Chapter 172 Cause of Death

Why the deceased died is a very serious topic for forensic doctors.

Forensic pathology, that’s what the whole book is about.

The court also attaches great importance to the cause of death.

Just like today's case, if the death is caused by arson, that is, the deceased died due to arson, but was not the target of arson, then he may be sentenced to life imprisonment.

But if it is arson after murder, this is an aggravating circumstance, and it is basically the death penalty.

On the other hand, if someone accidentally kills someone in a fire, or if someone else sets a fire after killing someone and the body is burned, he may return to life imprisonment.

Niudong, who was mainly engaged in dissection, also had a solemn expression.

Burning after killing is a relatively common scenario.

In order to escape their crimes, murderers often use various methods to destroy corpses and eliminate traces.

However, after so many stabbings in the abdomen, my lungs felt like they were spinning...

These are two completely different causes of death.

A tingling sensation in the lungs, or a feeling of holding snow, usually means that it is related to suffocation.

Niudong cut off the lung tissue without hesitation. I saw some pink foamy liquid flowing out.

This further proves that the death is most likely related to suffocation.

So, the deceased was stabbed in the abdomen, unconscious due to injuries, and then died of smoke?

Niudong's eyes couldn't help but look at the throat of the corpse.

As we all know, corpses killed by smoke have three characteristics.

First, the airway and mouth may be burned by high-temperature smoke. Second, the eyes are usually closed. Third, carboxyhemoglobin saturation is high.

The first item is easy to understand.

The second item is actually easy to understand. The irritation of smoke is so great that it can cause death. If you are in the smoke, you will definitely be unable to help but close your eyes.

The third item, the high carboxyhemoglobin saturation, actually represents an indicator of carbon monoxide poisoning.

This indicator is usually negative among normal people, and the indicator for smokers may be 02 to 04.

But if there is carbon monoxide poisoning in the smoke, the carboxyhemoglobin saturation index will soar to more than 20%.

However, the opening and closing of the eyes is not easy to verify.

Because human eyelids can be covered after death. For example, if a man cries bitterly at a fire and covers his brother's eyelids, he will be suspected of strangling his brother to death and covering up the cause of death.

Carboxyhemoglobin saturation requires toxicology testing to prove it.

Originally, for forensic doctors, the most direct way was to cut open the airway and take a look.

But the tissue on the deceased's chest, including the upper part of the throat, had been carbonized. Niudong stepped forward and made a cut. Nothing could be seen, so he did not cut anymore.

"Do you want to take the heart blood and send it for examination?" Jiang Yuan asked politely.

"OK fine."

Niudong's reaction was a beat slower than Jiang Yuan's.

The heart blood is taken for toxicology testing.

Jiang Yuan once again recommended himself: "Shall I do it?"

He is here to practice, and he can't just keep dangling on the edge.

Niudong was stunned for a moment and gave up his position to Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Yuan took the blood from his heart and the contents of his stomach.

Toxicology testing mainly tests these two areas.

One represents what's in your blood, and the other represents what's in your stomach.

After taking out the things, Jiang Yuan tapped his abdomen with a knife and asked, "Want to look for it?"

Wang Lan and Niudong were stunned again, and whispered: "Then let's look for it."

He didn't need to say what he was looking for, and the three forensic doctors started looking for it together.

"No clots."

"The stomach was punctured, but there were no blood clots or carbonization."

"Here in the lower abdomen as well, there is no carbonization."

Everyone spoke out the key points in a tacit understanding.

If a blood vessel is punctured before death, it will bleed. This is because the heart pumps blood out.

Blood vessels that are punctured after death will not bleed because the heart has stopped beating.

The reason why you cannot eat blood-letting pork in European and American countries, apart from economic factors and customs, is that blood-letting pork requires the pig to bleed while it is still alive, which is very unethical for Europe.

And there is no clot in the abdomen, which means that the blood vessel of the deceased was punctured after death, or...

Theoretically, it's also possible that the blood clot was incinerated by the flames.

Saying that there is no carbonization in the stomach and no carbonization in the lower abdomen is to reduce the possibility of follow-up.

"Looking at it this way, toxic suffocation and mechanical suffocation are more likely, and the body was stabbed so many times after death..." Niudong couldn't help but shake his head.

Jiang Yuan gestured at the location of the stabbing and said, "It's possible that an acquaintance committed the crime. He was afraid of being recognized, so he stabbed him again."

"It's very possible." Niudong became excited and said, "Then I'll make a call first."

The cause of death has basically been found.

The specific situation depends on the drug test report, but the stabbing in the abdomen was done after death. This has a great impact on the detection of the case, and the frontline must be notified first.

When Niudong cleaned his hands, made a phone call, and put on his gloves again, he saw Jiang Yuan and Wang Lan taking out the heart and examining it carefully.

"Did you find anything?" Niudong quickly stepped on his footstool to the stage.

"There's a little bit of bleeding," Jiang Yuanda said.

