Matuszewski Szymon, Mądra-Bielewicz Anna
Laboratory of Criminalistics, Adam Mickiewicz University, Al. Niepodległości 53, 61-714, Poznań, Poland.
Center for Advanced Technologies, Adam Mickiewicz University, Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego 10, 61-614, Poznań, Poland.
Forensic Sci Int Synerg. 2025 Jan 21;10:100574. doi: 10.1016/j.fsisyn.2025.100574. eCollection 2025 Jun.
Insects are frequently used to estimate post-mortem interval (PMI). Experts usually base their estimates on a single insect taxon and use a single estimation method, even if multiple taxa are present on a cadaver or multiple methods can be applied. In this article we present a case report where multiple insect evidence and methods were used in a homicide case to estimate PMI. Since the true PMI was known, we were able to assess the estimation errors of each method as applied to particular insect evidence. The final grand PMI was derived from a developmental estimate based on third instar larvae of / species group and a successional estimate based on adult beetles. By averaging these estimates we got the grand PMI of almost perfect accuracy (1 % relative error, PMI range: 4.39 ± 0.77 days), which is of course an exceptional situation for entomological methods of estimating PMI. Furthermore, this was the first case report in which the presence and absence of subsequent life stages of carrion insects coupled with the estimation of their pre-appearance interval were used to estimate the PMI range. The results regarding the minimum PMI were fully consistent with the results obtained using the classical developmental method. This finding indicates that in some cases the presence/absence method can be used interchangeably with the developmental method. Finally, we discussed the prospects and limitations of combining insect evidence and methods of their analysis in estimating PMI.
昆虫常被用于估计死后间隔时间（PMI）。即便尸体上存在多种昆虫分类单元或可应用多种方法，专家通常仍基于单一昆虫分类单元并使用单一估计方法来进行估计。在本文中，我们呈现了一个在杀人案件中使用多种昆虫证据和方法来估计PMI的案例报告。由于真实的PMI是已知的，我们能够评估每种方法应用于特定昆虫证据时的估计误差。最终的总体PMI是基于某物种组三龄幼虫的发育估计和基于成年甲虫的演替估计得出的。通过对这些估计值求平均值，我们得到了几乎完美准确的总体PMI（相对误差为1%，PMI范围：4.39±0.77天），当然这对于昆虫学估计PMI的方法来说是一种特殊情况。此外，这是第一份案例报告，其中利用腐肉昆虫后续生命阶段的有无以及它们出现前间隔时间的估计来确定PMI范围。关于最短PMI的结果与使用经典发育方法获得的结果完全一致。这一发现表明，在某些情况下，存在/不存在方法可与发育方法互换使用。最后，我们讨论了在估计PMI时结合昆虫证据及其分析方法的前景和局限性。
