Answers to questions in Death Packet 1. Death is simple the end of life. 2. Absolutely! What does it mean to be dead? When your heart stops, when your brain doesn’t function, when your cell break down, when you stop breathing, a medically induced coma that keeps you alive… just some things to think about. 3. People can die and be brought back to life the point of no return is the point in which you no longer can be brought back to life. 4. Step 1. Stoppage- when all organs stop working Step 2. Autolysis- when cells self digest and breakdown 5. Autolysis- when cells self digest and breakdown 6. The purpose of an autopsy is to determine the manner, cause, and mechanism in death. 7. The manner of death is the four categories of death. 8. Natural Death- death from natural causes; such as disease or old age. Accidental Death- death caused by unplanned events; such as falling off a ladder. Suicide- when someone purposely kills themselves. Homicide- when someone murders and takes someone else’s life. 9. A man with a heart condition is attacked and dies from heart attack during the assault. The manner of death is homicide, the cause of dead is a heart attack, and the mechanism of death is the heart stops beating. 10. Time of death is important because it can help determine a suspect’s innocence or guilt. 11. Livor mortis is the pooling of blood in tissues after death resulting in a change of skin color to a reddish or purplish hue. 12. Livor mortis occurs and the pooling blood changes color because oxygen is being released. (Oxygen gives blood its red color) 13. Lividity is the pooling of blood in the body. 14. Lividity occurs after 2 hours of death and lividity becomes permanent after 8 hours of death. 15. Temperature is a factor that can change lividity. 16. Lividity can help determine body position depending on where the blood pools. 17. Example: If lividity occurs in the face and front side of the body then the body was face down after death. If lividity is in the butt and feet then the body was sitting. 18. It is important to record environmental conditions because the temperature can affect that rate at which liver mortis occurs. Example: In cold temperatures liver mortis would occur at a slower rate. 19. Rigor mortis is the stiffening of muscles after death. 20/21. After two hours of death rigor mortis starts in the head and works its way down to the feet until the entire body is stiff and rigid after 12 hours. Over the next 24 hours the body loses stiffness from the head back down to the feet and ends after 36 hours. 22. Ambient temperature, body weight, clothing worn, illness, level of physical activity, and exposure to the sun are all factors that effect rigor mortis. 23. Chart on top pg. 315 examples: people who exercise will have a faster rate of rigor (body stiffening) and heavier people have a slower rate of rigor. 24. Rigor mortis occurs and the muscles stiffen because the muscles cannot relax and remain stiff because oxygen flow to the muscles stops and calcium builds up in the tissue of the muscles making them stiff. 25. The cells begin to relax and become less stiff after 12 hours because of autolysis and the cells are breaking down and digesting themselves. 26. As temperature decreases the rigor mortis time table slows down 27. Algor mortis is the cooling of the body after death. 28. A corpse’s temperature is taken in the liver. This is just the standard location that all forensics examiners use to be able to compare results.
|Hours After Death |Drop in Body Temperature per hour |
|1-12 |1.4°F (16.8°F at 12th HR) |
|12+ |0.7°F Until temp. equals temp of air around body | 29.

30. If a body has been dead for 6 hours- 6hrs x 1.4°F = 8.4°F lost. If a body has be dead for 13 hours. 16.8°F for the first 12 hours and add 0.7°F for the 13 hr for a total of 17.5°F body temperature loss. 31. The factors that effect algor mortis are environmental conditions (in hotter temps the body cools slower and vice versa), excess body fat (a fatter person has more insulation and will cool more slowly), and the presence of clothing (the more clothing the more insulation and the slower the body will cool). 32. The rule of thumb for algor mortis is that the body cools about 1°F per every hour. 33. Stomach/Intestinal Contents can determine time of death. It takes 4-6 hours for food to empty from the stomach, 12 hours to empty the small intestine, and 24 hours to digest all food. These are determine the time of death since the last meal. 34. After 2-3 hours and open eye develops a thin film of potassium and 24 hours to form for eyes that were closed. 35. This occurs because of the build up of potassium occurs at a predictable rate. 36. Decomposition is when the body and its organs and cells breakdown and rot. 37. Bloating occurs because bacteria that feeds on the body gives off carbon dioxide filling up the body. 38. 5 stages of decomposition 1. Initial Decay-Normal on outside, starting to decompose by bacteria and autolysis 2. Putrefaction- body begins to smell of decaying flesh and starts to bloat 3. Black putrefaction- Very strong odor. Flesh turns black. Gases escape 4. Butyric Fermentation- Corpse dries out and most flesh is gone. 5. Dry Decay- Corpse is dry. 39. Review the answer to question 38. 40. Insects can determine time of death and location of death. 41. Forensic entomology is the study of insects as the pertain to legal issues. 42. ADH ( accumulated degree hour) It is a simulation where insects are preserved from the crime scene and back in the lab they are grown in the same conditions from where the crime occurred and a record is kept to determine the time of death.