U6: Dead on Arrival

An Introduction

WARNING: Some of the content in this unit is graphic

and may be upsetting to some students. Discretion is
advised.

Essential Vocabulary
Death: the cessation, or end, of life
Cause of Death: the immediate
reason for a persons death
Manner of Death: One of four
means by which someone dies
Mechanism of Death: the specific
body failure that leads to death

What does the phrase

saved by the bell mean?

What bodily systems do you need to live?

Respiratory system
Circulatory system
Central nervous system

Failure of any of these systems will result in death.

 Clinical death
No breathing
No detectable heartbeat
No detectable neurological
function
all three must be absent

When the heartbeat stops, a

person is suffering clinical
death.
Consciousness is not lost until
15-20 seconds later.
After this point, a person
doesn't feel anything about the
critical situation

 Most tissues and organs of the body can survive clinical death for
considerable periods.
Blood circulation can be stopped in the entire body below the heart for
at least 30 minutes
Detached limbs may be successfully reattached after 6 hours of no blood
circulation at warm temperatures.
Bone, tendon, and skin can survive as long as 8 to 12 hours.

Without special treatment after circulation is restarted, full recovery of

the brain after more than 3 minutes of clinical death is rare
Brain damage or brain death can result after longer intervals of clinical
death even if the heart is restarted and blood circulation is successfully
restored

Legal death
Complete absence of
neurological function
Individuals with can be kept
alive with the use of respirators
Declared dead even though
heart may still be beating
Not the same as a vegetative
state

Q: What is Death?
Death is a process rather than
an instant event
1st Stage = Stoppage
Heart stops no oxygen
nerves, muscles, organs and
brain stop
Cells die they break down
(autolysis)
Irreversible process

Q: What is a Forensic Autopsy?

Preformed in all cases of suspicious, unnatural or
questionable death
When the cause of death of a victim may be a
criminal or involve foul play.

Purpose = identify three elements of a crime

Cause of death
Mechanism of death
Manner of death

Q: What is a Forensic Autopsy?

A forensic autopsy applies
science to legal law.
An autopsy is a post
mortem examination
preformed on a corpse.
'auto-' = 'self
autopsy = 'to see for
oneself.

Q: What is Forensic Pathology?

Forensic Pathology is a sub-specialty of
pathology that focuses on determining
the cause of death by examining a
corpse

Death Personnel
U6: Dead on Arrival

Q: Types of Autopsies?
Medical autopsy = cause of death is usually pretty
well known: cancer, liver failure, heart failure, etc.
Generally based on a large body of evidence from
hospital and doctors' records to family recollections.

Forensic autopsy = very little (if any) past

information is known
The examiner must try to develop as complete a picture
of how this victim died and any evidence, including trace
evidence that may be found on the victim's clothing,
belongings, and on the body itself.

Q: Who Performs Forensic Autopsies?

Usually preformed by a specialized professional
Coroner
Medical Examiner
Forensic Pathologist

Coroner
An elected government official who is trained in investigating
deaths but may not have a medical degree
Responsibilities:
Investigates crime scene for evidence
Moves body to morgue
Prepares death certificates
Oversees autopsy
Notifies the next of kin
Collects and returns any personal belongings on the body to
the family of the deceased

Medical Examiner
Licensed physician
Appointed by the governor of
a state to investigate deaths
that appear to be of a violent,
suspicious or unnatural
nature
Responsibilities:
Carries out autopsy
Signs the death certificate

Pathologist
Responsibilities:
Diagnose disease and injury by the gross and
microscopic examination of tissue specimens:
Biopsies, organs, pap smears, bone marrow aspirates,
blood smears

The Medical Examiner and Pathologist may be the

same person, depending on the lab.

 Its a forensic death investigators job to

Look outside the box and find the true
cause of death
Help piece together a crime
Act as an expert witness in court
Its like putting together the pieces of a
puzzle

Cause, Manner, Mechanism

An Autopsy Can Reveal

1. Cause of Death
2. Manner of Death
3. Mechanism of Death

Manner of Death
4 different categories:
Natural
Accidental
Homicide
Suicide
**Unknown

Natural Death
When the body ceases to
function of its own accord
The majority of natural death
is caused by old age.
Other causes

Heart disease
Terminal illness
Stroke
Genetic disorders

Accidental Death
Often caused by
mistake or in a freak
occurrence.
Deaths are not
planned yet can be
explained by
surrounding
circumstances.

