Death Investigation

The rate of cooling of a dead body can be influenced by all but the:

• exposure to direct sunlight
• size of the body
• weather conditions
• gender of the victim

When ___________ sets in after death, the skin will appear as a dark blue or purple color in those areas closest to the ground.

• rigor mortis
• livor mortis
• algor mortis
• frigid mortis

Rigor mortis begins within ________ hours after death and disappears within _________ hours

• 12; 24

• 15; 30

• 2; 36

• 24; 48

Rigor mortis refers to the:

• odor of death
• stiffness of death
• temperature of death
• time of death

Typically, about an hour after death, a deceased body loses heat at a rate of approximately ___________ until the body reaches the environmental temperature.

• 0.7 F per Hour

• 1.4 F per hour

• 1.4 C per hour

• 0.7 C per hour

The postmortem interval estimation should be given as a ____________, making it clear that such judgments are probabilistic and conditional.

• percentage
• range
• exact time
• guess

The legal authority to determine cause and manner of death rests with the 

• forensic anthropologist
• medical examiner
• coroner
• pathologist

A natural death, homicide, or suicide is an example of what?

• Manner of Death
• Cause of Death
• Mechanism of Death
• All of the Above

An example of a cause of death would be:

• Suicide

• exsanguination

• Gunshot wound

• accidental

• pulmonary arrest

What is a general definition of death?

• the cessation of all life
• brain activity has stopped
• the heart has stopped
• only when you bleed out