Introduction
Coroners refers to doctors that have specialized training in investigating deaths as appointed to investigating sudden deaths as dictated by the Coroners Act. A death investigation on the other hand entails the process that sees these coroners or pathologists of forensics understand the why and how to the death of a person (Komar, 2008). The coroner or forensic pathologists is expected to answer five key questions in their process of investigations that include who died, when they died, where, how and the means by which they died. The following paper discusses death investigations providing an analytical understanding of the mortis, identification process and overall death investigation process.
Manner of Death
Manner of death refers to the way of categorizing death according to the dictates of the Department of Health of the State of Washington. The classifications include natural deaths, accident, homicide, suicide, undetermined and pending (Snohomish County Government, 2018). It is imperative to mention that only coroners are allowed to use all manners but others are restricted to natural or else refer the death to medical examiners who determines the manner of death.
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Natural Deaths
Natural death entails death that is caused primarily and wholesomely by a natural process or disease (Snohomish County Government, 2018). However, if the natural death is hurried up by an injury such as drowning in a bathtub then it stops being natural death.
Accident Deaths
Medical examiners define accidental deaths as those unnatural deaths that result from the happening of an inadvertent chance. Some of the accidental accidents include traffic related deaths such as vehicles used for transportation (Snohomish County Government, 2018). Deaths associated with excessive usage of medication or illicit drugs without the evidence of suicidal or homicidal motive are considered accidents.
Suicide
According to the medical examiner, suicide entails death from a self-inflicted injury with conclusive evidence showing intent to die. Such evidence includes explicit expression that may be in the form of a verbal threat or previous attempts.
Homicide
Homicide is the action of one directly causing the death of another individual and includes a death that takes place during the commission of a felony (Snohomish County Government, 2018). There must be proof of intent to cause death for it to be a homicide.
Undetermined
Undetermined deaths refer to a small number of cases reported every year and entail deaths that have little information pertaining to the circumstances surrounding the cause of death or where there is conflicting information concerning the death and another manner of death.
Pending
Pending is listed on the death certificate as examiners await conclusive test results after additional investigation or information gathered to be able to make certification.
Mortis Levels and Time of Death
It is imperative that forensic investigators determine the time of death when gathering evidence. The time or death as well as the interval of post-mortem can be identified with 100% accuracy when the body is discovered in an advanced decomposing state or recovered from a fire, water or ice (Komar, 2008). The various rates of determining the time of death that measure postmodern entail transformations the body undergoes like cooling rates that is algor mortis, stiffening that is rigor mortis, the initiation and duration as well as lividity of postmodern that entails discoloration of stains. Other levels include putrefaction degree, adiopocere that refers to the saponification of fat and maceration that is the softening of tissue due to liquid presence.
Algor mortis helps estimate the PMI during the first 24 hours after death because of the known rates of temperature drop in the body which are measured by use of a thermometer (Poloz et al., 2009). Rigor mortis or stiffening of the post-mortem and contraction of the muscles takes place after three or more hours of death and is determined by position of the body and is not the best time for an examiner to determine death.
Strategy
The best strategy of estimating time of death should entail securing all evidence gathered at the scene of death, categorising the time of death in either physiological, estimated or legal. The most suitable formula for the strategy is the 37.5oC-1.5oC that is a formula equating the temperature of the body that loses 1.5oC every hour until the body temperature is like that of the environment it is in referred to as ambient temperature (Poloz et al., 2009).
Conclusion
Coroners refers to doctors that have specialized training in investigating deaths as appointed to investigating sudden deaths as dictated by the Coroners Act. A death investigation on the other hand entails the process that sees these coroners or pathologists of forensics understand the why and how to the death of a person. The coroner or forensic pathologists is expected to answer five key questions in their process of investigations that include who died, when they died, where, how and the means by which they died.
References
Komar, D. A., & Buikstra, J. E. (2008). Forensic anthropology: contemporary theory and practice. Oxford University Press, USA.
Poloz, Y. O., & O’Day, D. H. (2009). Determining time of death: temperature-dependent post-mortem changes in calcineurin A, MARCKS, CaMKII, and protein phosphatase 2A in mouse. International journal of legal medicine, 123(4), 305-314.
Snohomish County Government. (2018). Cause & Manner of Death | Snohomish County, WA - Official Website. Retrieved from https://snohomishcountywa.gov/806/Cause-Manner-of-Death
