September 2017 - Page 4 of 18 - searchfortruth.info

Ice Pick Death: A Case Report And Discussion Of The Injury Pattern.

November 30, 2018September 28, 2017 by admin

Abstract

Death due to ice pick injury rarely reported in forensic literature. We report death of a 16-year old male, who was allegedly assaulted on chest, back and thigh by his school-mate, with an ice pick. The accused had got the ice pick from his father's ice shop to attack the victim. The multiple stabs to the chest region had perforated the lung and penetrated the heart chambers. The victim succumbed to death on the way to hospital and medico-legal autopsy was conducted. The injuries inflicted by the ice pick are highlighted and its pattern is discussed in this article, owing to the peculiar nature of the wounds produced by the ice-pick....

Sharp Edged and Pointed Instrument Injuries – Forensic Medicine

February 20, 2019September 28, 2017 by admin

Introduction

In this article we will primarily discuss those injuries produced by sharp-edged instruments, incised wounds, and pointed instruments with a sharp-edge or edges, stab wounds. This will be followed by a discussion of chop wounds and those instruments without a sharp edge, but have a blunt point such as found on screwdrivers and barbecue forks. Impaled injuries will be discussed. Mechanism and manner of death will then be reviewed. Throughout this article there will be a brief discussion of terms, such as ʻcardiac tamponade,ʼ and cellular structures such as neutrophils in order to enhance understanding. Lastly, there is considerable space devoted to a discussion of the chronological histological features for dating of incised or stab wounds, the purpose of which is to show there is sound scientific evidence for the histologic dating of these injuries.Incised Wounds-General Information..

Intimate Partner Stalking: Comparing the Danger Posed by Partner Stalkers Versus Non-Partner Stalkers

November 30, 2018September 28, 2017 by admin

Overview of Differences between Partner and Non-Partner Stalkers

When examining dangerousness and characteristics of partner stalking, it is important to compare differences between partnerIntimate Partner Stalking: Comparing the Danger Posed by Partner Stalkers Versus Non-Partner Stalkers stalkers and non-partner stalkers such as acquaintances 9 strangers.

In one study, researchers summarize the difference between intimate partner stalkers and non-intimate partner stalkers:

[Intimate stalkers compared with non-intimate stalkers] are by far the most malignant. They have violent criminal records, abuse stimulants and/or alcohol, but are rarely psychotic. They frequently approach their targets and escalate in frequency and and intensity of pursuit. They insult, interfere, threaten and are violent. Over one-half of these subjects will physically assault their object of pursuit...Virtually all of them reoffend, and they do so more quickly than the other two groups [acquaintance and stranger stalkers]. Almost one out of three will threaten with or use a weapon. [1]

Threat of Violence....

National Case Control Study Of Homicide Offending And Methamphetamine Use..

November 30, 2018September 28, 2017 by admin

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between methamphetamine use and homicide. To carry out this study, data from the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse and Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities were combined to create a case-control design. The main exposure measure is methamphetamine use and the main outcome measure is homicide. Results suggest that the odds of committing a homicide are nearly 9 times greater for an individual who uses methamphetamine. More importantly, the association between methamphetamine use and homicide persists even after adjusting for alternative drug use (i.e., alcohol, heroin, crack, cocaine, PCP, LSD), sex, race, income, age, marital status, previous arrests, military experience, and education level. Methamphetamine was the only drug use variable that was strongly correlated with homicide. These results support recent clinical studies that suggest methamphetamine use is different than other drug use in its effects on violence....

The Effect of Interrogation Length and Perceived Crime Seriousness on Confession Decisions

November 30, 2018September 28, 2017 by admin

Abstract:

This research tested whether an interrogation’s length and a crime’s perceived seriousness influenced the extent to which suspects made short-sighted confession decisions. Participants (N = 118) were questioned about 20 criminal and unethical behaviors and were required to admit or deny each. Admissions and denials were paired with either a proximal or distal consequence. Results showed that the tendency for the proximal consequence to influence admissions more strongly than the distal consequence was greater during the second half of the interview than during the first. Moreover, this tendency was greater for less serious than more serious crimes....

Skin Tension And Cleavage Lines (Langer’s Lines) Causing Distortion Of Ante- And Postmortem Wound Morphology.

