastplateisremoved,exposingtheheart,lungs,andbloodvesselstothechest.
theheartandlungsaresequentiallyremovedweighedandsampled.Bloodsamplesforbloodtyping,
DNAanalysis,andtoxicologicaltestingisoftentakenfromtheheart,theaorta,oraperipheralvessel.
Eachabdominalorganisthenweighed,examined,andsamplesaretakenformicroscopicexamination.
Thestomachcontentsmayhelpindeterminationofthetimeofdeathifthecontentandtimingofthe
victimslastmealisknown.Thebrainisthenexaminedforheadtraumaandskullfractures.Theskinis
slicedovertheforeheadfromeartoearandthenpulleddownovertheface.Theskullisthecarefully
slicedawayinthesamearea.Thebrainisfirstexaminedinplaceandthenremovedforathorough
inspectionandtissuesamples.Thefinalstepistoreturntheorganstothebodyandtheincisionsare
suturedshut.ThefinalexaminationsareCauseofDeath,MechanismofDeath,MannerofDeath,
andtheTimeofDeath.ThisconcludesanAutopsy.
TherearenotalotofadvancingopportunitiesforForensicPathologist,howevertheequipment
andtechnologiestheyusetoconductanexaminationofabodyhavegreatlymodernizedcreatingan
easierprocess.OneofthemajoradvancementsinForensicPathologyisinforensicimaging(XRays).
Forensicimaginghasadvancedespeciallyinthefieldofaclearerpicturemakingiteasiertoidentify

woundsandmarkingsonthebone.Asthereliabilityofmodernforensicimagingrapidlyimproves,
forensicpathologistsareincreasinglyseekingthehelpofradiologiststoexaminebodiesnoninvasively.
ThedevelopmentoftechniquessuchasspiralvolumetricCTand,morerecently,MRIhave
dramaticallyimprovedtheabilityofradiologiststodeterminecausesofdeathanddetectothercrucial
postmortemsigns,providinganinvaluableservicethatcansupplementand,insomecasesreplace,
traditionalautopsy.WiththehelpofradiologistsinthelabForensicPathologistsareabletomakea
moreconclusiveandliableconclusionaboutevidencepresentedbyForensicImaging.

ThecrimethatIinvestigatedtookplaceatAnimasHighSchoolinDurango,Coloradoonthe
westcampus.Thebodywasfoundatthecrimescenewithnoidentification.FromtheInitial
Examinationwefoundthattherewasbruisingacrossthechestcongruentwiththetiretrack
patterns,alumpontheforehead,bruisingontherighthandknuckles,bruisingontheleftand
rightknee,bruisingontheleftandrightshins,scrapesontheleftandrightelbows,abruise
presentontheleftlegthigh,andlastacontusiononthehead.Afterpackagingthebodycarefully
andtransportingitbacktothelabitwastimetoconductthePreliminaryStageofPostMortem.
Therewasvomitinthevictimsmouth,anddirtunderthefingernails.Thentoidentifythebody
thetheForensicOntologistandthePrintAnalysthadtobecontacted.Lateritwasfoundthatour
victimwasTerranceBond.Thenitwasvitaltotakeacloserlookattheclothingofourvictimtomake
surethatallwoundswereconsistentwiththemarkingsontheclothing.Sampleswerenotsentto
anotherlaboratorybecauseitdidnotdeemnecessary.Next,theGeneralMeasurementsandthe
XRaysweretaken.Acloserexaminationoftheinjuriesonthebodywasthenconductedtolocateany
otherevidencethatmayhavebeenpresentintheinjuries.Thereweretwelvewoundsonthebodyall
together.Onthefrontfacingsideofthebodytherewasalump(size:2.5cm,depth:N/A),several
bruises,acontusion(size:6.0cm,depth:N/A),andseveralscrapesaswell.Thenextstepwasto
observeforRigorMortis,AlgorMortis,andLivorMortis.Itwasfoundthatourvictimhadall
RigorMortis,AlgorMortis,andLivorMortis.Duringthedissectionitwasfoundthattherewasa
suspicioussubstance,ethanol,withintheblood.Tofinalizetheautopsy,TheCauseofDeathwas
AspirationofVomit,TheMechanismofDeathwasablockedairway(lackofoxygen),the
MannerofDeathwasanaccident,andtheTimeofDeathwas,September21,2014at7:00am
September21,2014at5:00pm.

Sources:

"ForensicPathology."ForensicPathologistRSS.N.p.,n.d.Web.21Oct.2014.

ConductinganAutopsyArticle

"AdvancesinForensicImagingBringNewOpportunitiesforRadiology."AuntMinnie.com.N.p.,n.d.
Web.27Oct.2014.

"ForensicPathology."Wikipedia.WikimediaFoundation,24Oct.2014.Web.27Oct.2014.