Investigation Of Suspicious Deaths Research Articles

The Anatomy of a Medico-Legal System. Medical Practitioners and the Investigation of Suspicious Deaths in Early Modern Flanders

During the early modern period, medical practitioners came to play an increasingly important role in criminal proceedings throughout continental Europe. Nevertheless, medico-legal procedures in the Southern or Habsburg Netherlands have hardly received any attention from historians of forensic medicine. The present article aims to address this issue by studying how suspicious deaths were investigated in the early modern County of Flanders. More specifically, three major aspects of the Flemish medico-legal death investigation system are analysed: the composition of the corps of medical practitioners on which the judicial authorities relied to conduct post-mortem examinations, the content of post-mortem reports, and arrangements for the remuneration of medical experts. Although surgeons initially constituted the principal group of medical examiners, university-trained physicians were increasingly required to participate in death investigations over the course of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Furthermore, this period also witnessed a gradual increase in the number of internal autopsies. However, arrangements for the payment of medical experts remained largely unchanged throughout the early modern period.

Doing death work: a typology of how homicide detectives orient to their work

ABSTRACT Homicide investigation is among the most prestigious and challenging undertakings in modern day law enforcement agencies. Most metropolitan police departments assign the investigation of suspicious deaths to a dedicated homicide unit staffed by an elite group of specially trained and highly competent investigators. These units are commonly associated with close-knit cultures, high individual and collective expectations, and high status within the organisation. Drawing upon roughly 300 hours of ethnographic work within the homicide unit of a major metropolitan police department in the US, this paper provides insight into how homicide investigators construct their occupational identities within the context of their work environment. A 4-part typology of homicide detective identities emerged from the data with one’s primary motivation for solving cases and general approach to investigative work shaping membership outcomes. The theoretical and policy implications that follow are considered, especially the way that detectives orient to their work and its potential impact on homicide casework and clearance levels.

Estimating postmortem interval using RNA degradation and morphological changes in tooth pulp

The accurate determination of time since death, or postmortem interval (PMI), can be critical in the investigation of suspicious deaths. Knowing when a suspicious death occurred can limit the number of potential suspects to those without a viable alibi for the time of the crime. The forensic techniques currently employed to determine PMI: pathology, entomology, and anthropology, are accurate over different time periods following death. A large gap in time exists between the capabilities of forensic entomology and traditional anthropology, leaving a period in which PMI is difficult to estimate. In this study, time-dependent differences in RNA decay rates were examined to extend the time frame over which early PMI estimates can be made. Comparing the decay rates of a large, labile segment of β-actin RNA and a smaller, more stable, non-overlapping segment of the same RNA from tooth pulp, we were able to estimate PMI values of pigs buried within a shallow grave for up to 84 days. This compares favorably to an estimate of PMI using insect data. Full skeletonization and loss of insect activity was observed by day 28 of our study. In addition to differences in RNA decay rates, morphological changes were observed in the pulp as it aged postmortem. To provide a quantitative measure of progressive color changes, analysis of digital photographs of each tooth's pulp were used to construct a simple colorimetric assay. This assay was then used to cluster ages of pulp samples by color. The two assays, used in combination with one another, can create a more precise estimate of PMI. The potential advantages of this molecular means of estimating PMI include extending the time frame for such estimates, is applicable to samples collected worldwide (no specialized knowledge of local insect fauna is required), is relatively fast, and inexpensive.

Investigation of suspicious deaths and deaths related to violence, a Malaysian perspective

Investigation of suspicious and violent deaths forms an important aspect of the administration of justice. In a routine medico-legal practice the need often arises to investigate various types of deaths. In some deaths the cause and manner of death are obvious and therefore an elaborate investigation may not be necessary. However, for some deaths owing to the nature and because of apparent suspicious circumstances surrounding the death a detailed investigation becomes important. Legal, law enforcement and medical personnel who are involved in the investigation of sudden, unnatural, violent and suspicious deaths, in addition to various knowledge should ideally have some background information regarding the historical evolution of the death investigation system. This paper explores the Malaysian perspective of routine death investigation.