Postmortem Criminal Mutilation in Panama

hermantheshocker · #1 ● 08-15-2020, 06:14 PM

A decapitated, dismembered female without hands was recovered from a river near a highway close to Panama City on September 17, 2017 (Fig 1). The body was recovered by civil protection officers. The analysis was performed at the mortuary of the ForensicSciences and Medicolegal Institute of Panama, in the city of La Chorrera.

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Fig 1. Nude and dismembered body immersed in water.
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Missing persons data and postmortem data were obtained using Interpol Disaster Victim identification forms. Although general identification was possible using matching data(anthropological characterization of ancestry, sex, age, scars, recognition of scars, etc., by next-of-kin), positive identification was impossible using conventional methods such as fingerprints or odontology due to absence of those parts.

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Fig 2. Decapitation by full neck section.
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There were no identifiable peri-mortem injuries on the remains available for autopsy and thus, cause of death was not determined. However, the dismembered sections showed evidence of sharp force on the neck and wrists (Figs 2, 3). Further investigations of the missing person’s last movements led to the original crime scene to an urban transport bus. Although the primary crime scene had been washed away, remnants of bloodstains were enough to reconstruct the events. Bloodstain pattern analysis revealed evidence of significant bloodshed either before or after death.

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Fig 3. Section and disarticulationof the left hand.
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The victim was sexually assaulted and died of suffocation based on the police investigation. Decapitation and dismemberment were done postmortem with a serrated knife based on the pattern observed on the edges of the skin and were consistent with the account of a hunter’s knife described by a witness to the judicial authorities. Soft tissue from the sectioned planes was sampled for histological analysis and no signs of vital reaction were observed. Positive identification was done via DNA, which confirmed the identification of the missing person.