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Abstract

Depositing the remains of victims in natural water settings is a method used by offenders to delay or prevent discovery of the body. The state of decomposition of a body can be applied, together with accumulated degree days to give postmortem interval (PMI) estimations to the authorities as a tool to investigate the death scenario. The purpose of this research study was to investigate the decomposition process in shallow water and the accuracy of assigning an estimated PMI.
The study was designed to take place over 79 days in the winter months and employed comparison between a piglet partially submerged in water with a control piglet lying on the ground. Total body scoring methods were applied to the control and partially submerged piglet for comparison and the results showed similarities with the timescales proposed by existing literature. The identification of the species and age of forensically important larvae found on a body can provide investigators with a minimum PMI (PMImin). Entomological evidence was collected from the partially submerged piglet after 79 days and interpretation with existing data revealed the complexities involved in estimating a PMImin using this method. More research into fly species development rates across a greater range of conditions would be of benefit to casework in the field.
This study highlights the challenges for water related death investigations and the implications for estimating the time since death. Lastly, this research contributes to knowledge of decomposition in the local geographical area under winter conditions

Course: Criminology and Forensic Studies - BSc (Hons) - C2039F

Date Deposited: 2020-10-26

URI/permalink: https://library.port.ac.uk/dissert/dis13583.html