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| Cause
Of Death |
| The cause of death refers
to why death occurred (e.g. due to excessive loss of blood) and shouldn't
be confused with how the victim was killed i.e. the manner of death.
A variety of measures are taken by coroners/pathologusts to establish
whether the manner of death was accidental, natural, suicide or murder,
depending on the situation and case type. |
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Select one of the folowing topics for more information:
--> The
causes
--> Arson
victims
--> Victims
hanged
--> Victims
drowned
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| The
Causes |
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| An autopsy is generally the most accurate
method available to determine the cause of death during murder cases
and consequently, whether the fatality was innocent or in fact a disguised
murder. Different measures are taken under different situations and
with it being rather difficult to explain every single scenario possible,
below are some common examples, which may likely perk your interest. |
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| Scenario
One (Arson Victims) |
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| When
dealing with a body found at the scene of a fire, the corpse
is firstly examined for any traces of soot present in the breathing
passage. The presence of soot would suggest that death was caused
via asphyxiation, whereby the victim dies to due to a lack of
oxygen. Next, blood samples are analysed for the presence
of carbon monoxide, cyanide or other poisons in the bloodstream,
indicating a death caused by cyanide poisoning, generally a
result of the burning of synthetic materials, usually
furniture. In other cases, burns on the corpse with inflamed
edges (caused by red blood cells trying to repair the burned
skin), would suggest that the victim died from burns. Wounds
and lacerations on the body would at first seem to have been
a result of the fire, however, if signs of underlying bleeding
are present, it would conclude that the victim was already dead
before the fire began and the arson may have been a means to
cover up a more sinister crime. |
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Victims of fire commonly die of either one of two deaths - asphyxiation
or from the burn of the flames. Photo courtesy of www.freefoto.com.
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| Scenario
Two (Victims Hanged) |
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| A
body discovered hanging or suspended in some way, usually contains
telltale signs of a death due to the lack of oxygen. These include
such signs as blue skin colour, burst blood vessels in the eyes and
inflated lungs. Forensic pathologists examine the rope marks on the
neck to determine if they contain evidently inflamed edges, a sign
that the victim was alive before being hanged. However, when no inflammation
marks are present, it suggests that the victim was dead before being
hanged and the hanging was a form of cover up. The rope marks on the
victim's neck are examined to check that they match the rope found
at the scene of crime. The slightest difference of the rope impression
from the actual rope itself, would undoubtedly imply that the rope
was not the murder tool and where the victim did die of a lack of
oxygen and does have evident bruises on the neck, the murder weapon
is sought using the markings as a guide. As a general rule, all rope
markings on the neck should be in the shape of an upside down V, where
the knot would cause a bruise on the back of the neck, creating the
point of the V. |
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Other
facts pointing to murder may also be revealed when an examination
of the neck is carried out. Strangulation usually breaks the
hyoid bone located in the neck, but the bone is very
rarely broken during hanging. The breakage of the hyoid would
suggest manual strangulation, whereby the victim was strangled
using the hands, or via means of another implement (e.g. cord,
belt etc). When strangulation is the case, death may be caused
due to a lack of air, but more likely, as a result of the deliberate
compression of the neck, causing a vegal inhabitation, the situation
where the stimulation of the neck's vagus nerve causes
the heart to stop. In cases where the hyoid bone is not broken,
but bruising is evident around the nose and mouth, a death caused
by smothering is indicated, thereby dying due to a lack of oxygen.
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The rope marks (bruises) on the neck of the victim should correspond
to the type of rope used. Photo courtesy of www.imageafter.com.
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| Scenario
Three (Victims Drowned) |
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| Bodies discovered
in the water are examined to see whether water is actually present
in the airway and stomach of the victim and if the lungs have
swollen up. If such signs are apparent, then the victim did
actually die due to drowning, although whether it was murder
or accidental will be left for investigators to determine. Further
examination of the corpse will reveal if bleeding occurred in
the lungs, suggesting that there was a struggle for breath during
the drowning. Other signs coroners pick up are such things as
leaves, twigs or other objects near the death scene, found grasped
in the victims hands, indicating that the victim tried to clutch
an object to save themselves. |
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An average of 9 people drown per day in the US ( Poseidon :
2004). Photo courtesy of www.imageafter.com.
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However, in the case that an examination of the larynx
reveals that a spasm occurred, the victim may have died from
sudden exposure to the cold, which caused an immediate heart
attack. To reveal whether bodies were alive or dead upon entering
the water, an analysis of single celled algae, (known
as diatoms) is performed. Certain diatoms found in the body
are compared against those found in the water and if these
samples match, then the body was alive upon entering the water,
but if otherwise, the body was dead upon entering the water
and the coroners will continue searching for other injuries
that may point to murder.
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| In some cases, hypothermia
may have been the cause of death rather than drowning. When
the core temperature of the human body drops below 305K, the
motion of the enzymes in the body begins to slow down and hypothermia
is the eventual result of prolonged exposure to the cold. Below
is a table of estimated survival times in water against the
water temperature: |
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| Liquid
Temperature (degrees Celcius) |
Estimated
Hours of Survival |
| 0 |
0.25 - 0.75 |
| 0 - 4 |
0.5 -1.5 |
| 4 - 10 |
1.0 - 3.0 |
| 10 - 16 |
1.0 - 6.0 |
| 16 - 21 |
2.0 -40 |
| 21 - 27 |
> 3.0 |
| > 27 |
Undeterminable |
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