Investigation of the Dead Body

One of the greatest sources of physical evidence is the dead body of the victim itself. A cadaver is a plethora of clues, that forensic scientists can investigate and reconstruct the circumstances surrounding the crime. Death can be defined as the permanent and irreversible cessation of functions of the three vital organs: the brain, the heart, and the lungs. Once an individual dies, the body undergoes certain orderly changes, that may be documented and used for the estimation of time passed since the individual’s death, also known as the post-mortem interval (PMI) (Shedge et al., Postmortem changes, StatPearls Publishing, Treasure Island, 2020). The investigation of a dead body involves examination at the scene of crime, autopsy or post-mortem examination, and determination of miscellaneous information such as the mode, manner, and cause of death. This chapter is divided into three parts: First, it discusses the examination of a dead body at the scene of the crime, the post-mortem examination and its documentation, and then the determination of miscellaneous information.