1/4. Nonterrorist suicidal deaths involving explosives.Suicidal deaths involving explosives unconnected to terrorism are rare. The investigation of deaths from explosive devices requires a multidisciplinary collaborative effort, as demonstrated in this study. Reported are 2 cases of nonterrorist suicidal explosive-related deaths with massive craniocerebral destruction. The first case involves a 20-year-old man who was discovered in the basement apartment of his father's home seconds after an explosion. At the scene investigators recovered illegal improvised power-technique explosive devices, specifically M-100s, together with the victim's handwritten suicide note. The victim exhibited extensive craniofacial injuries, which medicolegal officials attributed to the decedent's intentionally placing one of these devices in his mouth. The second case involves a 46-year-old man who was found by his wife at his home. In the victim's facial wound, investigators recovered portions of a detonator blasting cap attached to electrical lead wires extending to his right hand. A suicide note was discovered at the scene. The appropriate collection of physical evidence at the scene of the explosion and a detailed examination of the victim's history is as important as documentation of injury patterns and recovery of trace evidence at autopsy. A basic understanding of the variety of explosive devices is also necessary. This investigatory approach greatly enhances the medicolegal death investigator's ability to reconstruct the fatal event as a means of separating accidental and homicidal explosive-related deaths from this uncommon form of suicide.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/4. Human osteology: key to the sequence of events in a postmortem shooting.Forensic anthropologic examination of human skeletal remains found when a field was plowed provides evidence of both perimortem trauma, suggesting cause of death, and of subsequent shooting of the disarticulated skeleton. The case exemplifies the application of the specialized skills and knowledge of the physical anthropologist to determination of the postmortem sequence of events.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/4. Elevated postmortem ethanol concentrations in an insulin-dependent diabetic.A 54-year-old woman (165 cm, 37 kg) was found dead in her home during a welfare check after not having been seen for at least three days. The body showed clear evidence of decomposition. Her head was in what appeared to be a pool of blood. The residence was clean, neat, and showed no evidence of violence. insulin was found in the refrigerator, and syringes were in the kitchen cabinet. In agreement with these physical findings, her clinical history indicated that she suffered insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. Autolytic changes were noticed at autopsy, and no obvious cause of death was demonstrated. The autopsy heart blood sample screened negative for cocaine and/or metabolite (benzoylecgonine), phenethylamines, opiates, and barbiturates by radioimmunoassay. The alcohol concentration was 0.51 g/dL in the blood, 0.04 g/dL in the brain, 0.08 g/dL in the liver, and 0.05 g/dL in the urine, and acetone levels were 42 mg/dL, 53 mg/dL, 14 mg/dL, and 19 mg/dL, respectively. Isopropanol was also present in all samples analyzed. The cause of death was ruled as metabolic acidosis due to diabetes mellitus. Possible bacterial postmortem production of ethanol is considered as an explanation for the increased concentration of ethanol found in the postmortem heart blood.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/4. Postmortem chemistry update. Emphasis on forensic application.This article reviews the postmortem chemistry of body fluids. The articles reviewed have been written in English during the last 15 years and the subjects discussed include carbohydrates, nitrogenous compounds, electrolytes, trace elements, lipids, proteins, bile pigments, enzymes, hormones, blood gases, pH, biochemical markers, metabolic disorders, SIDS, time of death, and the physical characteristics of serum.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = physical (Clic here for more details about this article) |