Criminal Investigations 9th Ed - Ch 8 - Death Investigations Flashcards
There are FOUR types of death:
o Natural
o Accidental
o Suicide
o Homicide (noncriminal or criminal)
________ is the consideration, planning, or preparing for an act, no matter how briefly, before committing it
Premeditation
_______ by police is when an individual wishing to commit suicide purposely forces an officer to shoot him or her
Suicide
The _____ ______ at a scene is to give emergency aid to the victim or others at the scene
first priority
Once the priority matters are taken care of, the investigator should identify the victim, establish the time of death, and establish the cause of an the method used to produce death, and develop a ______
suspect
• A _______ _______ is a condition that occurs in the specific muscle groups rather than the entire body
cadaveric spasmc
• An indicator of a suicide use a knife is ________ _________
hesitation wounds
• Serial murder is the separate killing of at least ____ victims
3 victims
• A dead body that sinks in the water usually remains immersed for ____ days in warm water and ____ weeks in cold water
8-10 days
2-3 weeks
The appearance of the eyes also assists in estimating the time of death. A partial restriction of the pupil occurs in ________.
7 hours.
A basic requirement in a ______ investigation is to establish whether death was caused by a criminal act
homicide
______ degree murder requires premeditation and the intent to cause death
First
______ deaths are those deaths whose cause is open to interpretation
Equivocal
Most cases of hanging are suicide whereas most cases of ________ are murder
strangulation
A ________ murder occurs when multiple victims are killed in a single incident by one or a few suspects
mass
A _____ murder is a sex related homicide involving sadistic, deviant assault
lust
______ offer valuable clues as to the time a body was left or buried
Insects
All murders are ___________ but NOT all _______ are murders
homicides
• A basic requirement in a homicide investigation is to establish whether death was caused by a ________ action.
criminal
Although suicide is not a criminal offense, in most states it is a crime to _____ to commit suicide
attempt
If another individual is the direct or indirect cause of the death, the death is classified as __________
homicide
Criminal homicide is subdivided into _________ and _____________ both of which are further subdivided
murder and manslaughter,
_________ homicide is subdivided into excusable and justifiable homicide
Noncriminal
_______ is the most severe statutory crime, one of the few for which the penalty can be life imprisonment or death
Murder
• There were 17,034 _________ in the United States in 2006, an increase of 1.8% from 2005
homicides
Males are ___ times more likely to commit murder than females
10
First Degree Murder …..
• First degree murder requires premeditation and the intent to cause death
Second Degree Murder ……
• Second degree murder includes the intent to cause death, but not premeditation
Third Degree Murder…..
• Third degree murder involves neither premeditation nor intent.
• Manslaughter is ……
• Manslaughter is the unlawful killing of another person with no prior malice
Voluntary manslaughter is
Voluntary manslaughter is the intentional cause of the death of another person in the heat of passion
• Involuntary manslaughter is …..
• Involuntary manslaughter is the accidental homicide that results from extreme negligence
o REMEMBER in Texas, there is:
Murder
Capital Murder
Manslaughter
Criminally Negligent Homicide
• Excusable homicide is ……
• Excusable homicide is the unintentional, truly accidental killing of another person
• Justifiable homicide is …..
• Justifiable homicide is killing another person under authorization of the law
______ ______ refers to the postmortem cooling process of the body
• Algor mortis
Body temperature drops 2-3 degrees in the first hour after _____ and 1-1.5 degrees for each subsequent hour until 18 hours.
DEATH
• Body temperature drops more slowly:
o In large or obese people
o If victim was experiencing a high fever before death
o If humidity prevents evaporation
o If strenuous physical activity occurred immediately before death
_____ ______is a stiffening of the joints of the body after death because of partial skeletal muscle contraction
Rigor Mortis
_____ ____ may occur anywhere from 10 minutes to several hours postmortem
Rigor Mortis
High temperature, excitement, vigorous activity increase the rapidity of ______
Rigor
• Cold temperatures slow the rate of _______
Rigor
• Babies and the aged have little ______
Rigor
A body can remain rigid for approximately __ days, although rigor generally begins to diminish after __ hours post mortem
3 days or 36 hours
_______ ______ is a condition that occurs in specific muscle groups rather than the entire body. It occurs most often when the victim is holding something at the time of death
Cadaveric spasm
is the dark blue or purple discoloration of the body
Postmortem lividity (aka livor morits)
Postmortem _______ starts ½ to 3 hours after death and is congealed in the capillaries in 4-5 hours. Maximum ______ occurs within 10-12 hours
Lividity
The location of ______ can indicate whether a body was moved after death
lividity
o EXAMPLE: If postmortem lividity appears on the back of a victim and the victim if found face down, it is a high likelihood that he has been moved
The partial restriction of the _____ occurs in about 7 hours after death. In 12 hours the ______ appears cloudy
pupil
cornea
If the small intestine is empty, the probability is that death took place at least ____ or more hours after the last meal
12
_______ is first observed as an extended stomach and abdomen
Decomposition
If the body is in a hot, moist location, a soapy appearance called _______ develops. This takes as long as 3 months to fully develop.
adipocere
_________ is the complete dehydration of all body tissues. If the body is left in an extremely dry and hot area, it may mummify in about a year and remain in this condition for several years if undisturbed by animals or insects
Mummification
Shots fired from a _____ ______ produce little or no powder tattooing or carbons on the skin
long distance
Shots fired from an ______ _________, tattooing appears on the clothing or body when fired from as much as 2 feet away
intermediate distance
Shots fired in ______ ______ with the victim should have a muzzle impression on the skin and soot or powder fragments in the entrance area or around the wound
direct contact
_______ _______ is that stemming from hurt feelings, anger or rage, such as when the jealous lover stabs her ex-boyfriend while he’s on a date with his new girlfriend
Expressive violence
_______ ________ is goal-directed predatory behavior used to exert control.
• Instrumental violence
o EXAMPLE: The carjacker who shoots his victim before stealing the vehicle
In 2006 ____ law enforcement officers were feloniously killed, the majority of which died as a result during arrest situations
48
The most tragic school shooting occurred in 2007 at Virginia Tech University. Cho Seung-Hui (24) killed __ people –including himself- and wounded 23.
33
Of all violent crimes, ______ has the highest clearance rate
homicide
However, nearly ____% of all murders go unsolved
40
