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Forensic science autopsy quizlet
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Rigor mortis is the stiffening of the muscles that happens 2-3 hours after a human or animal dies, beginning in the head and then it working its way down to the toes. After 12-18 hours, the body becomes completely stiff and the only way to move any of the joints is to force them, most likely breaking them. After 2 days, rigor mortis begins to wear off, once again starting in the head and then downward towards the toes. Once this process is finished, the body begins to decay, and eventually starts to decompose. Rigor mortis is very crucial in the criminal justice system and is used to provide clues and evidence in finding out information about someones death.
To explain it simply, rigor mortis is when a chemical reaction that causes the muscles to move in a living person, stops working once someone dies, and the muscles lock in place. Skeletal muscle fibers are made of myosin and actin filaments and when a muscle is used, nerve impulses trigger a biochemical reaction that causes them both to bond together, pulling the muscles filaments together, causing a muscle contraction. They stay contracted until a third molecule, ATP ( adenosine triphosphate), binds to myosin and releases it from actin. In order for our bodies to produce ATP, oxygen is required and therefore when someone dies, that oxygen supply is cut off, and the two filaments can not slide away from each other. They remain attached and the muscles remain contracted, or in other words, rigor mortis begins. This contraction is only ended once a process called autolysis kicks in, which is the self-digestion of body cells. The cell walls give away, its contents leak out and the muscles become weak and the body becomes flaccid and begins the next process of decomposition...
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...I do think that rigor mortis is very reliable in determining the time of death, although not an exact indicator. It is somewhat accurate in determining time of death and placement of body when the person died, although it should not be the only factor in the case. The results are just an approximation so it will not give the exact hour the person died, especially since there are so many other things that can effect the process of rigor mortis. It is helpful when someone has just died or within a few days, although if the person has been dead for weeks or more, investigating the persons state of rigor mortis is not useful. I learned in my research that hundreds of forensic science tools are needed in each investigation and can take years to put a crime scene puzzle together. Studying a bodies process of rigor mortis and lividity are the best first steps in doing so.
A psychological autopsy is an investigative technique, usually employed by psychologists, which is used to determine how death had occurred in equivocal death cases (Fulero & Wrightsman, 2009). This technique is used to try and understand the mindset of the deceased person to help answer certain questions like why did the individual do what they did and why did it occur at that time? The investigator will collect data about the individual, like written correspondence and journ...
As a natural phenomena that occurs frequently yet is still not completely understood, death has confounded and, to a certain degree, fascinated all of humanity. Since the dawn of our species, people have tried rationalize death by means of creating various religions and even attempted to conquer death, leading to great works of literature such as the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Cannibal Spell For King Unis.
Sauer N, Simson L. Clarifying the role of forensic anthropologists in death investigations. Journal of forensic sciences. 1984;29(4):1081.
Reading multiple different journals and articles about how individual cultures interpret death, it has come to a conclusion that many cultures have many contrasting views and perspectives. Some cultures would take their practices to extreme levels, which included doing stuff to the physical body, where in today’s era, would not be right. The central desire to write this paper is to learn about the different beliefs and practices that happen in different part of the countries, in today’s time and from the past.
One scientist was able to tell what a person had done his or her entire life, be it sitting at a desk twenty-four seven or playing professional tennis. The way forensic anthropology is used in an investigation is when a body is found that is beyond recognition, whether it be burned or decomposed. These scientists will clean the bones after a forensic pathologist has looked at the body to see if there are any noticeable differences in the organs or tissues. Once that is done, they will do a facial reconstruction on the skull. Most of the time, this is done to get a positive identification on the body. Then, they will examine the entire skeletal remains, looking for nicks, broken bones, anything that could help identify how the victim was killed. All of these processes take a lot of time to complete, but once they are done, the rewards are worth
At the University of Tennessee, they leave bodies to decay in different situations and circumstances. This helps them study time of death and possibly the cause as well. The main things to look for when you are determining the time of death is the severity of insect infestation and physical decaying of the body.
Forensic entomology is the learning of all types of insects and how they connect with criminal investigation. Forensic entomology can tell us how long since the offspring’s death which is known as postmortem interval (PMI) and whether the body has been relocated since putting one foot in the grave, and what injuries it may have suffered. At the start of decomposition, insects launch a new community by hatching eggs on the remains; the eggs will emerge into cankers (larvae) that will graze upon the human organs and tissues. A Forensic entomologists can figure out what specific bugs are presently in the body and gauge how long the body has been left unprotected by investigating how far along the cankers have come; although, what is found isn’t
Rigor Mortis is the stiffening of the body which begins a couple hours after you die. Scientists can try to identify when the body died by Rigor Mortis. For a few days after death, some of the cells are still alive. The body will change color, the body gives off a smell, and about a week after death, the skin will begin to blister. About a month after the hair will fall out, and nails too.
Life happens, and so does death as it is also a part of life. Moreover, in many cases, some of us will have to go through the experience of anticipating death in ourselves or in a loved one as opposed to a sudden death in the family. In other words, both the family and the person involved start to grieve, even before the parting actually takes place.
The reduction of the dead human body to inorganic bone fragments by intense heat in a specifically designed retort or chamber. (Funeral Directing & Funeral Service Management Ralph L. Klicker, PhD.)
I was in the laboratory yesterday talking with my fellow colleagues when one of them suddenly brought up the peculiar observations he had lately found in the anatomy of a deceased hand. I was intrigued by his discussion of his discoveries and asked him if I could help him dissect it even more. He agreed and led me to his table where the hand was laid out on the table before us. My colleague told me the hand had been deceased for two days, but by the looks of it the hand looked to have been deceased for weeks.
Forensic pathologists are the people who determine the cause and time of death if the deceased person died under suspicious circumstances, whether they be violent or not. They determine if the death was accidental, a homicide, natural, a suicide, or even if the cause of death was unknown. They do this by studying said victim’s medical history, evaluating the crime scene for evidence, studying the body for any clues, and performing an autopsy. After determining the cause, time, and the manner in which the victim died, forensic pathologists make a written report on the victim and sometimes testify in court to report their findings.
I would have to ask myself how the man died and where? The manner and location of death can influence the rate of decomposition, which determines the condition of the body. The position and environment of death could also determine the status of the body, warm locations can decay the body at a much faster rate than cold locations.
When a suspicious body appears in the morgue, the forensics team goes to work. The body, if still covered in tissue goes to the forensic pathologist who will study the tissue extensively. If a conclusion is unable to be reached through this process, the pathologist will remove the tissue from the bone and send the skeleton to the forensic anthropologist. In other cases, the victim is found with no to little tissue on the bone, making it nearly impossible for a layman to discover any identifying characteristics about the person. The forensic anthropologist’s first job is to determine the sex, age and race of the victim (Sauer, 1998).
Frederick, Calvin J. "Death and Dying." Microsoft® Encarta® 98 Encyclopedia. © 1993-1997: Microsoft Corporation. CD-ROM.