"Circumstantial evidence of suffocation." Niudong nodded.

Asphyxiation can lead to hypoxia, which can form spot-like hemorrhages on the surfaces of multiple internal organs.

Such is the heart of the deceased.

However, it is not easy to notice the spotting of bleeding in the state of the corpse today.

The chest cavity is almost burned through.

If the fire is put out slowly, the house will be burned down, and the heart should be burned through.

"Jiang Yuan has good eyesight." Niu Dong said with appreciation.

Wang Lan raised his head, shook his head, relieved the discomfort in his neck, and said: "Jiang Yuan is not only good-looking, he looked at the bleeding on the surface of the internal organs. The liver and kidneys were carefully examined. The bleeding on the heart can also be found, and the bleeding must be dried up."

"Forensic doctor Jiang is OK." Niu Dong nodded.

Knowledge is written in the book, and it is not easy to use it appropriately at the right time-Niu Dong's evaluation of Jiang Yuan was still a young newcomer, but now he has a slightly higher opinion of him.

"Let's do the rest, Captain Lei will be ready to come and take a look." Niu Dong said, and continued to dissect diligently.

Trace Inspector Cao Keyang, who was standing next to him, was about to vomit from helping out. He sighed and said, "Captain Lei, why are you here now? In the middle of the night?"

"He doesn't sleep in the middle of the night, it's okay." Niu Dong had no intention of showing sympathy for his leader.

Jiang Yuan, Wang Lan, Cao Keyang and the forensic assistant all nodded in agreement.

The atmosphere in the autopsy room became warmer because of this.

An hour later, Lei Xin, the captain of the criminal police brigade of Qianjin District, Qinghe City, came running over.

"Forensic Doctor Jiang, thank you for your hard work, thank you for your hard work."

Qinghe City has a total of three districts. Qianjin District belongs to the old urban area. The criminal police brigade of the district bureau is at the same level as the criminal police brigade of Ningtai County.

This is a criminal policeman who is a little thin, with yellow hands and yellow teeth. At first glance, he can only use his brain, not his hands.

When he came in, Lei Xin first greeted Jiang Yuan politely, and then gave cigarettes to others.

Jiang Yuan said "it's okay" and took the cigarette and lit it.

If you are attentive to others, it must be for something.

Taking advantage of the case to get familiar with each other, Lei Xin said again: "Forensic doctor Jiang, Forensic doctor Wang, Niu Dong, can I introduce the case?"

"Okay."

Lei Xin chose his words and said: "In short, it was today... yesterday afternoon, a private house in our Qianjin District, a villager's self-built house caught fire. After the fire was put out, the female corpse was found... The body was DNA matched, and I just got the results."

"The deceased's name is Zhang Ying, 22 years old. Unmarried. Rented here. The situation at the scene was that the deceased was lying on the bed in the house, without clothes, so there was a break-in and rape. ”

“The self-built houses in the urban village have complicated people coming and going, and there are few cameras.”

“We are now investigating Zhang Ying’s social relationships. The deceased worked in a shopping mall and was a salesperson at a L’Oreal counter. It seems that she had no particularly close colleagues. Her parents don’t know much about their daughter’s social relationships…”

Lei Xin talked about it and then said, “Doctor Jiang, do you have time to see the scene?”

Jiang Yuan didn’t object, but scratched his head and said, “There is little evidence at the scene after the arson.”

He had done fingerprints in arson cases before, and he was considered a top-notch expert.

Lei Xin had nothing to hide, so he said, "There is basically no evidence found in the investigation. Now, if there is no evidence such as semen on the body, even if the person is found, there will probably be a lack of physical evidence."

"The murder weapon?"

"The murder weapon was thrown in front of the fire. It was a chef's knife, the kind used in Western kitchens, a five-piece kitchen set, and it came with a wooden box with the knife inside. The surface was also burned."

Don't say it, Lei Xin is trying to get close to others, but the problem he is facing now is really difficult.

Lei Xin complained, half-truthfully, "We have not found any results yet. Even if there are results, I still have to worry about the problem of physical evidence. The requirements for murder cases are getting higher and higher now. If there is no DNA evidence or hard physical evidence, the prosecutor will complain."

Wang Lan nodded in agreement, "CSI effect."

The CSI effect refers to the fact that everyone has watched too many TV movies and variety shows related to forensic science, so that everyone's requirements for legal science have quietly increased.

In Europe and the United States, the CSI effect is reflected in the jurors' requirements for physical evidence and their increased expectations. For example, jurors will ask for more DNA tests and the most advanced technology possible.

In China, the CSI effect is more reflected in leaders. Especially for non-professional leaders, or higher-level leaders, when they ask about the "physical evidence" of a case, it is impossible for criminal investigators to say that they do not feel pressure.

To a certain extent, this is actually a kind of progress. After all, leaders who ask for "physical evidence" seem to be more scientific than those who ask for "confessions".

For grassroots leaders like Lei Xin, all aspects must be considered.