Crime Scene PhotographyBy

Mike Wiehe and Robert Warnock

A complete, thorough, and careful death-scene investigations can lead to greater faith in the system by family and friends of those whose deaths may have been caused by homicide, suicide, accident, or natural causes.

The investigation of the death of another human being is a weighty responsibility.

A victim can only be killed once, but a crime scene can be killed a

hundred times.

Homicides Suicides Accidental Natural

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

Heart Attacks

Cancer

Pheumonia

MVA

Firearms

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

1- 5yrs

5 - 14yrs

15- 24yrs

25- 34yrs

45 - 54yrs

Over54

Firearms

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00%

MVA

Falls

Poisonings

Fires

Meg/ Sug Care

Drownings

Identify the lead investigator at the scene.

Identify the first responding officers to ascertain if any artifacts or contamination may have been introduced to the death scene.

Determine the scene safety (prior to entry).

Has the scene been searched for offender or other victims?

Assess and/or establish physical boundaries.

Do we have consent from the lawful property owner or a search warrant?

There is no death exception to the 4th amendment.

Gloves Mask Respirators Goggles Booties Tyvek Suits

While exercising scene safety, protect the integrity of the scene and evidence to the extent possible from contamination or loss by people, animals, and elements.

Conducting a scene “walk through” provides you with an overview of the entire scene. The “walk through” provides you with the first opportunity to locate and view the body, identify valuable and/or fragile evidence, and determine initial investigative procedures providing for a systematic examination and documentation of the scene and body.

Reassess scene boundaries and adjust as appropriate.

Establish a path of entry and exit. Identify visible physical and fragile

evidence. Document and photograph fragile

evidence immediately and collect if appropriate.

Locate and view the decedent.

Document the decedent’s position with and without measurements (as appropriate).

Document the decedent’s physical characteristics.

Document the presence or absence of clothing and personal effects.

Document the presence or absence of any items/objects that may be relevant.

Document the presence or absence of marks, scars, and tattoos.

Document the presence or absence of injury/trauma, petechiae, etc.

Document the presence of treatment or resuscitative efforts.

Based on the findings, determine the need for further evaluation/ assistance of forensic specialists (e.g., pathologists, odontologists

Rigor mortis is one of the recognizable signs of death (Latin "mors, mortis") that is caused by a chemical change in the muscles after death, causing the limbs of the corpse to become stiff (Latin "rigor") and difficult to move or manipulate.

Assuming mild temperatures, rigor usually sets in about 3-4 hours after clinical death, with full rigor being in effect at about 12 hours, and eventually subsiding to relaxation at about 36 hours. Times for the onset of rigor mortis can vary from a few minutes to several hours depending on the ambient temperature.

Factors influencing rigor mortis include the age and condition of the body, as well as the mode of death and the surroundings. For example, rigor mortis will tend to set in faster in those who were active immediately prior to death.

Livor mortis or postmortem lividity, one of the signs of death, is a settling of the blood in the lower (dependent) portion of the body, causing a purplish red discoloration of the skin: when the heart is no longer agitating the blood, heavy red blood cells sink through the serum by action of gravity.

This discoloration does not occur in the areas of the body that are in contact with the ground or another object, as the capillaries are compressed

Livor mortis starts 20 minutes to 3 hours after death and is congealed in the capillaries in 4 to 5 hours. Maximum lividity occurs within 6-12 hours.

Degree of decomposition (putrefaction, mummification, skeletonization, as appropriate).

Insect and animal activity. Scene temperature (document method

used and time estimated). Description of body temperature (e.g.,

warm, cold, frozen) or measurement of body temperature (document method used and time of measurement).

Photograph the body and immediate scene (including the decedent as initially found).

Photograph the decedent’s face. Take additional photographs after removal of

objects /items that interfere with photographic documentation of the decedent (e.g., body removed from car).

Photograph the decedent with and without measurements (as appropriate).

Photograph the surface beneath the body (after the body has been removed, as appropriate).

Suicides

In 2006, Suicide was the Eleventh Leading cause of Death in the United States (National Institute of Mental Health)

Suicide took the lives of 33,300 people in 2006 (National Institute of Mental Health).

Everyday, approximately 80 Americans take their own life, 1,500 more attempt to do so

In 2006, 87% of suicides were committed with a firearm (National Institute of Mental Health).

Suicide is the Seventh leading cause of death for all U.S. men.

The Sixteenth leading cause of death in Females.

Males are four times more likely to die from suicide than females.

Suicide rates are highest among Whites and second highest among American Indian and Native Alaskan men.

Women report attempting suicide during their lifetime about three times as often as men.

The most common method of committing suicide in the United States is by shooting. Approximately 56% of men committing suicide use firearms, with the remainder almost equally divided between drug overdoses and hangings.

Traditionally, the preferred method used by women was drug overdose. However since the 1980’s the firearm has become the most popular method of suicide with women. In 1970 30% of the females committing suicide used a firearm and 48% took an overdose. By 1990 42% used a firearm and 36% took an overdose.

In 2006, firearms were used in 54% of youth suicides (Anderson and Smith 2003).

Firearms were used in 73% of suicides committed by adults over the age of 65 in 2001 (CDC 2004).

Of the 24,672 suicide deaths reported among men in 2001, 60% involved the use of a firearm (Anderson and Smith 2003).

Older adults who are suicidal are also more likely to be suffering from physical illnesses and be divorced or widowed (DHHS 1999; Carney et al. 1994; Dorpat et al. 1968).

