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Death Investigation > Test 2 > Flashcards

Test 2 Flashcards

0
Q

Defect

A

Imperfection; deficiency

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1
Q

Abrasion collar

A

Circular perforation and blackening effect of the skin as the bullet passes through the skin

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2
Q

Fouling, smudging, or smoke

A

Burned gunpowder is deposited on skin and produces an area of soot deposited around the wound.

-dirty/grimy appearance easily wiped off skin, indicates gun held close to victim but no contact

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3
Q

Stippling

A

Powder tattooing

  • pinpoint hemorrhages due to discharge of burning powder against skin
  • CANT be wiped away
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4
Q

Stellate

A

Cross-shaped or star shaped

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5
Q

Searing

A

Singeing effect due to discharge of flame from muzzle

-yellow or black discoloration around wound edges

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6
Q

Reentry

A

If bullet has already passed through another body part then re-enters, an irregular wound will result which will look like an exit wound.

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7
Q

Ricochet wound

A

If bullet has struck something else before body, wound will be irregular

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8
Q

Intermediary target

A

Any object between muzzle of firearm and skin

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9
Q

Punctate abrasions

A

Marked with dots; pinpoint punctures on surface.

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10
Q

7 factors that affect characteristics of the wound and change its appearance.

A
  1. Distance
  2. Ricocheting
  3. Type of ammunition
  4. Passage through body
  5. Passage through clothing
  6. Type of weapon
  7. Part of body affected
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11
Q

Bullet firing sequence

A
  1. Fire/flame emitted from barrel (not far)
  2. Smoke follows flame (a little further)
  3. Bullet emerges from barrel (goes greatest distance)
  4. Additional smoke and grains of burned and Unburned gunpowder follow bullet out of barrel
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12
Q

Range of fire

A

Muzzle to target distance

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13
Q

How are bullet wounds classified by range of fire?

A

Contact, intermediate, distant

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14
Q

Contact range of fire

A
  • muzzle held tight to skin
  • gunpowder residue on edges or in wound
  • may be burning or reddening in surrounding skin
  • skin tearing(over bone/high gas)
  • soot on skin notes that there was a little distance between
  • 6-8 inches
  • contact wound:cross/star shaped handgun wound
  • muzzle imprint mirrors contours of muzzle
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15
Q

When are intraoral gunshot wounds best analyzed?

A

After tongue is cut out

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16
Q

Intermediate range of fire

A
  • punctate abrasions from gunpowder striking and abrasions skin
  • stippling can’t be washed
  • gunpowder in skin and in abrasion can be washed
  • radius of stippling determines range of fire
  • 8 inch to 3.5 feet
  • soot and stippling more concentrated around wound and decrease as they move away
  • increase range of fire; increase area of stippling; decrease density of stippling.
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17
Q

Distant range of fire

A
  • greater than 3.5 feet
  • No fouling or stippling
  • round/oval wounds depending on angle
  • may have surrounding bullet holes
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18
Q

Entrance wound

A
  • smaller than exit
  • round neat hole with abrasion coat and grey/black edges
  • less blood
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19
Q

Exit wound

A
  • Larger than entrance
  • ragged edges looking like stellate
  • irregular
  • more blood
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20
Q

Bullet and body

A
  • bullet strikes skin causing indentation
  • bullet perforates skin and bored through causing circular perforation
  • Blackening and grime on wounds edge by skin wiping off bullet residue as it e gets tissue.
  • skin returns to former position making wound look smaller
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21
Q

Shotgun wounds

A
  • cartridge powder explodes
  • 5 components released thru barrel
    • hot gases
    • smoke
    • flame
    • pellets
    • wads
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22
Q

Shotgun firing

A
  • charge and all birdshot pellets leave barrel I’m a group
  • orange flame makes searing in close range wounds
  • soot cloud and gunpowder make soot and stippling in close and intermediate wounds
  • air resistance pulls shot Sleve back, petals open, and spread out the longer they fly
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23
Q

Most common sharp force injury weapon?

