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Month: August 2017

Body Burners: The Forensics of Fire

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THE fire started with a match held under a cotton blanket close to the man’s waist. Within 2 minutes, the flames had spread across the single bed he was lying on and were consuming his cotton sweatshirt and trousers.

Around a dozen onlookers were at the scene – including police, fire investigators and death investigators – yet all they did was watch. That was, after all, their job. The “victim” had in fact died some time ago, having previously donated his remains to medical research.

His body had reached a unique team led by Elayne Pope, a forensic scientist at the University of West Florida in Pensacola. Her group spends its time setting fire to corpses in a range of different circumstances, to work out exactly how the human body burns. They seem to be the only group carrying out such systematic studies in this area, and are certainly the only ones publishing their work...

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Forensic investigation of Submersion Deaths

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Summary

Context:  The diagnosis of the cause and the establishment of the manner of death in submersion cases are routine challenge for forensic pathologists as it presents considerable diagnostic difficulties.

Objective:  To concisely review the main questions during a submersion death investigation and to give the respective documented answers.

Data sources:  The search strategy included a literature search of PubMed, Medline and Google Scholar databases, as well as a review of the cited references by the identified studies and a hand search of relevant textbooks and reference works.

Conclusions:  A complete autopsy, histopathological examination and full toxicological screening are important to determine whether death indeed followed submersion in the water, or to see whether any natural disease or substance use have contributed or caused death. In ambiguous situations, the co-estimation of circumstantial evidence may be of invaluable importance toward the conclusion concerning the cause and the manner of death. The thorough forensic...

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Body Snatchers: Organ Harvesting For Profit

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Recently in China, a missing 6-year-old boy was found alone in a field, crying. Upon closer inspection, both eyes had been removed, presumably for the corneas.

In 2012, a young African girl was kidnapped and brought to the UK for the sole purpose of harvesting her organs. She was one of the lucky ones—rescued before she went under the knife. Authorities feel this is just the tip of the iceberg.

This isn't just an international occurrence. Kendrick Johnson, a Georgia teen, died at school January 2013. The local sheriff quickly determined the death was a freak accident, that he suffocated after getting stuck in a rolled up mat in the school gym. Johnson's parents however, could not would not accept that. Six months after his death, they obtained a court order to have the body exhumed for an independent autopsy.

The pathologist was stunned when he found the corpse stuffed with newspaper...

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The Rarity Of “Unusual” [Corrected] Dispositions Of Victim Bodies: Staging And Posing.

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Abstract

The act of leaving a victim's body in an unusual position is a conscious criminal action by an offender to thwart an investigation, shock the finder and investigators of the crime scene, or give perverted pleasure to the killer. The unusual position concepts of posing and staging a murder victim have been documented thoroughly and have been accepted by the courts as a definable phenomenon. One staging case and one posing case are outlined and reveal characteristics of those homicides. From the Washington State Attorney General's Homicide Investigation and Tracking System's database on murder covering the years 1981-2000 (a total of 5,224 cases), the relative frequency of unusual body dispositions is revealed as a very rare occurrence. Only 1.3% of victims are left in an unusual position, with 0.3% being posed and 0.1% being staged. The characteristics of these types of murders also set them apart: compared to all other murders,...

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Charred Body: Virtual Autopsy with Multi-Slice Computed Tomography and Magnetic Resonance Imaging

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ABSTRACT: The correct examination of a charred body is a forensic challenge. Examination, interpretation, and conclusion in respect to identification, vital reactions, toxicological analysis, and determining cause and manner of death are all more difficult than without burns. To evaluate what can be seen in the case of a charred body, we made an examination with the new radiological modalities of cross-section techniques, via multi-slice Computed Tomography (MSCT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), prior to performing the classical forensic autopsy. In a charred body case of a single motor vehicle/fixed object collision with a post crash fire, the radiological methods of MSCT and MRI made it possible to document the injuries caused by burn as well as the forensic relevant vital reactions (air embolism and blood aspiration). In conclusion, we think postmortem imaging is a good forensic visualization tool with a great potential for the forensic documentation and examination of charred bodies...

