Archive for June, 2005

Livor mortis refers to the presentation of blood as it has settled in the body. Depending on the presence and state of livor during the external exam, it may be useful for establishing two key elements of the investigation—postmortem interval and whether or not the body has been moved recently. As soon... »

Bren at http://erratus.blogspot.com writes: Going with the example of the husband, if you have a strong suspicion that the story told to you by the husband or the officers on the scene is somewhat different to the evidence lying prone on the ground and around her, what do you do? Do you challenge the husband... »

Algor mortis refers to the rate at which a body cools after death. This rate of cooling makes it possible to determine the approximate time of death by counting backwards the number of hours the body appears to have cooled from the time that the temperature was taken. The preferred time window... »

I’ve received a few emails and comments asking me to explain some of the terms I have used in recent posts. From now on, I’ll try to do a better of job of providing definitions as I use some of the more “technicalâ€? terms pertaining to death investigation. I plan on placing... »

The subject of “traumatic injuriesâ€? appears to be a crowd favorite whenever I give a presentation on death investigation. Images of gunshot wounds, blunt force trauma, and impact injuries coupled with methods for evaluating external trauma always makes for a captive audience. Still, I find that I enjoy discussing human decomposition more... »