5 Stages Of Decomposition Research Paper

During the processes, there are some key people that will contribute to clarify what happened. Among them, the police, the forensic service, the expert witnesses or witnesses testimony. Sadly, while sometimes those are the ones who elucidate the crime, at times, their confessions may be critical for the innocent person who is finally convicted because of their lies and corruption.

By now the crime scene has been labeled a homicide and detectives have been dispatched to the scene. When the detectives arrive the lead officer will then provide a detailed crime scene briefing to the detective in charge of the scene. This briefing will be the only opportunity for the detective to receive the initial aspects of the crime scene prior to subsequent investigation. Since the crime scene and any/all evidence collected are the key factors in making a case, the crime scene must be documented as soon as possible including, appearance and condition of the scene upon arrival, lights on/off, shades up/down, doors, windows open/closed, any unusual smells, ice, liquids, weather conditions, temperature, and any personal items that may have been left behind. Once the lead detective has been briefed and evaluates the scene him/herself, he/she will then need to determine if consent to search and/or obtaining a search warrant is needed. The scene assessment allows the lead detective

A dead body that has been exposed to the elements such as water, air, temperature and weather, will decompose quicly and will attract much more insect activity. Colder temperatures slow decomposition, while warmer temperatures rather speed up the process of decomposition. If a body is available to insects, than the insects alone can reduce a fully fleshed body to skeletal bones withing a two week time period. Key factors to consider are: temperature, availability of oxygen, cause of death, trauma, humidity or wetness, rainfall, body size and weight, clothing, the surface where the body was resting, and the foods/objects inside the digestive tract of the

The second, or putrefaction, stage of decomposition is when the skin, all over the body, starts to change color (Young & Ortmeier, 2011). Gases begin to be released from inside the body, which causes it to swell, or bloat (enkivillage). As those gases build up, a foul odor begins to emanate from the body, while blisters start to appear on the skin. It is during this stage of decomposition where fluids will be purged through the body’s orifices (Young & Ortmeier, 2011). The active decay stage is where the body will start to lose mass.

List All Witnesses: Write down anyone who might have information about the incident in question, your whereabouts, or statements made by the alleged accuser, and make sure you collect all of their contact information.

One of the first steps in finding out whom the suspect is, is by obtaining and evaluating factual information. You must obtain as much information on the offense as you can.For instance, Harry Franks, a money-order collector, had just walked out of the Cute-Rate store in Fairmount where he was attacked by two guys. These two attackers had thrown acid in Mr. Franks face, beat him and then executed him with a gun. A third attacker pulled up to the side of the curb in a green car in which the other two attackers got into and all three attackers drove off. Information on the

This has the big purpose to help families and friends know what exactly happened, so they know how to take control and aren't left wondering. My father's friend knows the Coroner in our area

Goodman, P. (n.d.). How Long does it take for a body to decompose. Retrieved from

After the crime is first reported, the law enforcement officers must open an investigation. Within the investigation, witnesses must be interviewed separately by police, along with the victims, and suspects. Crime scene technicians should also be contacted to collect any type of evidence from DNA, fingerprints, and blood samples. After possible incriminating evidence is collected, it must be sent back to the lab for testing.

To the reader it may seem that with this introduction, the book will only be based on what uses a corpse has in science, but in later chapters the book shifts to what has happened to cadavers in the past and other endeavours cadavers have endured, such as cadavers that were used by the military, “Taking shape in the the rifle's’ sights would be men, a series of them, naked and unarmed. That they were naked and unarmed was the less distinctive thing about them. More distinctive was that they were already dead. They had died of natural causes and had been collected--from where is not revealed-- as subjects in an Army Ordnance Department experiment.” (Roach, 131). Cadavers have also been useful in car safety, “Over the past sixty years, the dead have helped the living work out human tolerance limits for skull slammings chest skewerings, knee crammings and gut mashings: all the ugly violent things that happen to a human being in a car crash.” (Roach, 87). Roach covers many things that have happened and that will happen to a person’s body once the person has passed

In an investigation, an investigator must find ways to recreate an event that had taken place. In order to do so an investigator must talk to witnesses and victims of the crime. Witnesses could include those who either heard or saw something. Many witnesses may not come forward so an investigator may need to ask people who live around the area or people who work around the area where the event took place. An event can also be recreated from the evidence that was gathered from the scene of the crime. With both the statements from the witnesses and the victims along with the evidence from the scene, the investigator must put all of the pieces together and recreate the event that had taken place (Adkisson, 2011).

After investigating the crime scene, the investigator should run the victims information through the police database to see if he/she had any previous convictions. Learning that the victim has been to prison before can open up a whole new list of suspects and motives. After concluding with the background search, the investigator should search for any close living relatives or acquaintances that can provides the victims family background, employment history, close friends, and if any, enemies. The victim's residence would also be processed after receiving a search warrant. Any and all calendars with appointments, phone messages, voicemail, and answering machines would be processed. Information from bank statements and other financial information located at the victim's residence would also be processed. This would be used to trace an individual's movement through the use of their credit cards. Where they were prior to the crime might be traced through the use of their credit cards. Interviews with the staff of

Next, Roach flies to the University of Tennessee, where they have an area with bodies decomposing all over the lawn. Researchers here observe the processes after death, which begins with autolysis, where enzymes in the body break down cell walls. Roach calls the next step “bloat,” where the bacteria in bodies expel gas, but the body cannot release it, making it swell. The final step is putrefaction or decay, where the body is eaten away by the bacteria inside of it.

After the prior four stages, the body then enters the final stage of decomposition. In this final stage, the body is left with very minimal skin and complete bones; also known as complete skeletonization. When the body has reach the complete skeletonization stage, weather begins to affect the bones. If the body is in hot climate weather, the bones will begin to dry up and discoloration of the outer surface of the bone. Also factors that affect the human bones in this stage are insect and animal activity. For instance, the book states that squirrels specifically show a preference on human dry bones that have exposed up to one year to the environment. Thus squirrels are one type of animal that prefer the human bones because bones can inherit soil, and other substance from the environment depending on its location(Tersigni-Tarrant, Shirley, p. 352, 2013.) But the longer human bones spend out in their location, the more changes it is bound to exhibit. For instance, bones may exhibit additional discoloration and may resemble and growth with plants if it were

Crime scene preservation should be the most important step to any first responder. This protocol should continue to be followed by anyone who processes the scene. From the moment the first responder arrives at the scene, he/she should exercise a pertinacious attitude to insure that curious onlookers and personnel who are not involved in a task related to the scene, remain outside the cordoned