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Supreme Court Recognizes Tort of Negligent Investigation

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Canada March 10 2008

On October 4, 2007, the Supreme Court of Canada released its decision in Hill v. Hamilton-Wentworth Regional Police Services Board. The Supreme Court dismissed Mr. Hill’s appeal from the decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal, and, in a 6-3 decision, affirmed the Court of Appeal’s decision that a cause of action for negligent police investigations does exist at law.

In December 1994 and January 1995, there were ten robberies of financial institutions in Hamilton. In each case the modus operandi was essentially the same and eyewitnesses provided similar descriptions of the suspect. This led the police to conclude that the same person committed all ten robberies. Mr. Hill became a suspect after the police received a Crimestoppers tip about him subsequent to the seventh robbery. A police constable also identified Mr. Hill from a surveillance photograph taken during the fifth robbery. Ultimately, only one of the...

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Race, Sex, and Criminal Homicide Offender-Victim Relationships

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Abstract

Recent research has expanded our understanding of sexual homicide offenders (SHOs). However, little exists beyond case reports for older SHOs. We characterized male SHOs ≥ 55 years, comparing them to typical adult male SHOs who are in their twenties. Analysis of 37 years (1976–2012) of U.S. Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR) data provided a large SHO sample (N = 3, 453). Three case reports provide clinical context for the diverse nature and patterns of older SHOs. Only 32 older male SHOs and no older female SHOs were identified. Murders by older SHOs accounted for only 0.5% of U.S. sexual homicides. Unlike typical SHOs that generally target young adult females, over two thirds of older SHO victims were ≥ 40 years, and one-third were ≥ 55 years. Sexual homicides by older SHOs, like sexual homicide in general, decreased over the study period. These crimes, while exceedingly rare, do occur, warranting special consideration.

See Also: Sexual Homicide by Older Male Offenders

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The Sex Killer

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Abstract

Thirteen sex killers were compared to 13 nonsex killers and 13 nonhomicidal sexually aggressive men on sexual history, substance abuse, history of violence, mental illness and personality, brain pathology and endocrine abnormalities. There were more similarities among the three groups than differences. Among the findings, the presence of transvestism and the early appearance of sadism differentiated the sex killers from the other two groups. Sex killers also killed by strangulation more often than nonsex killers and more often victimized a female stranger. The sex killer was more often diagnosed as ‘antisocial’ personality and ‘sadist’ than the other two groups. They were more often considered psychotic at the time of their offence and more often considered not guilty by reason of insanity. Directions for future research are noted...

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Stalking, Homicide, and Catathymic Process: A Case Study

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Abstract

Despite the proliferation of research on various aspects of stalking, there has been relatively little study of stalkers who commit homicide. In this article, a man who stalked and killed a casual acquaintance is reported. He developed an idea to kill her that, at first, seemed ego-alien and unreal but eventually became fixed and was accompanied by a mounting inner pressure to act. The concept of catathymic process a change in thinking whereby the offender comes to believe that he can resolve his inner conflict by committing an act of extreme violence against someone to whom he feels emotionally bonded is of particular help in understanding this case, as well as similar cases of stalking that culminate in homicide....

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Homicidal Hanging Masquerading as Suicide

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Abstract

Homicidal hanging is rare and presents special problems for the forensic pathologist. We report a case of homicide by hanging masquerading as suicide, in which the forensic evidence was of crucial importance. The victim was a 61 years old man, who was found in his house suspended by a rope around his neck. The autopsy showed fresh bruises due to blunt trauma. Moreover, a voluminous subdural haematoma with brain swelling was found which indicated that the victim was unconscious at the time of the hanging. An obvious vital reaction consisting of cutaneous bleeding in the ligature mark supported the opinion that the deceased was alive and not dead at the time of the hanging. The estimation of the time of death was of great importance, as only one other person could have been present at the estimated time interval. This person was later sentenced to prison for manslaughter.

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Bondage and Suicide

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Abstract

Bondage" is a well-established category of deviant sexual behavior. It includes practices for erotic pleasure of being humiliated, enslaved, and physically bound and restrained. Life is threatened when, as is common, neck binding or partial asphyxiation forms part of the behavior. In the United States there are yearly about 50 such deaths, sometimes suicide, usually by accident. We report two fatal cases rich in details provided by the now deceased. In addition, we interviewed nine men and three women who responded to a notice in the underground press. Subjects were diverse in character and varied in the details of their bondage behavior. All of the men were isolated, depressed, and oriented toward death. Their masochism was first a challenge, then an invitation to death. When they see psychiatrists (for depression), the sexual problems are minimized.

