Forensic Autopsy: A Case Study

Forensic science has come a long way from where it was less than 100 years ago. It has only been relatively recently that the advancement of technology we use, has occurred. The Body Farm, an institute in Knoxville, Tennessee, is a place where dead corpses are left to rot and then studied on how the body decays in different circumstances. Death’s Acre: Inside the Legendary Body Farm tells about the farm from Dr. Bill Bass’ point of view, from the establishment of the farm, to the impact in the world of forensic science the farm has caused. David Pitt and Alynda Wheat offers their insight into the book in their reviews. The Body Farm has been a monumental stepping stone to the advancement of modern day forensic sciences. Dr. Bill Bass, is making

There was no educational part when it came to forensic science in the 1700’s- 1800’s.

The autopsy of Bobbi Kristina Brown was released to the public and Nick Gordon is declaring his innocence even louder than before. According to People, March 8, 2016, Nick has been the main suspect in the death of Bobbi Kristina.

Have certain interrogatories popped in your head repeatedly? How do we know if someone hears us beyond the grave? Can they determine if I died of natural causes or did someone cut my life thread short? Never really  thought about it have you? Well, if you did or not the answer is yes people!!! There are people who are adamant about understanding what caused our life to take a quick or long turn to the big paradise in the sky or the land of milk and honey as most people heard and proffered. They are the superheroes, advocates for the dead, Forensic Pathologist is the name. They hold the most important jobs in the world, because like I said before they are insistant with knowing what or whom triggered your expiration date?  Ha just a little humor for my comedy readers, yes you may have heard or be familiar of this occupation on Law and Order, Law and Order Criminal Intent, Law and Order SVU, CSI, etc.

A Forensic Pathologist studies the cause of death of human remains. To become a forensic pathologist it takes time and hard work. The average time at school is thirteen to eighteen years. The average salary is 100k- 500k. At school they have to study anatomy, but also serology and toxicology.

autopsy or other type of post mortem examination is done. The completion of the “cause

This information will help investigators cluster the symptoms with a particular disease and rule out irrelevant information. The surveillance of the components gather in this step will put a perspective on the abnormal health events that are occurring on the outbreak timeline.

Forensics is probably one of the most interesting careers there is just for the fact that it involves exploring someone internally. It involves getting to know someone not emotionally but physically and internally. Finding so many things from the past like if they were smokers, drinkers, if they ever did drugs, if they were sick… anything. I find this career very interesting and getting to research about it is just very nice because knowing the most important things of a forensic autopsy technician and what their job is like on a daily basis interests me.

Coming from the Greek word “autopsia” the word autopsy means, “to see with one’s own eyes.” In an autopsy, the body is analyzed, both internally and externally, to determine the cause and manner of that person’s death by identifying any diseases, wounds, or abnormalities found throughout the body (Stöppler, np). Medical examiners must consider the medical history of the deceased as well as analyze toxicology reports from blood and urine samples taken during the autopsy process (“Forensic Pathology Career & Salary Outlook,” np). Disease progression as well as the effectiveness of any treatments given can also be determined from an autopsy. Provided that this knowledge can be obtained, autopsies are considered to be a part of the field of pathology, or the study of the cause and effects of disease. This information on diseases can be particularly beneficial for research purposes as well as informative to families about illnesses that may be genetic (Stöppler, np). Upon completing the examination, a report is filed stating whether the findings suggested suicidal, homicidal, accidental, or natural causes of death and also covering the basic findings of the case. Finally, a death certificate must be prepared for the physician of the deceased to sign (“Medical Examiner,”

The CSI Forensics Scientist Gil Grissom determines the manner of death by using a simulation dummy (Zuiker 2000). Later, he positively identifies a specific shard of glass obtained from the dead body to a champagne bottle in the hotel room (Zuiker 2000). Lastly, Grissom also questions and interrogates the criminal suspects at the end of the case (Zuiker 2000). In real life, the manner of death can only be determined by the forensics pathology (Jacques 2015). The specific type glass can be positively identified by Glass and tool marks expert using laboratory test such as Glass Refractive Index Measurement (Rudell 2016). Only a detective or investigator of that case can interrogate a suspect (Brown and Daveport 2012). The TV show wrongly describes

between a cut (an injury that is longer than deep) and a stab wound (an injury

Have you ever just wanted to come home from a long days at work and kick off your shoes and grab some food and pig out in front of the television? You began to flick through all the channels and can’t find what you are looking for so you come to CSI Miami and this had caught your attention and now you’re toned in and intrigued of what they are doing. You find yourself yelling at the T.V. saying “how they do that?” “What is that?” “Why are they doing that?” and “how did they solve the case?” Well as you began to read further all of your questions will be answered, and you will see the real from the fake and what exactly a forensic pathologist is and as well as what it takes to become one. You will learn the ins and

After collecting all of the evidence taking to the forensic lab and analysis the evidence that was collect. When a body come to the lab , the pathologist would” conduct a post-mortem”, examining the body and looking at its external appearance to help identification to determine how the person died, looking for evidence of blows to the body, looking at the size and shape of the wound. Then the pathologist would start a surgical procedures to study the internal organs, (like bruising of the brain, damage to the heart and blood vessels looking for evidence of disease as a cause of death, heart attack, stroke, aneurysm, or infection. Checking the stomach content also if a person is murder or rape then pathologist would take samples under finger nails , sample of semen from vaginal”( Elvidge,

An autopsy is an examination of the body after death. It usually consists of an external and an internal examination of the body. The external examination also documents identifying features such as scars, tattoos or other markings which may assist in the identification of the body. The internal examination looks at the internal organs to document any natural disease processes and/or injury .Its purpose is to learn the truth about the persons health during life and how the person really died, These situations include, violent deaths such as homicides, accidents, and suicides. Other categories are suspicious deaths, sudden and expected deaths, deaths in children and infants, prisoners, persons under the care of an institution,

On April 05, 2016 at approximately 1518 hours, I was dispatch to 2004 Pine Street in reference to a death investigation. Upon my arrival, I met with Detective Campbell who was the lead Investigator at the scene. Detective Campbell stated that the victim neighbors reported a strong smell coming from the victim’s (Cortiz Lazarz) residence. The neighbors called 911 and Officer Volk was the first responded officer on scene. Defective Campbell and officer Volk stated that the victim located on the living room floor, fazing the south from the residence. Detective Campbell requested I process the scene for evidence and documentation.