"All I desire for my own burial is not to be

buried alive." - Lord Chesterfield, 1769.

• 17th Century– Coma or weak

heartbeat =

– Fear of being buried alive bell in coffin

"Have me decently buried, but do not let my body be put into a vault in less than two days after I am

dead." - deathbed request of George

Washington. • Waiting Mortuaries

– Established in 17th century

Definitions of Death

• Experts cannot agree on definition– Is a person with a heartbeat alive even if there is no

brain activity?• What do you think?

Process ~ not instant event

• According to physiologists– When heart stops beating, cells begin to die

(no fresh O2)• Basic body functions fail to occur –

– FIRST STAGE OF DEATH =

Autolysis

• When a cell dies – it breaks down– Breakdown =

• Definition:

• Once enough cells begin autolysis…life cannot be restarted

Autopsy

• Suspicious or unnatural deaths – medical doctor called– AKA

• Reason for autopsy –

Manner of Death

TOD Unit

Manner of Death

• Four ways a person can die (manner of death)– 1. Natural –

• By age or disease• Most common

– 2. Accidental –

• Car accident, falling from ladder, etc

Manner of Death

– 3. Suicidal –

• Hanging, drug overdose, gunshot, etc.• Rates higher during

– 4. Homicidal –

– 5 ** “Undetermined” – sometimes used on death certificate

•

Categorize Manner of Death

• A man with a heart condition is attacked and dies from a heart attack during the assault– Accident or homicide?

• An elderly woman dies after being kept from receiving proper health care by her son. – Natural or homicide?

• Both cases = . Proving in court that manner of death was a homicide may be difficult

Cause of Death

• Cause of death = reason someone dies

• “Proximate cause of death” –

– Ex: If someone is exposed to large amounts of radiation and then developed cancer

• Proximate cause of death?

Mechanism of Death• Mechanism of Death =

– Ex: If cause of death is shooting, what would be the mechanism of death?

•

– Ex: If cause of death is heart attack, what would be the mechanism of death?

•

Time of Death

• T.O.D to eliminate, confirm or add suspect– 3 ways

Livor Mortis

• Literally means

• Not instant, takes time– Lividity = – First begins about __________ after death

• Discoloration becomes permanent after • If death occurred between _____________, lividity

is present, but if skin is pressed – color will disappear

• __________________, if skin is pressed, lividity will remain

Affects of Temp on Lividity

• Temperature affects the speed of lividity

• **This is why it’s important to

• Wristwatches and tight belts can also affect speed of lividity (anything that impedes flow of blood)

Livor Mortis not only good for TOD

• Reveal position of corpse during first 8 hours

• Reveal if a body has been moved

Rigor Mortis

“The Rigidity of Death”

• At death, skeletal muscles _____________________________

• Without oxygen, ______________ accumulates in these muscles– – This starts in the head and works its way down

to legs–

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Sarcomere.svg

Rigor Mortis• 12 hours after death,

• If a body has no visible signs of rigor,

• If the body exhibits rigor only in head and neck

• Stiffness disappears (for the most part) after 36 hours

Rigor Mortis

Many factors affect when rigor mortis sets in and how long it lasts:

Algor MortisThe Chill of Death • Literally means

• Corpse no longer generates

– To find the standard temperature of a corpse, a thermometer is inserted into liver

• Why the liver? -

Standard location so investigators can compare results

Algor Mortis

• Body heat is lost at

• Time of death determined by temperature calculations is expressed as

• Rule of thumb –