Multidisciplinary forensic investigation into a partially burnt dismembered body found by a road side

Abstract

Introduction: Forensic investigation into dismembered remains needs involvement of a multidisciplinary forensic team. In such situations, actions taken at the crime scene investigation play an important role. Often these crime scenes involve multiple locations. We report the forensic investigation of a partially burnt dismembered body found on a roadside to highlight the need of a multidisciplinary approach. Case report Decapitated, partially burnt human remains disremembered into seven parts were recovered from a road side in a residential area. The primary challenge was identification of the deceased. A systematic multidisciplinary scene visit conducted by crime scene officers, forensic pathologists and arson specialist revealed the primary scene of crime was different from the burnt site. Partly burnt “Friendship wrist bands” found in the right upper limb linked the body to a missing young man. Personal information of the missing person’s general identity was compatible with autopsy findings. Further investigations of the missing person’s last movements led to the original crime scene in a room in the 4th floor of a building. Although the primary site had been “washed away”, remnants of the blood stains were sufficient to reconstruct the events. DNA investigations confirmed the identification of the ‘missing person’. Conclusion: Dismemberment and burning are linked with multiple “crime sites” and concealing of identity and the cause of death. Establishment of the identity most of the time helps to reconstruct the event through other corroborative evidence. Medico-Legal Journal of Sri Lanka 2014; 2(2) : 45-49