The Shocker's Mix 61

[hermantheshocker]

Some of the stuff I work on doesn't make the cut so I thought about gathering them up in a single post. So basically it's images I have little or no info about or I've decided that they don't get their own thread, for example, because of low image/content quality, lack of backstory or additional info/knowledge, possibly uninteresting, only one image but not very special. I still do the usual image work including upscaling and color correction as needed, as I prefer to have my content high quality and educational.

- - -

Case 1


Fig1.1 Patterned lacerations from a hammer.

Patterned lacerations from the claw end of a hammer. Claw hammers have the specific characteristic of having two distinct ends: one a flat head of variable form, the other bifurcated. So the use of this tool as a blunt instrument will cause varying injuries.

A first injury composed of integumentary lacerations and underlying bone injuries in terms of "shape" suggested the use of a blunt instrument. A second injury made up of damage showing two parallel wounds or two wounds located one in the extension of the other suggested the use of an object with a bifurcated end. The combination of both types of injury should alert examiners to the possibility of the use of a claw hammer in causing the injuries in order to help direct investigators in their investigations and in the search for the weapon used.

- - -

Case 2


Fig2.1 Muzzle stamp abrasion with blow back lacerations.

Muzzle stamp abrasion with blow back lacerations. A muzzle imprint is a mark left on a person or object by the hot gases and particles expelled from the barrel of a firearm when it is fired. This imprint can sometimes be used to determine the proximity of the firearm to the person or object at the time of firing, and can provide valuable evidence in a criminal investigation.

- - -

Case 3


Fig3.1 Thermal charring.

Thermal charring (“fourth degree burns”). If an individual dies in a fire that continues to burn after death, their body will continue to burn. In such instances, the only thing the forensic pathologist can do is document the extent of the thermal injury they observe at the time of discovery, and otherwise focus on the determination of whether the decedent was alive or dead at the time the fire started; they do this by quantitating the CO-Hgb saturation and assessing the airways for evidence of respiration (smoke inhalation injury). Beyond that, the thermal injuries can look quite similar whether sustained before or after death. Once a person is dead, continued heat and fire often lead to characteristic thermal artifacts, including the pugilistic posture, longitudinal muscle splitting (along the “grain” of the muscle fibers), long bone fractures as the muscles shrink/shorten as they burn, and a dark, granular epidural blood collection.

- - -

Case 4


Fig4.1 Ignition of a human body by a modest external source.

Switzerland. In October 2006, around 12 a.m., the Geneva Police Department police were informed that the body of an adult male was found dead at his home. He was a 55-year-old widower who lived alone with a dog. His daughter had not heard from her father for three days and had tried calling him on his cell phone several times unsuccessfully. He was a heavy smoker and suffered from high blood pressure and epilepsy. He had not had any seizures for several years and was used to taking a pill of flurazepam before bedtime, prescribed by his general practitioner.

In the living room, there was a charred body lying on the floor. The body was almost completely consumed between the knees and the mid-chest. The head, lower legs, and feet were only slightly damaged. The upper limbs were partially burned. The abdomen, pelvis, genital area, and upper legs were completely incinerated. As for the bones, including the ribs and vertebrae, they were reduced to a grey powder and were unrecoverable. The lower legs and feet were relatively intact, still donning socks and shoes.

The remains of the body lay on a carpet, next to the sofa and a small table. The body had probably been sitting in a chair, which was almost completely burned. The carpet ‘‘around’’ the body was undamaged and only the part in direct contact with the body was burned. The head lay on the tiled floor, which showed some trails of a reddish and bloody fluid. The same reddish and bloody fluid was present on the face, near the nostrils, and on the frontal region. The surroundings were intact; the wood furniture, armchairs, sofa, and small table next to the body were undamaged but coated with a greasy, yellowish residue.

On the carpet next to the body, there was a cigarette lighter, a pair of glasses, an empty drinking glass, a partially burned packet of cigarettes, and an ashtray containing a cigar stub. On the table in the living room, some meters away from the body, there was a cigarette lighter, a black leather wallet, and some perfectly arranged documents. All these were coated with the same greasy, yellowish residue. The windows of the house were all closed. The circumstances herein described seemed to be peculiar though not truly suspicious and the body was carried to the Geneva Medico-Legal Centre to undergo the necessary investigation. Toxicological analyses were carried out on the blood from the legs and showed low levels of desalkylflurazepam (consistent with the prescription). Carboxyhaemoglobin levels were 12%, cyanide concentration was 0.05mg/L, and alcohol concentration was 1.10%. Because of the extensive damages sustained by the body, no conclusions were drawn as to the cause of death.

Several cases of ‘‘spontaneous human combustions’’ have been described over the last few decades and centuries. Such cases have even been reported in the literature. The mechanism of the combustion could be from a modest external flame source (cigarette or cigar) that may have charred clothes in a specific location, where the skin would have split, releasing subcutaneous fat. The subcutaneous fat could then have been absorbed into a porous substrate (burned clothes) and have fuelled the combustion for as long as the fuel was available.

- - -

Case 5


Fig5.1 Air India Express Flight 812 crash victim.

India. On the 22nd of May 2010, a Boeing 737-800 aircraft crashed at the Mangalore International Airport killing all but 8 of the 166 people on board. Most of the bodies were charred beyond recognition. Air India Express Flight 812 was a scheduled international flight from Dubai to Mangalore. The captain had continued an unstabilised approach, despite three calls from the first officer to initiate a "go-around", resulting in the aircraft overshooting the runway, falling down a hillside, and bursting into flames.

