The development of a post-mortem interval estimation for human remains found on land in the Netherlands
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TLDR
The developed decomposition scoring method is a practical method to measure decomposition for human remains found on land, but caution is advised in cases with a long PMI, which does not account for all the heat present in a decomposing remain and is therefore a possible bias.Abstract:
The decomposition process of human remains can be used to estimate the post-mortem interval (PMI), but decomposition varies due to many factors. Temperature is believed to be the most important and can be connected to decomposition by using the accumulated degree days (ADD). The aim of this research was to develop a decomposition scoring method and to develop a formula to estimate the PMI by using the developed decomposition scoring method and ADD. A decomposition scoring method and a Book of Reference (visual resource) were made. Ninety-one cases were used to develop a method to estimate the PMI. The photographs were scored using the decomposition scoring method. The temperature data was provided by the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute. The PMI was estimated using the total decomposition score (TDS) and using the TDS and ADD. The latter required an additional step, namely to calculate the ADD from the finding date back until the predicted day of death. The developed decomposition scoring method had a high interrater reliability. The TDS significantly estimates the PMI (R
2 = 0.67 and 0.80 for indoor and outdoor bodies, respectively). When using the ADD, the R
2 decreased to 0.66 and 0.56. The developed decomposition scoring method is a practical method to measure decomposition for human remains found on land. The PMI can be estimated using this method, but caution is advised in cases with a long PMI. The ADD does not account for all the heat present in a decomposing remain and is therefore a possible bias.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Estimating the Postmortem Interval of Wild Boar Carcasses.
TL;DR: A checklist tailored to wild boar carcasses found in the field that includes the most important information for a reliable PMI estimation is proposed, and an existing total body scoring system originally developed for humans is adapted.
Journal ArticleDOI
Estimation of the postmortem interval based on the human decomposition process
TL;DR: A poor correlation (ICC = 0.254) between the PMI estimations of the 89 forensic physicians is shown and it is therefore not advised that PMi estimations based on experience be used as evidence in court.
Journal ArticleDOI
The applicability of forensic time since death estimation methods for buried bodies in advanced decomposition stages.
Stefan Pittner,Valentina Bugelli,M. Eric Benbow,Bianca Ehrenfellner,Angela Zissler,Carlo Pietro Campobasso,Roelof-Jan Oostra,Maurice C. G. Aalders,Richard Zehner,Lena Lutz,Fabio Monticelli,Christian Staufer,Katharina Helm,Vilma Pinchi,Joseph P. Receveur,Janine Geißenberger,Peter Steinbacher,Jens Amendt +17 more
TL;DR: The first multi-methodological assessment of human postmortem decomposition carried out on buried body donors in Europe is presented, at the Amsterdam Research Initiative for Sub-surface Taphonomy and Anthropology (ARISTA) in the Netherlands, to provide a baseline for future research and application.
Journal ArticleDOI
The suitability of visual taphonomic methods for digital photographs: An experimental approach with pig carcasses in a tropical climate.
TL;DR: The findings indicate that the type of scoring method used has a significant impact on the ability to accurately evaluate the decomposition of exposed pig carcasses from photographs, and it was identified that photographic taphonomic analysis can reach high inter-observer reproducibility.
Journal ArticleDOI
The effect of seasonality on the application of accumulated degree-days to estimate the early post-mortem interval
TL;DR: Seasonal variation in humidity, rather than temperature, may be the overarching driving force for decomposition progression in the early post-mortem period.
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