One of my earliest memories of working death scenes goes back to my days in training. A man had gone to the edge of the patio in his backyard, placed the butt of a 12-gauge shotgun against the ground, bent over the shotgun with the barrel at the bridge of his nose, and pulled...
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I recently received an email from a reader that was very complimentary of the subject matter I’ve discussed, but at the same time they couldn’t help but want to know more about some of the more gruesome aspects of my job. I’ve received similar “requests� such as this one—direct or implied. I responded with...
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According to my wife, I use the phrase “one of the worst houses I’ve ever been in� quite a lot. In retrospect, I seem to refer to a rather long list of houses I’ve had the misfortune to be exposed to. I suppose my use of the phrase is no different than when a...
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Actually, death pressed on while I took a short break from death, but “Death Takes a Holiday� sounds much more interesting than “Douglas Takes a Holiday.� Or at the very least, it sounds a lot less like a children’s book. The opportunity to get out of town presented itself on short notice, so I...
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While driving to a long distance scene one night, I found myself recalling a reader comment from a few weeks ago that seems to have stuck with me. The comment referred to what little television had taught the commenter about what I do for a living. As I drove, I realized that, according to...
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