Coroner Stories

The presence of blood at a scene doesn’t always indicate a traumatic death. Many times when a person dies face down, their body “purges�? a small amount of watery, bloody discharge. Other times, an even larger amount can be present. Unfortunately for death scene investigators, first responders—be they police, paramedics, or family members—perceive blood to be a sure sign of foul play. In these cases, a scene investigation is required to determine the source of the blood.

When I first started, one of the smaller police departments in the area discovered a bloody scene while conducting a welfare check on an older gentleman. Being a smaller department, they were going to have to call in the state police to conduct their scene investigation. I was already in the area, so I offered to stop by and see what I thought before they made the call. Even with my limited experience at that time, I knew my impression of “a lot of blood�? differed from an officer’s impression. My plan was to go in and have a look around without altering the scene. If I saw anything alarming, I would back out and wait for the scene investigators to arrive.

Upon my arrival, I was informed that the gentleman was on the floor of the master bath in front of his vanity. According to the officers, there was blood everywhere—on the body, on the walls, on the sink, on the mirror, on the floor—everywhere. I walked through the house and into the bathroom expecting to find a little blood here and there. As the bathroom came into view I saw how inaccurate the officers had been.

There was twice as much blood as they had described. Not even the muting effect of the wallpaper pattern could hide the blood that covered it. I did my best to shake of my astonishment and focus on the matter at hand. A common pitfall for any scene investigator is to focus on the obvious and consequently overlook the less obvious.

The face, shirt, and hands of the gentleman were covered with blood but I couldn’t see any obvious signs of injury to any of those areas. The mirror appeared to be covered with high velocity blood spatter similar to that resulting from high velocity firearm injuries. I discounted the possibility that such a firearm had been used because the mirror was intact and the damage to the body would have been much more devastating. I also knew that expectorated (coughed up) blood was often similar in appearance to high velocity blood spatter.

The bowl of the sink seemed to be covered in blood as well, forcing me to consider that the gentleman had severed a neck vein. Judging from the apparent absence of any razors and the presence of the electric razor on the sink, I discounted that possibility as well. There was also blood in the adjoining room where the toilet and tub were located. The significance of that observation was that the gentleman had lost blood in two areas signifying that he was alive long enough to move from point A to point B.

I felt pretty certain at that point that the death hadn’t resulted from foul play, so I decided to examine the body more closely. When I lifted the shirt, I saw markings on his chest that outlined the treatment field for his radiation therapy. As it turned out, the gentleman’s cancer caused a sudden onset of hemorrhage into his airway causing him to cough up large amounts of blood. The experience served as a good example of how a natural death can initially give the appearance of a violent death.

Thanks to all who have taken time to comment. Instead of responding to certain comments in the string, I’ve decided to address them in the new “Comment Responses�? category. Hopefully they are easier to find this way.
__________

Comment on “Top 10 Unique Things I’ve Done�? by julia:

“Oh Holy Moly! You drove a car with a dead person on the hood? Why not just move it and then drive?�?

Response:
I was called out to a remote part of the county where a hunter found a body in a field. The roads leading to the field from the main roads had all been dirt prior to being turned into mud by a recent storm. I was able to slide my way to the scene, but the ambulance service that volunteered to transport the body got stuck. Rather than wait for the ambulance to be rescued, I proposed bagging the body, putting it on the hood of my car, and driving it to where the ambulance was located. One of the investigators seemed reluctant to go along with that suggestion. I pointed out that it was dark and there were no civilians around and that the only other option was to put the mud covered body bag into the black of his new Explorer. Within seconds, I had a body on the hood of my car.
__________

Comment on “Grief Counseling 101�? by The Cure:

“Once again… I don’t think I could do that. When you first started did you get really emotionally involved?�?

Response:
I don’t think I’d be able to address emotional involvement in just a few lines here, so I’ve earmarked the topic for a future post. Please stay tuned…
__________

Comment on “Splitting Fibers�? by MongaKim:

“Just curious…..do you watch Autopsy on HBO? I love that show…�?

Response:
I have a tendency to avoid most of the forensic shows. Partly because it’s what I do for a living and partly because most of them focus more on the dramatic aspects of a case than on the scientific aspects. I understand the logic—if it were the other way around, virtually no one would watch. The one episode of “Autopsy�? I recall seeing seemed to be more genuine than similar shows. I think the main reason is that basic cable shows have to rely more on empathetic narration and interviews to invoke a reaction in the viewer. HBO is free to be more graphic which allows the images to speak for themselves.
__________

Comment on “Top 10 Unique Things I’ve Done�? by The Cure:

“Wow! Hands down that is the most amazing list I have seen. That would be a tough job. I am not sure I could handle all the stuff with the kids. I would get to mad.�?

Response:
Child deaths are another topic I’ll have to address at length in a future post.
__________

Thanks again to all who have commented and subsequently provided topics to write about.

