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shyscyberchamber.com
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THE ATTIC
:
Murder Autopsy |
Date
Added
JUN 2004 |
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The forensic pathologist is at the forefront of
every murder investigation. It is their initial observations that will
determine the thrust of subsequent police enquiries. Depending on the
circumstances of death, an area pathologist on the official Home Office register
will examine the body at the scene of the crime as soon as possible after its
discovery.
Their task is to ascertain the context of the crime and give advice as to how
the body should be 'packed' and transported back to the mortuary.
Sometimes he will also take what is known as trace evidence, such as fibres from
clothing.
If the body has been found relatively quickly after death, taking the
temperature of the body is one of the best methods of ascertaining the time of
death and this will be done by placing a thermometer into the rectum or vagina,
or by using a special ear thermometer. |
STATE & WEIGHT OF BRAIN
:
The state and weight of a body's brain
can often give a pathologist valuable insight into a victim's habits and
lifestyle. |
Cooling After Death
The cooling rate of the body will be a matter of careful calculation later,
depending on the circumstances. It seems obvious that a fully clothed body
found in a hotel bedroom, for instance, will usually cool less rapidly than a
naked one discovered outdoors, but other considerations need to be taken into
account.
'A plump girl lying naked in the rain might actually cool slower than a skinny
old chap in an overcoat and muffler, who passed away in his fireside armchair,'
said one country police surgeon. 'And some kinds of death - caused by
certain poisons, for instance - may even cause the body temperature to rise by a
few degrees after death.'
After these preliminary observations have been completed, the body is almost
ready to be transported to the mortuary. First, the head, hands and feet
are carefully encased in plastic bags to help preserve evidence. Then the
whole corpse is placed in a heavy PVC body bag, which serves much the same
purpose, although its not unknown for a bullet or other foreign body to fall out
of a wound while the body is bouncing along in the mortuary van. On
arrival, an autopsy, which simply means 'seeing with one's own eyes', or post
mortem examination, is performed to determine the cause of death. |
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MODERN FORENSICS :
Modern forensic pathology is
carried out in high tech and sanitized conditions - a far cry from days of old.
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Early Days
Most major advances in modern technology now play their role in the
investigation of violent death, but it wasn't always so. Professor Sir
Bernard Spilsbury, whose pioneering work dominated the forensic scene for all
but 12 years of the first part of the 20th century, often operated in his early
days in his shirtsleeves and wearing only a butchers apron over his street
clothes. However, another prominent pathologist, Professor Keith Simpson,
who began work in the mid 1930's, was horrified by such a lack of
professionalism.
'I will never forget the sight at Southwark mortuary,' he was to recall later,
'of a local police surgeon leaning against the wall in his coat and hat,
scribbling notes in a notebook while the mortuary attendant - a man without any
qualifications whatsoever - pulled out organs haphazardly and cut them up at the
doctor's direction.'
The smell in such institutions was the most difficult aspect for the
inexperienced - usually young medical students and police officers - to bear.
The nauseating stench of bowel contents and decaying flesh caused many an old
police hand to reach for cigarettes, or better still, pipe, to try and reduce
the odour. Spilsbury, however, would have none of this: 'If you smoke, I
cannot smell what I need to smell,' he told one officer. |
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THIRTEEN SUSPICIOUS SIGNS :
1. THE HEAD - A full forensic
examination starts here. The pathologist looks for obvious signs of
wounding, as well as less obvious ones. It may be necessary to shave the
head to reveal bruising or lacerations.
2. THE EYES can offer important clues. A tightly constricted pupil is
indicative of an overdose of an alkaloid drug, while haemorrhaging in the soft
tissue around the eye might indicate a blow.
3. EXAMINATION OF THE NECK will reveal bruising in the case of a victim
who has been throttled, while strangling or hanging will almost certainly snap
the hyoid bone and leave a mark of the ligature impressed on the skin.
4. THE UPPER CHEST is a primary location to look for evidence of someone
who has been stabbed or shot. All wounds are examined, measured and
photographed, and the body is checked for bruising.
5. CHECK THE UPPER ARMS - Bruising might indicate a beating, or that
somebody was held down by force. Rope marks could mean that the victim was
tied tightly.
6. THE GENERAL APPEARANCE of the body gives some clues. If the skin
is very pale there might be acute internal bleeding. On the other hand,
the victim might be suffering from severe anaemia.
7. EXTERNAL EXAMINATION OF THE ABDOMEN will sometimes show the presence of
enlarged organs or the presence of fluid in the body cavity. Wounds in the
abdomen are less informative than those in the chest. Due to the lack of
bony structure and general resilience of the organs, a small knife can cause a
very deep penetration.
