Policie České republiky – Kriminalistický ústav
17
From a Crime Scene to a Lab
A quarrel, slap, unfortunate fall. In a split second, life of two people changes completely. The lady suffers a fatal injury and the man becomes a perpetrator who buries the lifeless body of his wife in a wood. Then, at the police station, he reports his wife missing … For a few years, the investigation is fruitless. But the destiny might be inscrutable. … Ten years later, in the forest undergrowth, a woman walking a dog finds skeletal remains. Immediately, the police investigation starts with the aim to identify the person, cause of death and, in case a violent death is confirmed, start search for the perpetrator. Anthropologists from the Institute of Criminalistics were called to the scene of discovery. They professionally collected the discovered remains and transported them to the lab for examination.
1. Ongoing discovery of the grave
Remains speak:
Taphonomy – determination of the post-mortem interval
The bones were smooth, at some spots the outer layer of the bone tissue started to peel off. The bones showed brownish discoloration as the result of the time spent in soil. Parts of the bones that were closer to the surface were of lighter colour. Where the bones were in contact with the undergrowth (mosses, algae, ...), they were greenish. Based on the condition and structure of bones, these were remains post-mortem interval of which was a few years.
Biological profile
- Development of secondary sex characteristics visible on pelvis and skull confirmed suggested that the remains belonged to a woman. This theory was confirmed by the DNA analysis carried out.
- Skeletal age was estimated based on the skeleton maturation, relief of symphyseal surfaces of the pubic bone, changes to the internal structure of the humerus and femoral head to 30-40 years of age. The dental age was estimated from the condition of tooth 31 (first incisor in the lower jaw on the left) and tooth 42 (second incisor in the lower jaw on the right) to 29.5-35.5 years of age.
- Stature of 160-165 cm was calculated from the length of long bones. The skeleton was generally of a gracile character.
- Morphological and metric characteristics on the skull confirmed that the person was of a Caucasian origin.
Dental analysis
The unknown person had a complete dentition. Four teeth missing from the jaws were, based on the condition of dental sockets, lost after death. Dental crowns on the third molars did not reach occlusal plane. The remaining teeth did not carry signs of any dental interventions.
Pathology
The examination revealed an unhealed basilar skull fracture. Other injuries or pathologic conditions were not observed.
Trichological analysis
Human hair was caught on the cervical vertebrae. This hair was examined in a light of an optical microscope. Hair roots were preserved on some of the strands of hair. They showed necrotic changes resulting from the decomposition of soft tissues after death. It was possible to assume that the hair belonged to the unknown body. The hair strands were maximally 20 cm long and most of them were considerably damaged by external factors (physical, chemical and biological factors as e.g. activity of keratophagous organisms). The hair was dark brown artificially treated (dyed).
Conclusion
- The skeletal remains belonged to a 30-40 years old woman who was 165 cm tall, with an unhealed basilar skull fracture. The collected hair was dyed dark brown.
- This information was very important for the detectives who were, based on this data, able to find a suspected person in the database of missing persons.