civil forensic

Chapter 173 Cause of Death
Why the deceased died is a very serious topic for forensics.

Forensic pathology, that's what the whole book is about.

The court also attaches great importance to the cause of death.

Just like today's case, if the death is caused by arson, that is, the deceased died due to arson, but was not the target of arson, then there may be a life sentence.

But if it is arson after murder, this is an aggravating circumstance, and it is basically the death penalty.

On the other hand, if someone accidentally kills someone in a fire scene, or if someone else sets fire to the body after the murder and the body is burned, then the sentence may return to life imprisonment.

Niu Dong, who was mainly doing the dissection, also had a solemn expression.

Burning after killing is relatively common.

In order to escape crimes, murderers often use various methods of destroying corpses and eliminating traces.

However, with so many stabs in the abdomen, there is a twitching sensation in the lungs...

These are two completely different causes of death.

Twisting, or gripping, sensations in the lungs usually indicate suffocation.

Niu Dong cut off the lung tissue without hesitation.I saw some pink foamy liquid flow out.

This further proves that the death is likely to be related to asphyxiation.

So, the deceased was stabbed in the abdomen, injured and unconscious, and then died of smoke?

Niudong couldn't help looking at the throat of the corpse.

As we all know, there are three characteristics of a corpse suffocated to death by smoke.

First, the airways and mouth may be burned by high temperature fumes.Second, the eyes are usually closed.Third, carboxyhemoglobin saturation is high.

The first item is easy to understand.

The second item is actually very easy to understand. The smoke is so irritating, to the point of death, and in the smoke, you can't help but close your eyes.

The high saturation of carboxyhemoglobin in the third item actually represents an indicator of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Among normal people, this index is usually negative, and the index of smokers may be 0.02 to 0.04.

But if carbon monoxide is poisoned in the flue gas, the carboxyhemoglobin saturation index will soar to more than 20%.

However, the opening and closing of the eyes is not easy to verify.

Because the eyelids of a person can also be covered after death, like some men crying bitterly in the fire scene and covering the eyelids of their brother, this will be suspected of strangling the brother to death and covering up the cause of death.

Carboxyhemoglobin saturation can only be proved by toxicological tests.

Originally, for the forensic doctor, the most direct way was to cut the airway and take a look.

But the tissue on the chest of the deceased, including the throat above it, had been carbonized. Niu Dong stepped forward and cut it, but nothing could be seen, so he didn't cut it again.

"Do you want to take your blood for testing?" Jiang Yuan asked politely.

"OK fine."

Niu Dong's reaction was a beat slower than Jiang Yuan's.

Blood samples were taken for toxicology testing.

Jiang Yuan recommended himself again: "Shall I come?"

He himself came here to practice, so he couldn't keep dangling on the edge.

Niu Dong froze for a moment, and gave up his position to Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Yuan took his hard work and stomach contents.

Toxicology testing is mainly to detect these two places.

One represents what's in your blood and one represents what's in your stomach.

After taking the things, Jiang Yuan poked his abdominal cavity with a knife and asked, "Look for it?"

Wang Lan and Niu Tong were stunned again, and whispered: "Then let's look for it."

No need for him to say what to look for, the three forensic doctors stretched out their heads together to look for it.

"No blood clots."

"The stomach side was punctured, but there was no blood clot, no carbonization."

"Here in the lower abdomen too, no carbonization."

Everyone spoke out the main points in a tacit agreement.

If a blood vessel is punctured before death, it will bleed. This is because the heart pumps blood out.

Blood vessels that are punctured after death will not bleed because the heart has stopped beating.

The reason why bloodletting pork is not eaten in European and American countries, apart from economic factors and habits, is that bloodletting pork needs to be made to bleed while the pig is alive, which is very unethical.

And there is no blood clot in the abdomen, which means that the deceased is a blood vessel punctured after death, or...

It is also theoretically possible that the clot was burned away by the flames.

It is said that there is no carbonization in the stomach and the lower abdomen is to reduce the possibility of follow-up.

"Looking at it this way, the possibility of toxic suffocation and mechanical suffocation is relatively high, and the corpse was stabbed so many times after death..." Niu Dong couldn't help shaking his head.

Jiang Yuan gestured at the location where the knife was stabbed, and said: "It may be an acquaintance who committed the crime. He was afraid of being recognized, so he made up the knife."

"It's very possible." Niu Dong became excited and said, "Then I'll make a phone call first."

The cause of death is basically found out.

The specific situation depends on the drug test report, but the stabbing in the abdomen was done after death, which has a great impact on the detection of the case, so the front line should be notified first.

After Niudong cleaned his hands, made a phone call, and put on his gloves again, he saw Jiang Yuan and Wang Lan digging out his heart and examining it carefully.

"Did you find anything?" Niu Dong stepped on his own footstool and stepped onto the stage.

"Spotty bleeding." Jiang Yuan said.

