cappuccina
Former Member
...investigation info, from the following site:
http://faculty.ncwc.edu/toconnor/315/315lect10.htm
ESTIMATING THE TIME OF DEATH
There's always going to be at least two (2) estimates of the time of death -- the police department's official estimate (which may or may not be yours) and the Medical Examiner's estimate. Legally, you should be within 4 hours of being accurate, but this is a tough standard even for the best coroners. Remember that, after death, the body starts to cool down to whatever the outside (or room) temperature is. At death, the body starts to drop from it's normal 98.6 degrees by a factor of 3 degrees the first hour and a factor of 1 degree each subsequent hour. Then, after 30 hours, it starts to go up again because of the heat generated by decomposition (but this varies by room or outside temperature, so you need to know weather conditions). The following table illustrates:
98.6 - time of death
95.6 - one hour after death
94.6 - two hours after death
93.6 - three hours after death
92.6 - four hours after death
91.6 - five hours after death
90.6 - six hours after death
-------- (to room or outside temp.)
66.6 - thirty hours after death
67.6 - thirty-one hours after death
68.6 - thirty-two hours after death
69.6 - thirty-three hours after death
-------- (to room or outside temp.)
Rigor mortis is also something you should know about. The body is limp until about 5-6 hours after death, then a hardness begins to set in around the jaw area in front of the ear (temporal mandibular joint area). It then spreads throughout the body for a period of time, and then the body goes limp again. The following chart illustrates:
stiffness in jaw -- 6 hours after death
stiffness in upper torso -- 12 hours after death
stiffness in whole body -- 18 hours after death
limpness returns to body -- 36 hours after death
Most Serious Stressors (related to committing murder or suicide)
1. Death of spouse
2. Divorce
3. Marital difficulties
4. Trouble with the law
5. Death of friend or family
6. Serious illness or disease
7. Fired at work
8. Retirement
Hmmmm...Raven was affected by 4 of the 8 things above... yikes!
Last, but not least, something my police and detective/investigator friends have always maintained:
With homicides, a good rule to follow is make the arrest within 72 hours or the chances of ever making it plummet (Morn 2000).
http://faculty.ncwc.edu/toconnor/315/315lect10.htm
ESTIMATING THE TIME OF DEATH
There's always going to be at least two (2) estimates of the time of death -- the police department's official estimate (which may or may not be yours) and the Medical Examiner's estimate. Legally, you should be within 4 hours of being accurate, but this is a tough standard even for the best coroners. Remember that, after death, the body starts to cool down to whatever the outside (or room) temperature is. At death, the body starts to drop from it's normal 98.6 degrees by a factor of 3 degrees the first hour and a factor of 1 degree each subsequent hour. Then, after 30 hours, it starts to go up again because of the heat generated by decomposition (but this varies by room or outside temperature, so you need to know weather conditions). The following table illustrates:
98.6 - time of death
95.6 - one hour after death
94.6 - two hours after death
93.6 - three hours after death
92.6 - four hours after death
91.6 - five hours after death
90.6 - six hours after death
-------- (to room or outside temp.)
66.6 - thirty hours after death
67.6 - thirty-one hours after death
68.6 - thirty-two hours after death
69.6 - thirty-three hours after death
-------- (to room or outside temp.)
Rigor mortis is also something you should know about. The body is limp until about 5-6 hours after death, then a hardness begins to set in around the jaw area in front of the ear (temporal mandibular joint area). It then spreads throughout the body for a period of time, and then the body goes limp again. The following chart illustrates:
stiffness in jaw -- 6 hours after death
stiffness in upper torso -- 12 hours after death
stiffness in whole body -- 18 hours after death
limpness returns to body -- 36 hours after death
Most Serious Stressors (related to committing murder or suicide)
1. Death of spouse
2. Divorce
3. Marital difficulties
4. Trouble with the law
5. Death of friend or family
6. Serious illness or disease
7. Fired at work
8. Retirement
Hmmmm...Raven was affected by 4 of the 8 things above... yikes!
Last, but not least, something my police and detective/investigator friends have always maintained:
With homicides, a good rule to follow is make the arrest within 72 hours or the chances of ever making it plummet (Morn 2000).