A

Knife

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24
Q

Cutting wounds

A
  • parallel
  • incision made by sharp instrument longer on skin surface than deep
  • edges of wound are sharp and usually not ragged or abraded
  • edges of wound remain together if parallel cut, gaping if not
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25
Q

Characteristics of cutting wounds

A
  1. Clean/sharp edges
  2. Minimum bruising
  3. Longer than deep
  4. Bleeds freely
    - hard to know weapon in cuttings
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26
Q

Stabbing wounds

A
  • perpendicular
  • extend through tissues and bone into organs
  • sharp pointed instruments
  • wounds vary based on attack (twist, pulled out, etc)
  • entrance wound can mislead because of skin elasticity
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27
Q

Characteristics of stabbing wounds

A
  1. Deeper than wide
  2. Possible damage to vital organs beneath skin and none
  3. Internal bleeding w/little or no external blood
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28
Q

Factors which can determine a stab wound

A
  1. Type of weapon
  2. Direction of injury
  3. Position of the victims
  4. Clothing worn can also correlate to bodily injuries with years or rips to clothing
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29
Q

Perforating

A

Going whole way through

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30
Q

Penetrating

A

Part way through

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31
Q

Documenting stab wounds

A
  1. Location of body
  2. Measurements from landmark like top of head and distance from midline of body
  3. Size and shape of wound
  4. Orientation
  5. Associated abrasions and exchymosis
  6. Tissues injured (wound track)
  7. Direction through the body (wound path)
  8. Length of wound track through tissues beginning from skin
  9. Presence of tool marks on cartilage and bone
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32
Q

Chop wounds

A
  • intermediary b/n blunt and sharp force that involve both tissue laceration and slicing
  • most common objects are axes, machetes, propeller/machine blades
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33
Q

Overkill

A

Body sustaining tens or hundreds of stabs and cut wounds from a highly emotional setting involving sex or drugs

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34
Q

Homicide stab wounds vs suicide

A

Homicide

  • location and type
  • multiple cut or stab wounds to neck, face, and extremities

Suicide

  • multiple incised wounds of varying depths on neck or wrist
  • superficially incised wounds adjacent to a major incised wound (hesitation marks)
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35
Q

Severity, extent, and appearance of Blunt trauma injuries depend on :

A
  1. Force to body
  2. Time over which force is delivered
  3. Region struck
  4. Extent of body surface over which force is delivered
  5. Nature of weapon
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36
Q

4 categories of blunt force trauma

A
  1. Abrasions
  2. Contusions
  3. Lacerations
  4. Fractures
    • abrasions externally; contusions/lacerations external or internal; fractures internal
37
Q

Blunt trauma deaths

A
  • suicide, accident, or homicide
  • homicide: localized violence and use of weapon
  • suicide: jumps from high places/jump in front of car
  • accidental: falls/injuries to head or neck
38
Q

2 diff areas of blunt force injuries

A

Generalized areas: entire body affected Ex. Airplane accident, collapse of buildings

Localized areas: small part of body affected

39
Q

Abrasions

A
  • removal of superficial layer of skin by friction
  • scratches, grazes, impression marks
  • most trivial form of wound
  • commonly found on face, neck, arms, thighs, exposed/prominent areas
  • little bleeding
  • antemortem abrasions: reddish-brown
  • postmortem abrasion: yellow and translucent appearance
40
Q

Contusions

A
  • discoloration of skin from bleeding into tissues from ruptured blood vessels
  • “bruise”
  • vary in size
  • older you are, easier vessels rupture
  • age of bruise is hard to tell
  • change with time : red/violet immediate; dark blue 3 days; green 5-7 days; yellow 8-10 days; normal 13-18 days
41
Q

Factors that may influence size of contusions

A
  1. Amount of force applied
  2. Age of victim (children and elderly bruise easier)
  3. Gender (women bruise easier)
  4. Condition/ health of victim
    - obese: easily
    - muscular: less likely to bruise
    - alcoholics with cirrhosis, aspirin takers, clotting disorders: bruise easier
  5. Site and type of tissue injured or impacted
    • loose/soft tissue: more likely to bruise
42
Q

Patterned contusion

A

Contusions reflecting configuration of object that produced them

43
Q

Lacerations (tears)

A
  • forceful tear of skin by pressure produced by blunt trauma
  • usually associated with both contusions and abrasions
  • long object weapons make linear/elongated laceration
  • flat objects cause irregular/y-shaped laceration
44
Q

