On most apparent natural deaths, patrol officers may be the only ones dispatched to the scene with instructions to notify their appropriate investigative unit if the M.E./Coroner finds anything out of the ordinary. As such, it is the responsibility of the M.E./Coroner to search the scene for anything that may have played a role...
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I’ve seen a lot of different marketing items for the crime scene cleanup industry over the years. Coffee mugs, calendars, glossy brochures, and such. All sorts of neat little items that we aren’t allowed to accept in accordance with our code of ethics. This is a real shame at times because the last pens...
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Several months into the start of my career in forensic death investigation, an acquaintance of mine asked what I had found to be the most surprising aspect so far. I’d been waiting for a decent question to come along among the recurring ones I usually fielded. Questions like, “What’s the grossest thing you’ve ever...
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At least not yet. My apologies to anyone who’s been checking back for some new material. I had no idea it’s been that long since my last post! The last year or more has been extremely busy at work and at home. 2008 was a record year for deaths and so far 2009 shows...
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I’ve noticed a lot of sites with a list of unique things the author has done. In the interest of fitting in, here’s my compilation. As a death investigator, I supppose there are many things I’ve done that most people haven’t, so I’ll try to include things most people haven’t thought of… 1. Taken...
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I don’t know if the average person ever thinks about the issue of removing a body from a scene. Most everyone has seen a body rolled away on the news or on a crime drama by people specially “trained” to perform that task. Needless to say, there is no actual formal training. Each removal...
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