Forensics: Death

An child dies after being kept from receiving proper health care by her guardians. The manner of her death would be:

• natural

• accidental

• homicide

• undetermined

A body has been found strangled in the woods. It shows lividity on the lower abdomen, top of the buttocks, and back of the legs. Based on this evidence, the examiner estimates the body to have been dead for:

• 2-4 hours

• 6-8 hours

• 4-12 hours

• 2-16 hours

Which of the following are factors that can affect rigor mortis?

• temperature

• activity before death

• body weight

• all of these

Which of the following is NOT information that can be gathered from stomach contents?

• degree of digestion can narrow down time of death

• contents can indicate what the last meal was narrowing it down to a specific type of food or service place

• if the person was running away from their attacker because of undigested food

• if the person ingested any poisons or toxins

A body is found that shows no signs of rigor mortis. The body has been dead for ....

• less than 2 hours or more than 24 hours

• less than 2 hours or more than 36 hours

• less than 24 hours or more than 48 hours

• more than 36 hours

Which statement about decomposition is true?

• an overweight person will decompose faster than a thin person

• a buried body will decompose slower than an unburied body

• decomposition will happen faster if the body is submerged in water

• temperature does not affect the rate of decomposition

A body is found with blistering skin that is slipping off of the muscle underneath. There is a strong odor and maggots are seen covering the body. Which stage of decomposition is this body in?

• bloating (putrefaction)

• advanced decay

• active decay (black putrefaction)

• fresh (initial)

An elderly man is found dead in his car with the windows down. He has been missing for 2 days. The average temperature has been 36 degrees F. How would these factors affect lividity, rigor mortis, and algor mortis rates?

• lividity - decreases

  rigor - decreases

  algor - increases

• lividity - decreases

  rigor - increases

  algor - unaffected

• lividity - decreases

  rigor - unaffected

  algor - increases

• lividity - increases

  rigor - increases

  algor - increases

All are true about autopsies except:

• clinical autopsies focus on medical conditions and medicolegal autopsies focus on finding cause of death

• there are two parts to an autopsy... the external examination and the internal examination

• medicolegal exams must correlate the external wounds with the internal damage

• for a toxicology, general poisons such as cyanide and carbon monoxide have signs on the body.

Why is it a good idea to take the temperature away from a maggot mass?

• they will bite the medical examiner

• they will have a higher temp than the body

• they will have a lower temp than the body

• they are gross