"Circumstantial evidence of suffocation." Niu Dong nodded.

Asphyxiation can lead to hypoxic manifestations, which can form such punctate hemorrhages on the surface of multiple internal organs.

Such is the heart of the dead.

However, given the state of the corpse today, it is not easy to notice spotting.

The chest cavity is almost burned through.

If the fire had been extinguished a little slower, the whole house would have been burned down, and the heart would probably have been burnt through.

"Jiang Yuan's eyes are quite good." Niu Dong said admiringly.

Wang Lan raised his head, shook his head, relieved the discomfort in the neck, and said: "Jiang Yuan is not only good-eyed, he is looking at the bleeding on the surface of the internal organs. The liver and kidneys have been carefully checked. On the heart, It can also be found, and the bleeding will be dried."

"Forensic doctor Jiang can." Niu Dong nodded.

Knowledge is written in the book, and it is not easy to use it properly at the right time - Niu Dong's evaluation of Jiang Yuan is still a young rookie, but now he has a slightly higher opinion.

"Let's do the rest too. Captain Lei is going to come and have a look at it later." Niu Dong said, and then continued to work hard on the dissection.

The trace inspector Cao Keyang next to him was about to vomit, he sighed and said, "Your captain Lei is coming here now? At midnight?"

"He doesn't sleep in the middle of the night, it's fine." Niu Dong didn't have any sympathy for the leader.

Jiang Yuan, Wang Lan, Cao Keyang and the forensic assistant nodded in agreement.

The atmosphere in the dissecting room became warmer because of this.

An hour later, Lei Xin, the head of the criminal police team in the Qianjin District of Qinghe City, ran over.

"Jiang Forensic Doctor, you've worked hard, you've worked hard."

There are three districts in Qinghe City. The forward district belongs to the old urban area. The criminal police brigade of the district bureau is at the same level as the criminal police brigade of Ningtai County.

This is a somewhat thin criminal policeman with yellow hands and yellow teeth.

After entering the door, Lei Xin first greeted Jiang Yuan politely, and then smoked for others.

Jiang Yuan said "It's okay", then took the cigarette and lit it.

If you are courteous to something, it must be for the sake of things.

Taking advantage of the case to get acquainted with each other, Lei Xin said again: "Jiang Forensic, Wang Forensic, Niu Dong, let me introduce the case?"

"it is good."

Lei Xin thought about his words, and said: "To put it simply, it was today... yesterday afternoon, a house in the area where we were advancing. The villagers' self-built house caught fire. After the fire was extinguished, the female corpse was found... the body was DNA By the way, I just got the result."

"The name of the deceased was Zhang Ying, 22 years old. He was unmarried and lived here. The situation at the scene was that the deceased was lying on a bed in the house without any clothes on, so there was a possibility of rape."

"In the self-built houses in urban villages, there are more complicated people coming and going, and there are few cameras."

"We are currently investigating Zhang Ying's social relationship. The deceased worked in a shopping mall and was a salesperson at a L'Oreal counter. I don't think she has any particularly close colleagues. Her parents don't know much about their daughter's social relationship..."

Lei Xin talked for a while, and then said, "Does Forensic Doctor Jiang have time to look at the scene?"

Jiang Yuan didn't object, but scratched his head and said, "There is very little evidence at the scene after the arson."

He had done the fingerprints of the arson case before, which can be regarded as the ceiling.

Lei Xin didn't hide anything, and said: "Basically, no evidence has been found in the current survey. Now, if the body has not found evidence such as semen, even if a person is found, there will probably be a lack of physical evidence."

"The murder weapon?"

"The murder weapon was thrown in front of the fire. It was a chef's knife, the kind used in Western-style kitchens, a five-piece kitchen set, and a wooden box. The knife inside was also burnt out."

Not to mention, Lei Xin's tricks are close to returning to the tricks, and the problems he encounters now are really difficult.

Lei Xin complained in a half-true way: "We haven't found any result in the investigation. Even if there is a result, I still have to worry about the issue of physical evidence. Nowadays, the requirements for murder cases are getting higher and higher. There is no DNA evidence or hard physical evidence. Officials will complain."

Wang Lan nodded sympathetically: "CSI effect."

The CSI effect means that everyone has watched too many TV movies and variety shows related to forensic science, so that everyone's requirements for legal and political science have quietly increased.

In European and American countries, the CSI effect is reflected in the jurors' requirements for physical evidence and the increase in expectations.For example, jurors will demand more DNA testing, the most advanced technology possible.

In China, the CSI effect is more reflected in the leadership.Especially for non-professional leaders, or more senior leaders, when they inquire about the "evidence" of a certain case, it is impossible for criminal investigators to say that they do not feel pressure.

To a certain extent, this is actually an improvement. After all, leaders who require "physical evidence" seem to be more scientific than leaders who require "confessions."

For a grassroots person in charge like Lei Xin, all aspects have to be considered.

(End of this chapter)