Schoenly K, Griest K, Rhine S
Center for Medicolegal Research and Consultation, Albuquerque, NM.
J Forensic Sci. 1991 Sep;36(5):1395-415.
This article proposes an experimental field protocol for investigating the postmortem interval using specially designed apparatus and human and pig cadavers. We further propose that this goal can only be achieved by a multidisciplinary group, comprised of forensic entomologists, pathologists, and anthropologists. The apparatus and collecting methods described by the authors establish the means by which data can be collected on several fronts simultaneously: the sequential arrival and variety of insects in the decay process, the character and manner of soft tissue decomposition, the sequence and nature of bone exposure and order of disarticulation of skeletal remains, and the influence of climate and season on decay rates and arthropod succession. A central feature of this protocol involves the construction and use of a dual-functioning insect trap that allows separate but simultaneous capture of arriving and emerging populations while successional and decompositional processes of the cadaver are left intact. Results of trap performance tests in an arid climate and preliminary arthropod data collected from field-exposed pig carcasses are presented. The use of this protocol could provide important and badly needed baseline data for both medical investigators and law enforcement personnel, information that is critical to understanding the causes, manner, and time of death, which the law requires to be ascertained.
本文提出了一种实验性现场方案，用于使用专门设计的仪器以及人类和猪的尸体来调查死后间隔时间。我们进一步提出，这一目标只能由一个多学科团队来实现，该团队由法医昆虫学家、病理学家和人类学家组成。作者所描述的仪器和收集方法确立了能够在多个方面同时收集数据的手段：腐烂过程中昆虫的陆续到达和种类、软组织分解的特征和方式、骨骼暴露的顺序和性质以及骨骼残骸关节分离的顺序，以及气候和季节对腐烂速度和节肢动物演替的影响。该方案的一个核心特点是构建并使用一种具有双重功能的昆虫诱捕器，它能够在尸体的演替和分解过程保持完整的情况下，分别但同时捕获到达和羽化的昆虫种群。文中展示了在干旱气候下诱捕器性能测试的结果，以及从野外暴露的猪尸体收集到的初步节肢动物数据。使用该方案可为医学调查人员和执法人员提供重要且急需的基线数据，这些信息对于理解死亡原因、方式和时间至关重要，而法律要求必须确定这些信息。