A Douglas

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 a deceased child from the arms of a grieving mother or father.
2. Done the above dozens of times.
3. Amassed more photos of naked people on my work computer than most people have on their home computer.
4. Driven a car with a dead body across the hood.
5. Collected and assembled the shattered remains of a 3-year-old’s head in order to figure out where it had been shot.
6. Climbed a tree to cut down a body.
7. Been stopped for speeding and given an apology instead of a ticket.
8. Examined a dead dog for signs of smoke inhalation.
9. Crawled about 50’ into a sewer pipe to drag out a body.
10. Been stopped by the state police with thousands of dollars worth of illicit drugs in the front seat and released (unrelated to #4).

I may add to this list in the future as I recall any more “out of the ordinary” stuff.

The following story is one of my more memorable experiences from earning my stripes as a grief counselor.

I’ve mentioned in other posts how difficult it is to train a person as a forensic death investigator. Protocols for investigating various types of deaths can be taught and reviewed repeatedly, but there is no more effective teaching tool in this line of work than practical application.

When it comes to grief counseling, the method of instruction is no different. Applying what is learned is made even more difficult when one considers the emotional element that one is faced with—something no amount of training can prepare a person to face.

The scene itself was in the backyard of a residence where a three-year-old child drowned in a hot tub. The hot tub had steps leading up to it and a 4�? thick cover over it, but it appeared as though the child had no difficulty lifting the cover enough to fall inside.

After working the scene and collecting the body, it was time to visit with the family. The senior investigator I was with offered to stay in the car with the child while I stepped into the house to talk to the next of kin. At that point in my training, I had talked to several different families. On those occasions, I always had another investigator present, but I felt confident enough to solo at this point.

The officers at the scene indicated that the family was inside the house waiting to speak with me and led me to the front door. With a business card and a pamphlet on coping with child deaths in hand I entered the house to give my spiel. I walked in with a somber look on my face and my head bowed respectfully until I raised it to make eye contact. When I did, I found that I was surrounded by at least thirty crying family members stuffed into a living room the size of a parking space. I turned to ask the officer who the closest next of kin was, and I was immediately aware he had found himself in my position before. This time he remained outside.

I searched around briefly hoping someone would state that they were the father or mother, but no one did. My eyes were met with many different looks. Of those that did make eye contact with me, I got the impression that half of them expected me to tell them that the child was still alive, and the other half wanted to drown me in the hot tub for even being there.

I felt a slight choke in my throat and took evasive action from the emotion that I was beginning to feel. I picked the eldest woman in the room and knelt down before her. I introduced myself and told her why my office had gotten involved. I told her that the child was being taken to the medical examiner’s office and asked her if she had any questions.

Focusing on her alone allowed me to temporarily tune out all of the emotion around me. It also seemed to help her. When I addressed her directly, she too was able to focus on the matter at hand and set aside her grief momentarily. For all I know, she was the only person in the whole room that actually heard what I said. After talking to her directly, I was able to stand, look about the room, and include everyone else. Ignoring them entirely only moments before allowed me to take control and treat them with reverence. At the same time, I was able to remain as emotionally detached as a tour guide asking, “Does anyone have any questions?�?

I really don’t spend a whole lot of time thinking about how much better I am today at talking to grieving family members. When I do, my thoughts mostly focus on whether I have become proficient at dealing with families or if I’ve just simply become a coldhearted bastard. If nothing else, I’ve learned to maintain an emotionally stable balancing act between the two possibilities.

Amy G. submitted the following comment:

Hi, I am interested in the job of being a County Coroner…Its weird, but I have actually wanted to do this for a long time, my family thinks its weird, but I want to pursue this only I am not sure how to go about doing this, or what classes I need to take..I currently reside in Iowa, but in a year or so, I plan to relocate to Texas..Please give me any information that I would need to help me pursue this career, anything would be helpful, thank you, Amy

Amy:

States vary with regard to how they provide medicolegal death investigations to the public. In short, some rely on a coroner system and some have a statewide medical examiner system. Others have a combination of the two with a coroner system in the rural areas and a medical examiner system in the urban areas—especially common in the larger states. If you are planning on relocating to Texas, I would recommend moving to a large urban area. Naturally, more people means more deaths which means more employment opportunities.

Death investigators come from a variety of backgrounds. The majority have some past experience with exposure to trauma. Examples would be paramedics or anyone with corpsman or medic experience from the military. Working as an autopsy technician or in the funeral business is also good exposure. The problem is that an autopsy technician job is hard to come by and the funeral business is much more lucrative.

Degrees are certainly helpful, but access to coursework in this field is limited in most parts of the country. Most universities have a criminal justice program but only a few of those offer classes that are specific to the field of forensics. Of those, the majority are focused on lab based forensics—toxicology, serology, DNA, etc. It’s “easier�? to find work in those areas simply because there are more chemists than there are death investigators.

If you live close to a coroner or medical examiner’s office, you can offer your time as an intern, but you’ll need something on your resume to distinguish yourself from the CSI wannabes. Simply calling your local office and expressing an interest isn’t going to get you past the front desk. It’ll take enrollment in specialized classes or attendance at conferences to separate you from those with morbid curiosity.

As for your family, they’ll either adjust or they won’t. My family thought it was weird too at first, but they’ve relaxed considerably now that they see how much I enjoy what I do. You should find that you get more satisfaction from this job than they do from their jobs.

Hope that helps and good luck to you.