[hermantheshocker]

August 2016 - Italy. The police was called to a villa, following the reporting by neighbors of malodorous exhalations(foul odor) from the residence. The police were received by an old woman in evident confusion, whose clothes and appearance, not to mention personal hygiene, showed her to be in a very neglected state.

The woman claimed that her husband was resting inside the house. Aroused by the unpleasant smell coming from the house, the police entered inside. The house was in a state of complete decay and extremely poor hygiene conditions were found; several boxes of different drugs and piles of garbage were scattered everywhere; a lot of dead insects and flies were also lying around.

Dried biological traces were present inside all the rooms, on the furniture as well as on the floor and the walls. It was obvious that nothing had been cleaned for a very long time (Figs. 1 and 2).


Fig. 1. Complete mess and dirty conditions at the crime scene.


Fig. 2. Extremely poor hygiene conditions at the crime scene.

On the first floor of the house the police found a mummified and partially skeletonized body of an old man in an advanced state of decomposition. The body was found sitting on a chair, wearing ripped clothes stained with traces of dried cadaveric fluids. Entomological evidences (pupae, dead flies, ...) had colonized the body (Figs. 3 and 4).


Fig. 3. The mummified/skeletonized corpse in a sitting position.

The police interviewed the neighbors and the medical doctor about the woman's behavior and about any possible signs of mental illness. However, nothing significant emerged. The couple was extremely re- served and did not spend any time with other people. The husband had been last seen about two months before.

At autopsy the corpse was very light in weight, or approximately 9 Kg(19.8lbs). External examination of the body revealed desiccation and brittleness of the residual skin, present on face, part of thorax and abdomen, as well as on upper and lower limbs. The remaining parts of the body were skeletonized.


Fig. 4. Frontal view of the mummified/skeletonized body.

Signs of insect activity were present, reasonably consistent with a rapid skin dehydration. At section, internal organs and viscera were not identifiable. Furthermore, no traumatic injuries were observed, according to the complete body X-rays also, which excluded fractures by blunt trauma.

Given the very bad conditions of the body and in the absence of trauma evidence, the cause of death was undetermined but probably due to natural causes. To estimate the time since death, historical records were searched

for useful details. The integration between circumstantial and thanatological data recorded during the autopsy, even with the intrinsic limits due to the state of conservation of the body, indicated that the death occurred at least two months before the date of discovery of the body.


Fig. 5. The mummified/skeletonized corpse during the autopsy.

For identification purposes the biological profile of the individual was drawn up, examining the skeletal remains in order to define sex, race, age and height. Through the study of skull and pelvis it was established that the corpse was a male subject. From the evaluation of the skull's anthropomorphological and anthropomorphometrical characteristics, it was deduced that the corpse belonged to the Caucasian ethnic group.


Fig. 6. The mummified/skeletonized corpse during the autopsy (side view of the thorax).

To define the approximate age at death of the individual, several anthropological methods, based on the observation of particular bone elements, were used. The integration of such data has allowed to at tribute to the subject an advanced age, above 60/65 years. Finally, the calculation of the approximate stature was based on the measurement of the length of long bones that allowed to conclude that the corpse had a height of about 170–175 cm(5'7-5'9). All the anthropological characteristics were compatible with those of the man who, allegedly, lived in the house where the body was found.

The discovery of mummified or skeletonized bodies in the domestic setting does not represent an unusual phenomenon for forensic pathologists. It's usually a marker of social isolation and ongoing alterations of social living conditions, especially among elderly people.

The dreadful state of the house, the presence of the mummified and skeletonized body of the husband and the conditions of hygiene of the wife, persuaded the doctors called in to the scene that she suffered from a very severe mental disturbance. Unfortunately, the amount of information as to her mental state was inconsistent, in fact no medical assessment was available. Effectively, the woman did not provide the investigators any useful information: she always remained disoriented in space and time.

The woman did not seem to fully realize that her husband was dead and went on living with his body, continuing to maintain a symbiotic relationship with him.

[SimoneFlen']

Oh wow! Your threads just keep getting better + better. This + the "A Mummified Human Corpse Found in an Apartment' thread are the sort of stuff I love!

Thank you very much for posting, very very cool!

[Susan]

I wonder if the hygiene conditions were caused partly by the dead body being in there?

[K53]

Would make a Halloween event

[Shadolife]

I've seen much worse living conditions,especially with hard core hoarders, however....none had a mummified body within.
Great post hermanshocker!
2 mummies in as many days posted...very nice

[dogleg818]

You'd think most of the smell would be gone at this point

[Tracy210t]

Way cool!

[Kotd]

Was she crazy before he died

[Shellshock86]

Hell yeah, keep 'em coming

[monstergirl19]

You never disappoint Herman! accidental and intentional mummified remains is some of my fave content and what got me into gore in the first place. Great post!