8. THE HANDS can offer clues; fingernail scrapings occasionally contain
the blood of both the victim and the assailant, while 'self defence' cuts on the
fingers can indicate that the victim attempted to fight off an attacker.
9. INJURY TO THE GENITALS can come from a variety of sources.
Extensive bruising and rupturing around the male genitalia can result from a
kicking, while vaginal damage in the female could be the result of rape.
10. SKIN COLOUR is important. A person who dies of asphyxiation will
have Cyanosis, a deep blue colouring of the face and lips. Cyanosis allied
to white pressure marks around the mouth and nose indicates smothering.
Cyanide poisoning will give the skin a faint lilac tint, while carbon monoxide
poisoning leaves the face a bright cherry red.
11. EXAMINATION OF THE HIPS AND LOWER LIMBS will give an indication of
gross injury, such as might have been caused when a pedestrian is hit by a car
in a hit-and-run case. In addition, particles of paint or glass from
shattered headlights might have been forced into the skin.
12. DEFORMITIES, INJURIES, SURGICAL SCARS AND SWELLING are noted in the
general examination. They might not be of direct relevance, but they will
provide a picture of the victim's general health.
13. EXAMINATION OF THE FEET AND ANKLES can provide clues. Swelling -
Oedema - of the feet and ankles is often present in heart attack victims and
might indicate that the cause of death was heart failure, possibly brought on by
a physical assault.
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Quick Work
Professor Francis Camps, one of the great eccentrics of modern forensic
medicine, who died in 1972, went to the opposite extreme; he smoked continually,
as he zipped through autopsies at a top estimated rate, in his prime, of one
body every 10 minutes.
The fingers and thumbs of both Camps's hands, and even his lips, were stained
deep yellow with nicotine, and ash was often scattered everywhere, on extracted
organs, equipment, and onlookers alike. Often he would ask his secretary
to put a cigarette between his lips and light it; while she did so, he carried
on cutting at lightning speed.
Nor was he over-fussy about hygiene. One young constable who worked during
Camp's era remembered the pathologist accidentally dropping a newly lit
cigarette into the body cavity of a corpse, picking it out, examining it for
damp, and then sticking it back in the corner of his mouth.
Camps rarely wore surgical masks to shield his face and had scant regard for
gloves. Once he gashed his hand on a piece of bone while opening up a rib
cage. The mortuary technician offered him the first aid kit - septicaemia
or blood poisoning is a danger to all post mortem examinations - but he shrugged
it aside, apparently suffering no ill-effects. |
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MODERN FORENSICS :
Examination of the vital organs
will, in many cases, give a forensic pathologist key clues into cause of death.
Illnesses, disease and bodily abuse are all likely to be detected.
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Modern Methods
Cigarettes and shirt sleeves are now very much a thing of the past. The
modern forensic pathologist works in a spacious, brightly lit post-mortem
theatre, and he and his team are dressed in standard green surgical clothing.
Most theatres are well-ventilated so the smell is minimal, and post-mortems are
carried out on spotless stainless steel tables. In the best equipped
facilities, police observers can watch the post-mortem from behind glass.
If anything, the biggest change that has occurred over the last 20 years or so
is that maverick pathologists such as Spilsbury and Camps have been firmly
confined in the past. 'We all work as part of a high organised
professional team now,' says senior pathologist Kenneth Shorrock. 'Many
more samples are taken - for example, its not uncommon for swabs to be taken of
all orifices and sellotape to be applied systematically to the face to collect
fibres and other evidence.
'The really big change of the last decade, however, is DNA profiling, or
fingerprinting, which means that tiny DNA samples - from blood or other tissue -
need to be taken from the body in order to establish the identity of the
individual. If a person died as a result of an attack, scrapings from the
finger nails may provide details of the attacker's DNA.
'We now also have to make sure that we clean our instruments much more carefully
so that we don't get someone else's DNA on our instruments and, indeed, that we
don't get our DNA on someone else.' |
POST MORTEM EXAMINATION :
Every suspicious death will become the subject of an autopsy, or post
mortem. Sometimes the pathologist will visit the scene of the crime to
investigate the body in situ before moving it to the mortuary, where a full
examination takes place.
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1.
ARRIVAL AT THE MORTUARY |
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The body arrives in the mortuary in a bag with the
extremities covered in plastic to ensure that no evidence is lost. A
general description of the body is made, covering height, weight, general
condition and any obvious external wounds. Clothing is removed and
bagged up. The pathologist records a running commentary of his
actions. The purpose of the examination is to have an accurate
record of stature, apparent age, health and any external physical damage. |
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2.