Accidental Death
Manslaughter: murder committed
out of an involuntary act of
violence
Misadventure: victim died by
accident while doing something
they should not have been doing
or taking risks that would put
them in mortal danger

Homicidal Death
The act of killing
another person
Homicide is often
the most
investigated death,
therefore making it
the most autopsied.

Homicidal Death
Infanticide: Killing of an infant
Fratricide: Killing of one's
brother; in a military context,
killing of a friendly combatant
Sororicide: Killing of one's sister
Parricide: Killing of one's parents
Patricide: Killing of one's father

Matricide: Killing of one's mother

Mariticide: Killing of one's spouse
Uxoricide: Killing of one's wife
Filicide: Killing of one's child
Genocide: Killing of a national,
ethnic, racial or religious group

Suicidal Death
The act of ending ones
own life
Deliberate,
Self-inflicted

Can sometimes be
confused with accidental
death

Unknown Death
In some jurisdictions, the
Undetermined/Other
category may include
Deaths in absentia, such
as deaths at sea
Missing persons declared
dead in a court of law

Mechanism of death
The specific physiological changes in the body that brought
about the cessation of life
Example 1: If the cause of death was a shooting
The mechanism could be loss of blood (exsanguination) or
cessation of brain function
Example 2: If the cause of death was massive trauma from a car
accident
The mechanism could be pulmonary arrest (lungs stopped
working)
Example 3: If the cause of death is a drug overdose
The mechanism could be cardiac arrhythmia (change in the
heart rate)

Dead On Arrival: Autopsy

Procedure

Autopsy Basics
An autopsy is the medical examination of a
dead body to determine the cause of death.
Autopsies are performed when someone dies
suddenly and unexpectedly while in apparently
good health.
Autopsies may also be performed at the request
of the family of the deceased.

Autopsy Basics
There are two types of autopsies:
Clinical (Medical)
Forensic (Medical-Legal)

Autopsy Basics
Clinical (Medical) Autopsy
Usually performed in hospitals by
pathologists or the attending
physician to determine a cause of
death for research and study
purposes.

Autopsy Basics
Forensic autopsy: (medical-legal autopsy)
The kind you most often see on TV and in movies.
Spends almost as much time on the external surfaces
of the body as it does on the internal surfaces
Forensic autopsies try to find answers to the cause of
death as part of an overall police investigation.

Steps of an Autopsy

Internal Examination
Y Incision

T Incision

Changes in Death

Essential Vocabulary
Algor Mortis: the cooling of the body after death
Autolysis: the spontaneous breakdown of cells as they
self-digest
Decomposition: the process of rotting and breaking down
Livor Mortis: the pooling of the blood in tissues after
death resulting in a reddish color to the skin
Rigor Mortis: the stiffening of the skeletal muscles after
death

 During an autopsy, the forensic examiner wants to

determine when the person died.
By establishing the time of death, a suspect may be
proved innocent simply because he or she was not in
the same place as the victim at the time of death.
On the other hand, the suspect may remain a person of
interest if he or she was in the same area at the time a
person died.

Many factors are used to approximate the time of

death.

Immediate Changes in Death

Cessation of respiration and circulation
Muscular relaxation
Loss of reflexes
Skin pallor
Dilated pupils

Apparent after one or two hours:

Algor Mortis
Cooling

Livor Mortis (hypostasis)

Discoloration in dependent regions

Rigor Mortis
Stiffening

 Defined as Color of Death

Discoloration of the skin
Begins immediately at death
Usually reddish purple in color
Blood sinks by gravity to the dependent
regions of the body
RBCs break down, spill hemoglobin into
body

Settling of the blood in dependent portions of the body

except in the areas exposed to pressure

 Livor can be confused with bruises

Livor can be drained, but blood from bruises
cannot

 Lividity: pooling of blood in

the body
First begins about 2 hours
after death
Fixed after 6-12 hours
Blood will not flow to a
new dependent region if
the body is moved

 Ambient temperature
Outside on a hot, summer day = faster
livor mortis.
Cool room = slower livor mortis .
Impeding objects
Anything that blocks the flow of blood
Ex: tight wristwatches or belts

 Livor mortis can tell us

Position of corpse during first 8 hours
If a body has been moved
Dual lividity: occurs when the body was kept in one position
two hours after death and then moved to a second position
before lividity became permanent
Fairly common in cases of murder

 Stiffening of the body

Seen as early as 2 to 4
hours after death
Onset may be delayed by
environmental conditions
Temporary

 Stiffness starts in the head and gradually works

its way down to the legs.
After 12 hours = body is at its most rigid state. The
stiffness gradually disappears after 36 hours.
No visible rigor = probably been dead <2 hrs
but >48 hrs
Very rigid = body has been dead for about 12
hours.

