Gunasekera R S, Brown A B, Costas E H
Department of Biology, University of Houston-Victoria, University of Houston System in Sugar Land, 14,000 University Drive, TX 77479, USA.
J Forensic Leg Med. 2012 Jul;19(5):297-301. doi: 10.1016/j.jflm.2012.02.011. Epub 2012 Mar 15.
We report an autopsy case of a 42-year-old woman who, when discovered, had been dead in her apartment for approximately 1 week under circumstances involving treachery, assault and possible drug overdose. This case is unique as it involved two autopsies of the deceased by two different medical examiners who reached opposing conclusions. The first autopsy was performed about 10 days after death. The second autopsy was performed after an exhumation approximately 2 years after burial. Evidence collected at the crime scene included blood samples from which DNA was extracted and analysed, fingerprints and clothing containing dried body fluids. The conclusion of the first autopsy was accidental death due to cocaine toxicity; the conclusion of the second autopsy was death due to homicide given the totality of evidence. Suspects 1 and 2 were linked to the death of the victim by physical evidence and suspect 3 was linked by testimony. Suspect 1 received life in prison, and suspects 2 and 3 received 45 and 20 years in prison, respectively. This case indicates that cocaine toxicity is difficult to determine in putrefied tissue and that exhumations can be important in collecting forensic information. It further reveals that the combined findings of medical examiners, even though contradictory, are useful in determining the circumstances leading to death in criminal justice. Thus, this report demonstrates that such criminal circumstances require comparative forensic review and, in such cases, scientific conclusions can be difficult.
我们报告一例42岁女性的尸检案例。该女性被发现时已在其公寓死亡约一周，死亡情况涉及背叛、袭击以及可能的药物过量。此案例独特之处在于，两名不同的法医对死者进行了两次尸检，却得出了相反的结论。首次尸检在死亡约10天后进行。第二次尸检在埋葬约2年后尸体被挖掘出后进行。在犯罪现场收集的证据包括提取并分析了DNA的血样、指纹以及含有干涸体液的衣物。首次尸检的结论是因可卡因中毒导致的意外死亡；基于全部证据，第二次尸检的结论是他杀致死。嫌疑人1和2通过物证与受害者的死亡相关联，嫌疑人3通过证人证言相关联。嫌疑人1被判处终身监禁，嫌疑人2和3分别被判处45年和20年监禁。该案例表明，在腐败组织中很难确定可卡因中毒情况，尸体挖掘对于收集法医信息可能很重要。它还进一步揭示，即使法医的综合调查结果相互矛盾，但在刑事司法中确定导致死亡的情况时仍很有用。因此，本报告表明，此类犯罪情况需要进行比较法医审查，在此类案件中，得出科学结论可能很困难。