Most elderly suicide victims are seen by their primary care provider a few weeks prior to their suicide attempt and diagnosed with their first episode of mild to moderate depression (DHHS 1999).

While most suicidal gunshot wounds are contact wounds a small (1-3%) are of intermediate range.

Only approximately 25% of people who commit suicide leave a note.

In a study of 574 gunshot suicides in which the body was not transported from the scene, it was found that the gun was moved in 94 cases before Medical Examiner investigator arrived. The following is break down on who moved the gun.

    39% Family members        37% Police       7% Paramedics        2% Witnesses        15% Unknown

A Garavaglia and Talkington study of 498 cases of suicide from gunshot wounds [365 from handguns and 133 from long guns] was conducted to determine in how many cases the weapon remained in the hand and what factors, if any predisposed to this.

They found in 24.1% (120) of the cases the gun was in the hand; in 69% (344) of the cases it was on or touching the body or within 12 inches. Of the 34 guns that were move then a foot away, 4 were long guns and 30 were handguns.

The fact that a wound is in an unusual location does not necessarily mean that it cannot be self-inflicted. Through it is wise to treat these cases as homicides at the start.

In the case of the handgun suicides in 25.7% (94) cases the gun was in the hand. (By this it means that at least one finger was in the trigger guard or the hands were found loosely gripping the barrel or grips.

In the head the most common site for a handgun entrance wound in the temple.

Generally right-handed individuals will shoot themselves in the right temple and left-handed individuals in the left temple.

(One study did show that out of 125 right-handed individuals seven [5.6%] shot themselves in the left temple.) Other locations in descending order would be the

mouth, underside of the chin, and forehead.

Soot is seen on the hand of a suicide victim

Asphyxiation or suffocation refer to the process of asphyxia, where the body becomes increasingly hypoxic.

Asphyxia (from Greek a-, "without" and sphuxis, "pulse, heartbeat") is a condition of severely deficient supply of oxygen to the body that arises from being unable to breathe normally.

Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which primarily affects the tissues and organs most sensitive to hypoxia first, such as the brain, hence resulting in cerebral hypoxia. Asphyxia is usually characterized by air hunger but this is not always the case; the urge to breathe is triggered by rising carbon dioxide levels in the blood rather than diminishing oxygen levels.

The time to death is dependent on the particular mechanism of asphyxia. In an experiment where dogs were suffocated by placing an air-tight rubber mask over the dogs' heads, it was shown that it took around 8 minutes for the dogs to go into cardiac arrest.

Carbon monoxide inhalation, such as from a car exhaust, carbon monoxide has a higher affinity than oxygen to the hemoglobin in the blood's red blood corpuscles bonding with it tenaciously, displacing oxygen and preventing the blood from transporting it around the body.

Contact with certain chemicals, including pulmonary agents (such as phosgene) and blood agents (such as hydrogen cyanide).

A seizure which stops breathing activity. Sleep apnea.

Drug overdose. A drug overdose occurs when a drug is

ingested in quantities and/or concentrations large enough to overwhelm the homeostasis of a living organism, causing severe illness or death. It is a type of poisoning.

Barbiturates Seconal Nembutal Narcotics Heroin Stimulants Methamphetamine Ethyl Alcohol Alcoholic beverages Prescription drugs

Crushing or constriction of the chest or abdomen (compressive asphyxia)

Drowning caused by water or other liquids.

Choking due to object in the airway. Strangling where the airway is

constricted, especially in certain types of chokeholds called air chokes.

Hanging or ligature strangulation may lead to asphyxia.

Reduction of the airways due to anaphylaxis or asthma.

Inhalation of vomit. Positional asphyxia. The practice of erotic asphyxiation, also

called breath control play. Smothering, where the external

respiratory orifices are covered.

Smothering refers to the mechanical obstruction of the flow of air from the environment into the mouth and/or nostrils, for instance by covering the mouth and nose with a hand, pillow, or a plastic bag. Normally, smothering requires at least partial obstruction of both the nasal cavities and the mouth to lead to asphyxia.

The filling of cryogenic vessels with liquified, oxygen-free gases such as nitrogen in an enclosed space.

Workers entering a brewery fermentation vat unaware that the space is filled with carbon dioxide.

Workers descending into a sewer or the hold of a ship containing heavier than air, oxygen-free gases usually H2S or carbon dioxide.

Inhalation of overwhelming amounts of non-oxygen gases such as helium or CO2 fire extinguishers for recreational or amusement purposes.

Strangling is compression of the neck that leads to unconsciousness or death by causing an increasingly hypoxic state in the brain.

Hanging — Suspension from a cord wound around the neck (see the separate article Hanging)

Ligature strangulation — Strangulation without suspension using some form of cord-like object

Manual strangulation — Strangulation using the fingers or other extremity

Hanging is the suspension of a person by a ligature, usually a cord wrapped around the neck, causing death.

It is a common method of committing suicide.

In Canada, hanging is the second most common method of suicide, after suffocation.

In the U.S., hanging is the second most common method of suicide, after firearms.

After death, the body typically shows marks of suspension: bruising and rope marks on the neck. Forensic experts may often be able to tell if hanging is suicide or homicide, as each leaves a distinctive ligature mark. One of the hints they use is the hyoid bone. If broken, it often means the person has been murdered by manual choking.

Choking is the obstruction of the flow of air from the environment into the lungs. Choking prevents breathing, and can be partial or complete, where partial choking indicates that there is some, although inadequate flow of air into the lungs.