November 30, 2018September 28, 2017 by admin

Abstract

The assessment of individual wounds at autopsy may be complicated by the superimposition of a number of injuries or damage to tissues that occurred after death, either of which has the potential to distort the morphology of the initial injury. Additional factors that may change the shape of wounds are (1) the relationship of the wound to the so-called skin cleavage lines (Langer's lines) and (2) tension placed on the skin. Three autopsy cases are reported to demonstrate once more how wound morphology may be altered by such factors. In case 1, rectangular stab wounds to the base of the neck in a 53-year-old man, which suggested that a square or rectangular tool may have caused the injuries, were altered to more typical knife stab wounds once skin tension had been released at autopsy. The uppermost wounds, however, continued to gape due to the effects of skin cleavage lines. In case...

Edged Weapon Defense: Is the 21-foot Rule Valid? Part 1

November 30, 2018September 28, 2017 by admin

PoliceOne.com Editors Note: For the record, the 21-Foot Rule, when accurately stated, says that in the time it takes the average officer to recognize a threat, draw his sidearm and fire 2 rounds at center mass, an average subject charging at the officer with an edged weapon can cover a distance of 21 feet. Thus, when dealing with an edged-weapon wielder at anything less than 21 feet you need to have your gun out and ready to shoot before he starts rushing you or else you risk being set upon and injured or killed before you can draw your sidearm and effectively defeat the attack.

For more than 20 years now, a concept called the 21-Foot Rule has been a core component in training officers to defend themselves against edged weapons.

Originating from research by Salt Lake City trainer Dennis Tueller “rule” states that in the time it takes the average officer to...

Crime Scene Staging: An Exploratory Study of the Frequency and Characteristics of Sexual Posing in Homicides

February 9, 2019September 28, 2017 by admin

Abstract

Crime scene staging and sexual posing and/or positioning of a body in a crime scene are recognized homicide investigation phenomena. Even though staging and sexual posing might misdirect an investigation if unrecognized, there are no reliable data on the frequency of occurrences. The results of a survey administered to 46 trained homicide investigators indicated that while staging may be frequently observed at crime scenes, sexual posing occurs infrequently. Of an estimated 44,541 homicide investigations, respondents indicated that sexual posing was present in less than 1% of the cases (n = 428). Results also indicated that most often sexual posing, in contrast to crime scene staging, was typically not carried out to mislead, but the offenders' motivation was more often based on a psychological need for sexual fantasizing or to satisfy anger at the victim. Homicide case examples are presented and discussed to elaborate on the characteristics of sexually-posed crime scenes...

Types of Intimate Partner Homicides Committed by Women Self-Defense, Proxy/Retaliation, and Sexual Proprietariness

November 30, 2018September 28, 2017 by admin

Abstract

Margo Wilson and Martin Daly began scientific work to explain intimate partner homicides (IPHs). Key to their work was women’s increased risk of IPH victimization relative to men. In the 1990s, many U.S. jurisdictions implemented Domestic Violence Fatality Review Committees (DVFRCs) to improve responses to potentially lethal abuse. We report findings from 117 closed heterosexual IPH cases collected by the Denver Metro DVFRC 1991-2009. As expected, IPHs perpetrated by women against men are frequently motivated by self-defense. Although Wilson and Daly’s “sexual proprietariness” is primarily characteristic of men killing women, we find it applicable to some women killing male mates...

Evaluating What Works for Victims and Offenders: The Domestic Violence Homicide Prevention Demonstration Initiative

November 30, 2018September 28, 2017 by admin

Domestic Violence Awareness Month this October marks the one-year anniversary of model implementation in the first two sites of the Domestic Violence Homicide Prevention Demonstration Initiative (DVHPDI), managed by the Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) and evaluated through funding support from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ).

The Demonstration Initiative The demonstration initiative is a multiyear, two-phase project intended to assist local sites nationwide in reducing domestic violence homicides through promising domestic violence homicide prevention models. The models focus on identifying high-risk victims and offenders in order to target specific community-based resources directly to those cases. In March of 2013, Vice President Biden and former Attorney General Holder announced the initial grant awards establishing the demonstration initiative.

During Phase One, 12 initial sites received grant funding to assess local criminal justice and community response structures to domestic violence cases and data-sharing capabilities among...

Examining Attributes of Homicides Toward Quantifying Qualitative Values of Injury Severity

November 30, 2018September 28, 2017 by admin

Abstract

The empirical value of traditional measures related to homicide, the cause of death, and weapon use are well researched and documented in the literature. This research proposes new scale measures quantifying the degree of injury exhibited in homicide cases that can be used to further examine the dynamics of homicidal behavior. These scales are then tested in an examination of a limited set of data reflecting homicides of elderly women. Normally the purview of trauma studies, where the use of injury scales to assess patient survivability is known, homicidal injury is examined using a similar method as a means for exploring offender and crime scene variables. As proposed here, these injury scales may also prove to be useful in furthering other areas of homicide research...