- - -

Case 6


Fig6.1 ‘‘I am flying to the stars’’—Suicide by aircraft.

Germany. In March of 2007, a 50-year-old man was fatally injured when his single-engine low wing propeller aircraft – a Beech BE24R ‘‘Sierra’’ – crashed just minutes after taking off from a local airfield close to the town of Rendsburg, Germany. The pilot had a medical certificate of fitness and held private pilot’s licenses for airplanes as well as helicopters. The man started the aircraft without prior communication with the airfield’s tower, and efforts of the tower personnel to contact the pilot by radio communication failed. After taking off, the plane disappeared into the clouds. According to witnesses, the aircraft reappeared minutes later at a longitudinal angle of 608 and with full motor power and hit the ground nose down close to the runway it had taken off from. The plane was completely destroyed, and debris was found in a radius of 120 m (400 ft) from the center of impact, a 1-m (3.3 ft) deep crater.

The pilot, who was not buckled up, was catapulted out of the cockpit. The body was found some 110 m (360 ft) away from the plane wreckage. During the flight, the pilot had sent an SMS stating ‘‘I am flying to the stars . . .’’ to a friend. The inspection of the wreckage of the 33-year-old plane revealed no technical problems. The crash was classified as a suicide by the BFU and the district attorney. The motive for the suicide remained unclear.

At autopsy, external examination revealed gross destruction of the head, trunk, and extremities of the deceased with traumatic decerebration, opening of the thoracic and abdominal cavities with intestinal prolapse, and traumatic amputation of the right foot. The skin of the back was extensively detached. Internal examination showed fractures of the cranium, skull base, cervical, thoracic and lumbal vertebrae, pelvis and the long bones of all extremities. All internal organs including the esophagus and intestines were ruptured, aorta and pulmonary arteries showed multiple lacerations. Larynx, epicardium and visceral pleura showed numerous petechiae. As cause of death, a multiple trauma of head, trunk, and extremities was diagnosed. The identity of the body was confirmed by dental identification.

the pilot was mildly intoxicated. Toxicological analysis revealed a diphenhydramine blood concentration of 0.14 mg/l. Other drugs or ethanol were not detected by gas chromatography. Even though slightly above the therapeutic level of 0.1 mg/l, the diphenhydramine level was well below the toxic range of 1– 2 mg/l. A central effect of this sedative in form of drowsiness may be presumed. Suicide by aircraft seems to be a rare event in Germany considering the incidence of only 9 cases over a period of 34 years (0.3 suicides per year).

- - -

Case 7


Fig7.1 Multiple stab wounds into chest with barbecue fork in a lust murder.

Chicago, Illinois. The victim of a lust murder, who had been stabbed multiple times in the chest with a barbecue fork. Note that the offender left the fork inserted into her chest below the left breast. She was also strangled with ligature and stabbed in the neck with a dinner fork.

The medical examiner counted 23 penetrating stab wounds into the upper breast and chest. There should have been 24 wounds but apparently one of the tines of the barbecue fork reentered one of the other stab wounds.

A lust murder is a homicide in which the offender searches for sexual satisfaction by killing someone. Lust murder is synonymous with the paraphilic term erotophonophilia, which is sexual arousal or gratification contingent on the death of a human being.

Full case report

-


Part 1 --- Part 2 --- Part 3 --- Part 4 --- Part 5 --- Part 6 --- Part 7 --- Part 8 --- Part 9 --- Part 10 --- Part 11 --- Part 12 --- Part 13 --- Part 14 --- Part 15 --- Part 16 --- Part 17 --- Part 18 --- Part 19 --- Part 20 --- Part 21 --- Part 22 --- Part 23 --- Part 24 --- Part 25 --- Part 26 --- Part 27 --- Part 28 --- Part 29 --- Part 30 --- Part 31 --- Part 32 --- Part 33 --- Part 34 --- Part 35 --- Part 36 --- Part 37 --- Part 38 --- Part 39 --- Part 40 --- Part 41 --- Part 42 --- Part 43 --- Part 44 --- Part 45 --- Part 46 --- Part 47 --- Part 48 --- Part 49 --- Part 50 --- Part 51 --- Part 52 --- Part 53 --- Part 54 --- Part 55 --- Part 56 --- Part 57 --- Part 58 --- Part 59 --- Part 60


-

This post is for educational purposes only and is nonprofit. Under Section 107 of the US Copyright Act of 1976; Allowance is made for "Fair Use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. OP is not a medical expert. No copyright infringement intended. This post does not encourage or glorify violence/harassment. Images might have been upscaled and enhanced. Text might have been shortened and simplified/reorganized for online view.

[Bastet]

Surfin' on Shockwaves #3 makes me crave salty licorice Case #4 is unreal, not only visually but also the events leading up to his death seem very unusual. I don't recall I've ever come across such case before.

[Eternally Solo]

as always thanks herman

[GODREKR]

I haven't heard of a case of spontaneous human combustion in a very long time. Good find.

[FukADuk]

Cheers, mate!

[ptreegrdn]

Still educational, thanks!

[ride]

Your words always explain the minute photo details very well. Always a pleasure to see a new set from ya, Herm

[marcos_69]

That spontaneous combustion is some crazy shit.

[mr_feelgood]

They should pay you to do this

[mr_feelgood]

Case 7 is a timeless classic.

Never quite done on the grill, them titties are.