Estimating time of death with unusual metabolisms

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Tim Walters - 15 Dec 2006 15:34 GMT

Greetings.

I'm researching a thriller I want to write, and there's something I haven't
been able to find references to.

It has to do with estimating time of death. From what I read, in normal
circumstances, about ten hours post mortem, a pathologist could only pin
down the time of death to within a four-hour period -- ie actual time of
death +/- 2 hours.

But I was wondering if some people might have special metabolisms which
would enable time of death to be established more accurately -- say, to
within 1 hour. For example, could it be possible for someone to undergo
rapid onset of rigor but a slow loss of body temperature?

Or is there any other set of biological circumstances which could lead to a
one-hour pinpointing of time of death after 9 or 10 hours?

Thanks in advance for any input.

Tim

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Jeff - 15 Dec 2006 17:57 GMT

> Greetings.
>
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
>
> Thanks in advance for any input.

Try something else. Like the police find that he read his email messages 11
hours before he was found, but the autopsy finds that he died sometime
between 10 and 14 hours before he was found.

Jeff

> Tim

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Tim Walters - 15 Dec 2006 19:28 GMT

> > Greetings.
> >
[quoted text clipped - 21 lines]
> hours before he was found, but the autopsy finds that he died sometime
> between 10 and 14 hours before he was found.

Unfortunately, this won't work because the victim was also tortured before
death. I really do need something biological which pinpoints time of death
to an hour.

Thank you for your suggestion. Make another one and, if the book gets
published, you'll not only get a mention in the acknowledgments but a free
copy.

Tim

> Jeff
> > Tim

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Robert1 - 15 Dec 2006 20:04 GMT

> > > Greetings.
> > >
[quoted text clipped - 36 lines]
> > Jeff
> > > Tim

Don't know how accurate it is but it is linear and that is potassium of
eye fluid vitreous humor.

1: Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 1980 Dec;1(4):341-7. Links
Estimation of the postmortem interval by chemical means.Henry JB, Smith
FA.
The literature is reviewed regarding estimation of the postmortem
interval (PMI) by chemical analysis of cadaver fluids. The most useful
measurements on blood and CSF are amino nitrogen, nonprotein nitrogen,
ammonia, creatine, and inorganic phosphate; these have some value in
the early PMI. Probably the single most accurate determination is the
potassium content of the vitreous humor, which shows a linear rise with
time in the interval 12-100 hours postmortem. The rate of vitreous
potassium rise is fairly independent of environmental influence. Other
determinations that may prove valuable include the potassium content of
the aqueous humor and the ammonia and magnesium content of the
vitreous. Although no single measurement gives a completely reliable
estimate of the PMI, combinations of chemical determinations can be
useful adjuncts in cases of unwitnessed death.

PMID: 7246515 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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Jeff - 15 Dec 2006 20:26 GMT

>> > Greetings.
>> >
[quoted text clipped - 33 lines]
> published, you'll not only get a mention in the acknowledgments but a free
> copy.

What if his watch is broken during the turture at a specific time? Of
course, you would know the watch was working up until then, and
presumablely he was alive or else they wouldn't have turtured him.

> Tim
>
>> Jeff
>> > Tim

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