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Diana
Chief Inspector
Username: Diana
Post Number: 756
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 24, 2005 - 4:08 pm: | 
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http://www.studyworld.com/basementpapers/papers/stack12_14.html
I found this link. It is very useful for estimating time of death.
I'm going to look at the picture again to see if there are any signs of livor mortis. |
Jane Coram
Chief Inspector
Username: Jcoram
Post Number: 548
Registered: 1-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 24, 2005 - 4:55 pm: |
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Excellent link,
Thanks Diana, very helpful
Jane
xxxxx |
Gareth W
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 24, 2005 - 5:56 pm: |
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Diana,
Tricky to tell from the picture as Mary was lying supine and the livor mortis (or "lividity") would be most obvious in the region of her back. This is because livor mortis is caused by the action of gravity "pulling" the blood towards the centre of the Earth.
Excerpt from the "Handbook of Forensic Pathology":
"... if lividity is observed on the back of the body [...] you can be sure that the body had been on its back. Lividity begins about 30 minutes after death and becomes "fixed" in 8 to 10 hours"
You'd also find difficulty to diagnose livor mortis from an image, as you'd probably need to prod the corpse to get a better idea of the time of death. From the same source:
"If when lividity first develops, [press the] skin, the pressure will cause "blanching". When pressure is released the discoloration returns. After 4 or 5 hours the discoloration becomes clotted and pressure will not cause blanching."
Assuming one could, from a 120-year-old photo, identify patches of livor mortis (AND distinguish them from common-or-garden bruises or splashes of blood/faeces), I'd have little confidence in a diagnosis of time of death without also being able to apply the crucial "pressure test"
A very interesting post, nonetheless.
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