Rigor Mortis
The stiffness occurs
because the skeletal
muscles are unable to
relax and remain
contracted and hard.
The muscles eventually
begin to relax as the cells
and muscle fibers begin to
dissolve by autolysis.

Factors: Rigor Mortis

Ambient temperature
The cooler the body, the
slower the onset of rigor.

Persons weight
Body fat stores extra oxygen
and will slow down rigor.

Type of clothing
Naked body slows down rigor.

Illness
With fever, rigor will set in
faster.
Hypothermia the onset of rigor
will be slower.

Physical activity
Exercising = faster

Sun exposure
Direct sunlight, faster

Algor Mortis
Defined as Coolness of Death
Temperature loss in a corpse

Algor Mortis refers to the change of

temperature that occurs after death due to the lack
of energy.
98.6 degrees F (37 degrees C) - normal body temperature

Warm to the touch up to 3 hours after death

Around 4 to 6 hrs cool to the touch
After 24 hrs temp of the external environment.

Algor Mortis
Investigators can determine how long ago death
occurred by the temp of the body
Approx. one hour after death, the body cools at
a rate of 0.78C (1.4F)/hr
After 12 hours, body loses about 0.39C
(0.7F)/hr until the body reaches the same
temperature as the surroundings.

Time of death determined by body temperature

calculations is always expressed as a range of
time
Rule of thumb is to expect a heat loss of
approximately 1 degree F per hour.

 Things to note:
Normal body temperature varies
Body cooling does not occur at a uniform rate
Skin cools more rapidly than the inside of the body
Inner body core temperature should be taken at the
scene (thermometer into the liver)

Why would this be helpful to forensic scientists?

 Time: body will cool to environmental temperature

Environmental temperature
Location of the body
In water, the temperature equalizes rapidly with the medium; in the

ground, it cools slowly because of the insulating effect of the soil

Body build and clothing: obesity or heavy clothing slows cooling

Humidity and air currents: body exposed to wind will cool
rapidly

Example One
The temperature of a dead body is 90F. How long did
it take the body to lose 8.6F?

Example Two
What temperature would you expect a body to have
if it has been dead for 12 hours?

What happens to a dead body if it is left

untouched for a prolonged time?
Why?

 Decomposition
The process by which organic substances are broken
down into simpler forms of matter.
Bodies of living organisms begin to decompose shortly
after death.
Although no two organisms decompose in the same
way, they all undergo the same sequential stages of
decomposition.

 A corpse decomposes in predictable ways over

time that can help examiners judge when death
occurred

 Autolysis: self-digestion
The breaking down of tissues by the bodys
own internal chemicals and enzymes
Digestive enzymes within the body cells
break down carbohydrates and proteins
Green and purplish staining occurs from blood
decomposition.
The skin takes on a marbled appearance.
The face becomes discolored.

 Putrefication:
The breakdown of tissues by bacteria
Releases gases that are the chief source of the
odor of decay

The abdomen swells with the gas carbon dioxide

that is released by bacteria living in the
intestines

The skin blisters

 The corpse bloats with carbon dioxide as bacteria

continue to feed on tissues.
Eventually, the gas causes the chest and abdominal
cavities to burst and collapse.

Fluids begin to leak from the body openings as cell

membranes rupture.
Eyeballs and other tissues liquefy.
The skin sloughs off

Summary
1. Initial Stage
Autolysis: cells self-digest and bacteria proliferate

2. Bloated Stage
Putrefication: Gases accumulate due to bacteria
Skin marbling due to sulfur atoms

3. Purge
Bloating is relieved as gases and fluids leak out

4. Advanced Decay (slowest stage)

Body shrinks
In the sun = mummification; in the shade = skeletinization

Factors that affect decomposition

The rate and manner of decomposition in a body is affected
by several factors

Temperature;
The availability of oxygen;
Prior embalming;
Burial, depth of burial, and
soil type;
Access by scavengers;
Trauma, including wounds
and crushing blows;

Humidity, or wetness;
Rainfall;
Body size and weight;
Clothing;
The surface on which the
body rests;
Foods/objects inside the
specimen's digestive tract