Back on the AR:
Dr. Wecht noted that lividity was fixed in Rebecca’s back & he hypothesized that if Rebecca had died as a result of hanging, lividity would have been fixed in her lower limbs.
Fixed lividity sets in a minimum of 6-12 hours after death (usually earlier if it is warmer and later if it is colder). Lividity starts becoming partially fixed within a couple of hours after death. Blood starts settling into the tissues and clotting. Prior to lividity becoming fixed, it can move but not as much as it would have moved soon after death. If she was on her back after death and prior to being moved to a hanging position, there would be a mixed pattern of lividity or dual lividity.
Estimated time of RZ death - 3am on July 13th
AS called 911 at 6:48am on July 13th, after having allegedly cut Rebecca’s body down from the balcony and laying her body on her back in the courtyard.
RZ would have been hanging for approx. 3hrs.40 minutes.
If lividity becomes partially fixed within a couple of hours after death, there should be lividity in her feet as well her back.
From the AR:
POSTMORTEM CHANGES: Rigor mortis is mild and easily broken in the upper an lower extremities, neck, and jaw. Livor mortis posterior, red and fixed. There is als red livor mortis on the upper chest. There is green discoloration of each lower quadrar of the abdomen. Skip slips with pressure.
I looked for why livor mortis is red and fixed. Red blood cells, which are very dense, travel and pool in the lowest areas possible, staining the tissue.
Is there an explanation for why there is livor mortis on the upper chest as well?
No mention of livor mortis in the extremities. From what I've read about hanging deaths, livor mortis develops in the feet and hands.