Advancing the Forensic Estimation of Time Since Death

Temperature modelling at a crime scene is crucial for forensic investigators to estimate the minimum postmortem interval (PMI min ) of a cadaver. Upon death, insect species deposit eggs, and the resulting rate of development of the larvae is primarily temperature driven. By knowing the historical am...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Pure and applied geophysics 2021-03, Vol.178 (3), p.705-715
Main Authors: Calla, L., Bohun, C. S., LeBlanc, H. N.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ambient temperature
Arthropods
Cadavers
Crime
Death
Decomposition
Developmental stages
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Entomology
Forensic science
Geophysics/Geodesy
Heat
Heat flux
Heat transfer
Historic temperatures
Insects
Larvae
Mortality
Ova
Temperature
Thermal environments
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Summary:Temperature modelling at a crime scene is crucial for forensic investigators to estimate the minimum postmortem interval (PMI min ) of a cadaver. Upon death, insect species deposit eggs, and the resulting rate of development of the larvae is primarily temperature driven. By knowing the historical ambient temperature, development stage, and specific species of larva found on a cadaver, an accurate estimate can be made for the time since death. PMI min cannot be calculated without accurate historical temperature. However, there is currently no method to determine the actual internal temperature of the cadaver prior to discovery. In this research we examine the possibility of inferring the thermal environment of the growing larvae and extracting a characteristic heat flux profile intrinsic to the growing insect population. The external environmental temperature can be combined with this profile to provide a much more accurate predictor of the temperature experienced by the larvae than is currently used and consequently a more reliable estimate of the PMI min .
ISSN:0033-4553
1420-9136
DOI:10.1007/s00024-020-02649-z