These variables are known as endogenous factors. The time of onset and rates of each postmortem transformative event are also subjected to variations originated by existing chronic diseases, types of medication, and individual metabolic characteristics. Stomach contents can reveal the stage of digestion of the last meal at the time of death. The process of maceration occurs at known rates in fetuses that died in the womb. It occurs most often in women or obese adult individuals and children, requiring enough humidity or the presence of water to take place.
Adipocere, for instance, is not common in most male adult corpses. Not all these stages take place in a single cadaver. The classical method of estimating time of death is the rate method, which measures postmortem (after death) stages and the types of transformation a body undergoes such as cooling rates (algor mortis), stiffening ( rigor mortis ), initiation and duration, postmortem lividity (discoloration stains), degree of putrefaction, adipocere (body fat saponification), and maceration (tissue softening due to the presence of liquid). The knowledge of the internal sequential changes a dead body undergoes in relation to the variations on the rate of their occurrence due to ambient temperature, humidity, and the presence of insects or other predators are all considered when estimating the time of death. Therefore, time of death and PMI are given as estimates, and can vary from hours to days, or from months to years, depending on each particular case.Įvidence for estimating time of death includes physical evidence present in the corpse (postmortem changes, presence of insects, etc.), environmental evidence such as location where the body was found (indoors, outdoors, buried, burned, in water, etc.), and other evidence found at the crime scene (a stopped wrist watch due to a blow or impact, an answering machine record, a 911 call, phone calls received or made around the time of the assault, etc.), and finally, the historical evidence (habits and daily routine of the victim, relationships, existence of enemies, etc). The time elapsed from the moment of death until a corpse is discovered is also known as the postmortem interval, or PMI.īoth the time of death and the postmortem interval cannot be determined with 100% accuracy, particularly when a body is found in advanced state of decomposition or is recovered from fire, water, or ice. The determination of time of death is of crucial importance for forensic investigators, especially when they are gathering evidence that can support or deny the stated actions of suspects in a crime.
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