Fractures

A
  • usually a decent amount of hemorrhaging associated with fracture due to blunt force trauma
  • head and chest may be fatal
  • blunt head trauma is responsible for more blunt injury homicides than all other parts of body combined
45
Q

Blunt force injuries

A
  • motor vehicle accidents
  • pedestrian fatalities
  • falls
46
Q

Deaths in custody

A
  • all deaths while person is prisoner or ward of state
  • deaths that occur during arrest, backseat of police car, rehab facility, hospital days weeks or months after altercation
  • majority related to a natural process of death, others are consequences of varying forms of violence or asphyxiation
47
Q

Deaths in jails

A
  • usually accidents or suicides
  • accidents: often due to Unrecognizable trauma that occurred immediately prior to jailing
    - head trauma most common ex. Drunk people.
  • suicide: mostly hangings using a shirt, pants, or sheet: body doesn’t have to be completely suspended
48
Q

Drugs/alc in jail

A
  • drugs consumed prior to arrest or whole incarcerated

- chronic alcoholics can die if unexpected death ex. Seizure disorder

49
Q

Suicidal hanging

A
  • suicide in jail is 10x higher than gen pop
  • usually first 24 hours of lock up, usually drunk
  • on study showed 63% happen on first day
  • victim often has no history of mental illness or previous suicide
  • hanging most common followed by wrist cutting
50
Q

Hangings in jail

A
  • any type of clothing/bedding can be made into ligature
  • belt and shoestrings are usually confiscated
  • telephone cords
51
Q

Blunt force injuries in jail

A
  • Samuel Swan case

- homicidal assault is rare but does happen

52
Q

Asphyxia

A
  • Greek for breathlessness
  • lack of oxygen in blood or failure of cells to utilize oxygen and failure of body to eliminate carbon monoxide.
  • air is cut off from victim, any material or action that stops the breathing.
53
Q

Deaths by asphyxia

A
  1. Suffocation
  2. Strangulation
  3. Hanging
  4. Drowning
  5. Inhalation of poison gases
54
Q

Petechiae

A
  • not diagnostic of asphyxial death but if present, obvious cause
  • seen in hand and wrist due to compression or obstruction cause by a tourniquet
  • may also be postmortem artifact in prone bodies b/c blood gravitates to facial tissues and vessels rupture
55
Q

Suffocation

A

Act of obstructing the air passages

56
Q

5 types of suffocation

A
  1. Entrapment
  2. Smothering
  3. Choking
  4. Mechanical asphyxia
  5. Suffocating gases
57
Q

Entrapment

A

Person in air tight or almost air tight container that gradually consumes all available oxygen until there is no longer enough oxygen to sustain life

58
Q

Smothering

A

External airway (nose and mouth) are compressed or blocked preventing the respiration of air.

59
Q

Homicidal smothering

A
  • hands over nose and mouth
  • pillow
  • plastic bag
  • gag

-may be evidence of scratches on face

60
Q

Choking

A
  • internal airways are obstructed
  • gag in mouth/pharynx

-most cases are accidental and often involve physically compromised or intoxicated people (no teeth, dentures, eating too fast or inappropriate foods)

61
Q

Mechanical asphyxia

A
  • pressure on outside of body prevents respiration
  • almost always accidental
  • subdivided into: traumatic asphyxia, positional asphyxia, riot-crush/”human pile” deaths
62
Q

Traumatic asphyxia

A
  • heavy weight presses down on an individuals chest or upper abdomen making respiration impossible.
  • car falling on mechanic
  • interchangeable with mechanical asphyxia
63
Q

Positional asphyxia

A
  • virtually always an accident and associated with alc or drugs
  • people become trapped in restricted spaces and can’t move out of that area or position.
64
Q

Riot-crush/ human pile

A
  • chest compressed by stampeding people piling on eachother

- Lack of respiration due to human pile

65
Q

Suffocating gases

A
  • most common type of asphyxia: breathing in chemicals like Carbon monoxide
  • determined after toxicology
  • carbon monoxide poisoning makes lividity cherry red
66
Q

Strangulation

A
  • compression of neck structures by force other than body’s own weight either my manual squeezing or ligature
  • judo moves, using forearms or legs as in yoking
  • ligatures include any number of instruments: ropes, wires, clothing, etc.
  • usually homicidal
67
Q

