Yes, the DM have all the bedside manner of a lump of coal
Regarding the COD - this might be tricky due to the level of decomposition perhaps? Whilst it's true a body in the ground decomposes about half as slow in water an 6-8 times as slow as out in the open, if police estimates are correct and ST was I the ground 3 odd weeks, there could still be fairly significant damage. It had been very hot during March and there'd been some good rains in the week leading up to finding ST. I'm quite familiar with those forests as I now live up that way and the ground is very sandy and well aerated and there is also significant animal traffic through there.
If a lot of the soft tissues are missing it's possible they can see damage to them cuts/dismemberment etc, it may not be possible to tell if these injuries were severe enough to cause death or if they were inflicted pre/post mortem. If the bones don't show damage (e.g.: bullet wounds, breaks that indicate fatal outcome) it may be hard to pin point an exact COD?
Re: murder/manslaughter, I do wonder if they will make it both in the end if they don't have a COD or confession or strong case for premeditation? They had both in the Tostee case, I believe? Who incidentally I just read in a news report is back on Tinder under his new name [emoji15]
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