EXTERNAL EXAMINATION |
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A full external examination now takes
place. By following a ser pattern, the pathologist makes sure that
he does not miss anything out : you never know when a small scratch will
be pivotal in the case when it gets to court. A typical procedure
might start at the head and neck, followed by the chest, the abdomen,
upper limbs, lower limbs and genitalia. The whole procedure is
repeated for the back and it is all photographed as it happens. |
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3.
LOOKING FOR EVIDENCE |
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Before being cleaned by the mortuary staff,
the body has swabs taken from a number of key sites. In sexually
related crimes these include the vagina, rectum, breasts and mouth.
In gunshot cases swabs from around the wound might reveal powder residue,
which can give a clue as to the range at which the shot was fired.
Fingernail scrapings or clippings are also taken at this time. |
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4.
PHOTOGRAPHY |
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Each individual wound is examined and
photographed as a permanent record. To prevent any disputes later in
the case, every photograph includes a scale so that the size of the wound
is obvious. Probes can be used in stabbing cases to give the angle
and depth of any wound. |
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5.
OPENING INCISION |
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The internal examination begins with an
incision from behind the ear, curving down to the sternum and back up to
the ear on the other side. The incision is continued right down the
front of the body to the groin. |
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6.
INTO THE CHEST |
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The preliminary incision enables the
pathologist to dissect away the skin of the chest and the neck quite
easily, exposing the organs of the neck together with muscles and bone of
the chest. This exposes any subcutaneous bruising which may not be
apparent on the surface of the skin. This stage of the examination
also gives the pathologist his first clues as to the nature and depth of
any stab wounds that may be present. |
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7.
EXAMINING THE ORGANS |
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In order to examine the organs of the
chest, the breastbone must be cut through. This can be done with a
scalpel in people under 30 but older bones need to be sawn through.
The internal organs thus exposed can now be examined for evidence before
being removed for further analysis. This examination will reveal the
presence of any illness and traces of drugs or alcohol - any of which may
have contributed to the cause of death. |
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8.
OPENING THE SKULL |
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To examine the skull, the initial incision
is continued across the vertex of the head, and the scalp is pulled
forwards and backwards to reveal the bone. A circular saw is used to
cut through the skull, and the dome is prised off the body by means of a
chisel-headed 'key'. The angled cut is used to ensure that the skull
fits when the body is reconstructed. |
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9.
EXAMINING THE BRAIN |
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Once the skull is free, the brain can be
examined. The inside of the skull can reveal a pattern of old
injuries, giving a clue to the victim's lifestyle. In cases
involving blunt instruments, skull fractures should match damage to the
meninges - the membrane around the brain - and to the surface of the brain
itself. |
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10.
RECONSTRUCTION |
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After completion of the autopsy, it is important to reconstruct
the body by reversing the dissection process. Packing is inserted where
the organs have been removed for analysis, and the body is tightly stitched in
order that fluids do not escape. The aim is to provide relatives and
undertakers with aesthetically acceptable remains. In some cases, such as
car crash victims, the appearance of the body may be improved by the
reconstruction. |
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On the Witness Stand
In routine post mortem examinations, the pathologist will speak his notes into
an overhead microphone, but most prefer to take their own longhand notes,
particularly if the body being examined is more likely to be a part of a court
case. Extensive body charts are also taken by the pathologist - these are
often used as evidence in court, since the photographs taken of wounds and other
injuries can be far too grisly to show the jury.
The days when the mere word of Sir Bernard Spilsbury decided the outcome of case
are long gone, and anyone involved in criminal proceedings must expect to face
rigorous cross-examinations in court.
'You are often asked to produce your original notes,' say Peter Vanezis of
Glasgow University, 'and you have to keep as much hard copy as you can.
Taking notes longhand has the added advantage of slowing you down, and makes you
think more about what you are doing.'
Professor Alan Usher, who by the time he retired from the chair of Forensic
Pathology at Sheffield University in 1990, had dealt with over 27,000 coroner's
post mortems in a career spanning more than 35 years. In 780 of these
deaths, there as serious suspicion of murder. Alan Usher notes, the more
carefully you conduct the investigation, the better the results will be.
'What we are trying to do when we have a body on the table is to discover the
cause of death. Natural causes, accident, suicide or murder are the four
options. We also want to discover the circumstances of death; and if it is
not immediately apparent, in the case of severe mutilation, say, we also want to
establish identification - sex, age, weight, height, race and so on.'
But for all the modern techniques and standards, the underlying principals of
forensic investigation remain unchanged, and were aptly summed up by the poet
Rudyard Kipling when he wrote:
I keep six honest serving men
(They taught me all I knew)
Their names are What and
Why and When
And How and Where and Who |
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