Hanging

A
  • compression of neck structures by ligature places around neck that’s is constricted with the help of part or all body weight
  • usually suicidal or accidental.
68
Q

Characteristics of hanging deaths

A
  1. Body doesn’t have to be fully suspended to die
  2. Small material used = deep groove on neck
  3. Bruises on the ligature mark indicate the person was alive when hanging took place
  4. Can still expel urine or feces
  5. Postmortem lividity pronounced in head above ligature and arms and lower legs due to gravity
69
Q

Ligature variation

A
  • narrower the ligature, deeper and more pronounced ligature groove
  • broader and softer, more superficial and faint the groove
  • more than one ligature can be there either by multiple wrapping or body position change while hanging
  • decomp doesn’t affect important things in hangings
  • ligature will still be visible despite discoloration/skin slippage
70
Q

Drowning

A
  • liquid entering breathing passages preventing air from going to lungs
  • white foam which forms as a result of body mucus mixing with water
  • victim might be found with graspings of mud or other material in water
  • survival chances: warm water, 3-10 min…. Ice water, up to 66 min
71
Q

Determine manner of death

A
  • presence of new abrasion, bruises, fingernail marks on throat of victim may indicate strangulation
  • petechial hemorrhages in eyelids show strangulation
  • trauma to tongue
72
Q

Petechial hemorrhages

A

Minute blood clots which appear as small red dots

73
Q

Sexual asphyxia: autoerotic fatalities

A
  • solo-sex related deaths
  • 500-1000 each year in US
  • usually make, naked, in femal clothing, or normal attire
  • females are rare
  • white, middle class, educated, 15-30 years old
  • contraptions or ligatures with padding are often used to prevent visible marks of this activity
  • diminished oxygen to brain causes exhilaration
  • deprivation of oxygen may be partial or total
  • combo of ritualistic behavior, oxygen depriv, danger, and fantasy
  • most common method is neck compression or hanging with padded ligature
74
Q

3 categories of autoerotic deaths

A
  1. Strangulation
  2. Suffocation
  3. Chemical asphyxia (nitrous oxide vs the non sexual CO)
75
Q

Autoerotic strangulation

A
  • MOST COMMON in autoerotic

- closure of blood vessels and air passages of neck from hanging or ligature

76
Q

Autoerotic suffocation

A
  • 2nd most common of autoerotic death

- results from covering mouth and nose with plastic bag or mask

77
Q

Autoerotic chemical asphyxiation

A

-most common CHEMICAL autoerotic asphyxial deaths are from nitrous oxide inhaled to lose sensibility to pain and cause laughter

78
Q

Abrade

A

To chafe. To roughen or remove by friction

79
Q

Abrasion

A

Rubbing off of skin

80
Q

Anoxia

A

Total absence or lack of oxygen

81
Q

Asphyxia

A

Suffocation or a condition due to lack of oxygen in respired air, resulting in apparent death

82
Q

Cirrhosis

A

Liver disease characterized by loss of normal lobular architecture with fibrosis and modular regeneration.

83
Q

Drowning

A

Suffocation and death resulting from filling of the lungs with water or other substance or fluid so that gas exchange become impossible

84
Q

Ecchymosis

A

A bruise

85
Q

Fracture

A

A break or rupture in a bone

86
Q

Hemorrhage

A

The escape of blood from the vessels; bleeding

87
Q

Hypoxia

A

Partial deprivation of oxygen

88
Q

Incise

A

To cut as with a sharp instrument

89
Q

Petechia

A

A pinpoint, non-raised focus of intradermal or submucous hemorrhage

90
Q

Transverse

A

Lying across; crosswise

91
Q

Sequence of investigation of death in custody

A
  1. Get complete medical and social record of victim
  2. Find out why the decedent was in contact with the police of Corecctional officers
  3. Get the details of the arrest with special focus on any mention of injuries
  4. Find out if there was any medical treatment of subject while there
  5. Phones calls while there?
  6. Video tapes of decedent
  7. Talk to all people who came in contact with that person
  8. How was the dead found? Detail the account
  9. Get a list of all personnel working during time of death
  10. If body found hanging: who took the body down and how? Any injuries during this process? Ligature? Where all policies followed by taking away all potential ligatures?
  11. Document any resuscitative efforts made after finding body
  12. Get a list of all inmates since admission of subject

Death Investigation (2 decks)

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