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Opera Subculture and Suicide for Honor.

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Abstract

Suicide attempts and completions by individuals while naked remain unexplored, both by clinicians and in the professional literature. Nakedness at the time of the incident conveys important information about an individual's mental state. Motivations for attempting or completing suicide while naked are discussed. Nakedness during a suicide attempt is presumptive evidence of high risk for suicide completion. Deliberate self-harm, without intent to die, is not usually inflicted while naked. The clinical and forensic implications of naked suicide are explored. In completed suicides, the state of dress, including partial undress and nakedness may provide important clues in a psychological autopsy. Forensic psychiatrists and treating clinicians who encounter naked suicides are afforded a unique opportunity to advance our knowledge. Letters to the editor and case reports would stimulate discourse about this little understood phenomenon....

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PubMed | Naked Suicide

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Abstract

Suicide attempts and completions by individuals while naked remain unexplored, both by clinicians and in the professional literature. Nakedness at the time of the incident conveys important information about an individual's mental state. Motivations for attempting or completing suicide while naked are discussed. Nakedness during a suicide attempt is presumptive evidence of high risk for suicide completion. Deliberate self-harm, without intent to die, is not usually inflicted while naked. The clinical and forensic implications of naked suicide are explored. In completed suicides, the state of dress, including partial undress and nakedness may provide important clues in a psychological autopsy. Forensic psychiatrists and treating clinicians who encounter naked suicides are afforded a unique opportunity to advance our knowledge. Letters to the editor and case reports would stimulate discourse about this little understood phenomenon...

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Asian Women and Suicide tied to Model-Minority Stereotype

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In the wake of the VT shooting last month, another news source has confirmed what some mental health activists have been saying for years–and that is that racism and sexism has significant mental health consequences for those most impacted. This week, CNN reported that pressure to fulfill the model-minority stereotype contributes to the startling rate of suicide attempts among Asian American women. This main character of the story professor Eliza Noh, who began researching suicide among Asian women after her sister took her life, explained:

In my study, the model minority pressure is a huge factor,” says Noh, who studied 41 Asian-American women who’d attempted or contemplated suicide. “Sometimes it’s very overt – parents say, ‘You must choose this major or this type of job’ or ‘You should not bring home As and Bs, only As,” she says. “And girls have to be the perfect mother and daughter and wife as well.” …

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Harman’s Suicide Renewed Interest in Huisentruit Case

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On November 29, 2011, Kansas City’s beloved Fox 4 meteorologist, Don Harman, 41, succumbed to a lifelong struggle with depression and took his own life in his home outside Kansas City, Missouri.

For 12 years, Harman gave the morning weather report on Fox 4, where he was known for silly antics and costumes, a self-deprecating sense of humor, and ‘Doppler Don,’ a character he created to teach school children about the weather

Harman’s co-worker, Loren Halifax, said co-workers knew Harman was haunted by depression and worked with him to sort through his feelings.

Mark Alford, who had been Harman’s co-worker for more than a decade, said that Harman was disturbed at work on the day of the suicide.

Harman had once worked at KIMT-TV in Mason City, Iowa, with Jodi Huisentruit, who disappeared June 27, 1995.

Harman once said about Huisentruit’s disappearance, “The world fell apart for a lot of us.”

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Suicide: Psychache and Alienation

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Psychache (s?k-?k), a neologism coined by suicidologist Edwin Shneidman,1 is unbearable psychological pain hurt, anguish, soreness, and aching. Shneidman theorized that unresolved psychache results in suicidal behavior. In almost every case of suicide, psychache is the cause. Psychache stems from thwarted or distorted psychological needs . . . every suicidal act reflects some specific unfulfilled psychological need.

The particular frustrated need leading to the nuclear problem varies from person to person, as does the threshold for enduring psychological pain. Freud’s brilliant student Victor Tausk yearned for recognition from his mentor, but Freud was not generous in his praise. Tausk shot himself, with a noose around his neck. Robert Schumann’s psychache stemmed from loss when he was 16, his father died and his sister committed suicide in quick succession yet many people experience the loss of an important relationship and do not attempt suicide....

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