Citation

Sano R, Takahashi Y, Hayakawa A, Murayama M, Kubo R, Hirasawa S, Tokue H, Shimada T, Awata S, Takei H, Yuasa M, Uetake S, Akuzawa H, Kominato Y. Leg. Med. (Elsevier) 2018; 32: 87-89.

Affiliation

Department of Legal Medicine, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi 371-8511, Japan.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Japanese Society of Legal Medicine, Publisher Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.legalmed.2018.03.006

PMID

29605791

Abstract

Postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) is becoming a commonly used modality in routine forensic investigation. Mechanical injuries including lacerations, incisions, stab wounds and gunshot wounds frequently contain foreign bodies that may have significant value as clues in criminal investigations. CT is a sensitive modality for detection of metal foreign bodies that may be associated with injuries to the victim in cases of homicide or traffic accidents. Here we report two cases in which PMCT was able to act as a guide to forensic pathologists for retrieval of metal fragments in the corpses of the victims, the retrieved fragments then being used to validate the confessions of the assailants through comparison with the knife and the crowbar, respectively, that had been used in the crimes. In these cases, the small metal fragments retrieved from the corpses of the victims with the aid of PMCT were decisive pieces of evidence confirming the circumstances of the crimes. These cases illustrate how PMCT can be used to complement the findings of classical autopsy for integrative investigation of corpses with injury.

Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Language: en