Murder Under Hypnosis.

November 30, 2018September 27, 2017 by admin

Abstract

This article discusses the trial of a woman accused of murder in 1890 whose defence rested on the claim that she acted unconsciously under the hypnotic influence of her older lover. This relatively banal case brought together two rival schools of French psychiatry - that of J.-M. Charcot in Paris and that of Hippolyte Bernheim in Nancy - and provided a wide-ranging examination of views on the nature of unconscious mental activity as well as the social, political and professional implications that their theories on hypnotism and hysteria contained. Discussions on women's sexuality, family relations, crowd behaviour and political radicalism all played a part in the debate and are examined through the case study that the trial of Gabrielle Bompard permits. Moreover, the trial shed incidental light on the campaign by physicians against amateur healers and hypnotists whom they blamed for unleashing a wave of mass hysteria through their...

When the Bedroom Is the Crime Scene: To What Extent Does Johnson’s Typology Account for Intimate Partner Sexual Assault?

November 30, 2018September 27, 2017 by admin

Abstract

Johnson's (2008) typology of domestic violence was conceptualized to explain the control context and presence of violence in intimate relationships. However, issues surrounding sexual assault in the context of intimate partner violence remain insufficiently addressed. The current study situates sexual assault within Johnson's (2008Johnson , M. P. ( 2008 ).A typology of domestic violence: Intimate terrorism, violent resistance, and situational couple violence . Lebanon , NH: Northeastern University Press . [Google Scholar]) typology because prior research has largely ignored it. Doing so is necessary to determine the utility of Johnson's categorizations. Using qualitative data from 134 intimate partner sexual assaults reported to Los Angeles law enforcement in 2008Johnson , M. P. ( 2008 ).A typology of domestic violence: Intimate terrorism, violent resistance, and situational couple violence . Lebanon , NH: Northeastern University Press . [Google Scholar], the present study examines the control context and co-occurrence of physical and sexual assault, as well as the presence of non-physical...

How To Read A Stab Wound

November 30, 2018September 27, 2017 by admin

Most emergency departments do not see much penetrating trauma. But it is helpful to be able to learn as much as possible from the appearance of these piercing injuries when you do see them. This post will describe the basics of reading stab wounds.

Important: This information will allow some basic interpretation of wounds. It will not qualify you as a forensics expert by any means. I do not recommend that you document any of this information in the medical record unless you have specific forensic training. You should only write things like “a wound was noted in the midepigastrium that is 2 cm in length.” Your note can and will be used in a court of law, and if you are wrong there can be significant consequences for the plaintiff or the defendant. This information is for your edification only.

1. What is the length of the wound? This does not necessarily...

Fantasies of Female Serial Killers

November 30, 2018September 27, 2017 by admin

Police come to me when they have cases where they suspect a woman of serial murder. I am the expert on the topic having interviewed a large group of female serial killers back in the 1990's. From those interviews and studying their murders, I created the profiles of female serial killers. To this day, such a case is the most difficult type of homicide to work. People are reluctant to believe a woman could be so violent, and these women offenders are careful in the way they kill. They use covert murder methods such as asphyxiation or poisoning to kill, and they chose victims who are easy to kill.

People are even less likely to consider that females fantasize about killing. However they do! When I interviewed the female serial offenders, I learned a great deal. First, fantasy is an elaborate set of cognitions...

The Management Of Penetrating Injuries Of The Back. A Prospective Study Of 230 Patients.

November 30, 2018September 27, 2017 by admin

Abstract

This is a prospective study of 230 patients with penetrating injuries of the back. The decision to operate or observe was taken exclusively on the abdominal physical findings. One hundred ninety-five patients (85%) did not require operation, 30 (13%) underwent a therapeutic laparotomy, four (1.7%) an unnecessary operation, and one patient (0.4%) had a completely negative laparotomy. The diagnosis and management was delayed in five (2.2%) patients with no serious consequences. Mortality rates were not recorded in this series. The initial physical examination was accurate in 95.2% of the patients. We suggest that penetrating injuries of the back should be assessed in the same way as anterior abdominal injuries. Physical abdominal examination is reliable in detecting significant intra-abdominal injuries. '''