Thanks to the popularity of TV crime dramas, we might just have some unrealistic expectations
about what it takes to solve a murder.
We expect the handsome and brilliant investigator to find all of the elusive pieces of evidence
at the scene, catch that obscure clue that’s revealed during the autopsy, put all of those
details together to come up with a suspect, hunt down and capture the killer, and bring
them swiftly to justice - all within a neat, 60 minute episode.
Dubbed “The CSI Effect”, experts worry that the general public - and even juries
- don’t understand the realities of solving a crime.
So, what really goes on during a crime autopsy?
How does real life CSI solve murders?
TV dramas like CSI tend to make solving a murder look like a piece of cake, and most
of what the general public knows about crime autopsies comes from these sensational ‘whodunnit’
shows and high profile celebrity deaths.
But in real life, there’s actually a tonne of work and expertise that goes into determining
how someone died and if foul play was involved, and that work starts long before the body
finds its way to the morgue for an autopsy.
An autopsy is the internal and external examination of a body after death, when a trained pathologist
uses a variety of surgical techniques, laboratory tests and other strategies to determine the
exact cause and circumstances of death.
Even though the College of American Pathologists recommends that an autopsy be completed for
every death, that doesn’t always happen - sometimes the cause of death seems obvious
or the family declines to pay 3 to 5 thousand dollars to have an autopsy performed.
But when a death is suspicious or the police suspect foul play, the autopsy is an essential
part of the investigation and can provide important legal evidence that can help solve
the crime or determine who is responsible for the victim’s death.
On TV, the heroic detectives always seem to be the ones who find that key piece of evidence
at the scene, but in reality, it’s actually the same medical examiner who will later perform
the autopsy that has the training and expertise to assess the scene, notice the important
details and determine what evidence should be collected.
The medical examiner is a leading member of the investigation team, and they actually
help to organize the scene and coordinate the investigation.
They are instrumental in defining the perimeter of the crime scene, securing the evidence,
and coordinating and tracking the activities of the many other people involved in the investigation.
It’s their job to uncover if a crime was committed, and to determine how the location
and position of the body could be linked to the cause of death - for example, if an elderly
man with a history of heart conditions is found dead in the snowbank next to a shovel
outside of his home, it’s the medical examiner who will make the call that he likely suffered
a heart attack while shovelling snow.
The medical examiner’s job actually starts the moment they get the call informing them
of a suspicious death, and there’s a mountain of work involved before they even get to the
autopsy.
In fact, scene investigation is often more important than the autopsy itself, and a thorough
investigation may reveal the cause of death before the body even gets to the morgue.
For example, an autopsy on a healthy 30 year old with no medical history and no toxicology
findings may not be able to provide a firm cause of death.
Only by attending the scene and noticing the body laying in a pool of water next to an
electrical outlet with a screwdriver stuck in it can the medical examiner know for sure
how the subject died.
As soon as the medical examiner gets the call that a body has been found, their work starts.
Even before they get to the scene, they start to gather as much information about the body
as possible.
At the very least, they try to determine the approximate age and gender of the deceased
and if there is any early evidence of foul play.
If the deceased has already been identified and the family has been notified, the examiner
will also start to gather a medical and personal history.
Next, the medical examiner will get ready to head to the scene and will gather all of
the tools and equipment they’ll need to complete their investigation.
Among the many important items in their tool kit, they’ll make sure to have an apron,
gloves, hair and shoe covers, and a face shield to protect the scene from contamination - and
to protect themselves.
Depending on the location of the scene and the weather, they may bring along things like
flashlights, rain gear, bug spray and sunscreen to keep themselves as comfortable as possible
during the often gruelling and always meticulous process.
They’ll make sure to have a good supply of swabs, containers, and plastic bags to
collect important pieces of evidence.
Most importantly, they will bring along tools to help them carefully document the scene
- pen and paper, a tape recorder and a camera.
The medical examiner’s first job is to determine if a crime was committed at the death scene
- every death scene is a potential crime scene until proven otherwise.
The first and most important rule of crime scene investigation is not to disturb or contaminate
the scene.
The examiner must wear protective equipment and avoid sitting on any surfaces or leaning
on any walls.
After making sure that the scene is safe and secure, the medical examiner will begin their
systematic and thorough examination of the scene and attempt to answer some very important
questions, like “Did the death occur at this location?”, “Can the death be attributed
to natural causes?”, “Is anything out of place at the scene?” and “Are there
any signs of violence or foul play?”.
If foul play is suspected, the medical examiner will guide the investigators in further processing
the scene, directing them to collect latent impressions, trace evidence, and anything
else relevant to the investigation, like possible murder weapons or medications found nearby.
This is yet another misconception about crime scene investigation that comes from watching
too many crime dramas - although the medical examiner plays a lead role in this stage of
the investigation, their job is to observe a great deal, but to actually do very little.
Their 4 major tasks are notetaking, videography, photography and sketching - the rest of the
hands-on work will be done by other investigators and crime scene technicians at the medical
examiner’s direction.
The medical examiner will take great care to document every detail of the death scene,
starting from the moment they are notified of the death.
Their highly detailed notes will start with details about the date, time and method of
notification and any details known about the deceased at that time.
When they arrive on the scene, they will document how they got there and when, and what personnel
are on scene.
Then, they’ll turn their attention to crafting a full scene description, noting everything
from the layout of the scene to the furniture and structures nearby, to even the weather.
They will also take note of any containers nearby that might hold other pieces of evidence,
like trash cans and ashtrays.
They will document and analyze any blood spillage or spatter, noting the shape and flow patterns
of the blood.
The medical examiner will also have to be careful to keep track of any assignments they’ve
made to other team members, such as doing a walk-through of the scene or collecting
evidence.
Only once the scene has been thoroughly investigated and described does the medical examiner turn
their attention to the body itself.
They will create a highly detailed victim description that outlines the physical condition
of the body at the death scene, noting things like the body’s position, any rigor mortis
or death stiffness, and the level of decomposition.
Generally, the more contorted the position of the body, the more sudden the death was
- the victim may have literally fallen in their tracks.
They will carefully photograph the body in the position it was found before carefully
moving it into a face-up position and beginning a head-to-toe examination.
Starting from the top and working their way down, the examiner will push aside clothing
without removing it to carefully check every inch of the body for any visible wounds or
bruising, and the presence or absence of clothing, jewelry and identification.
The most important goal of this preliminary examination is to establish a working theory
of the cause of death and to determine if the death occurred at the same location that
the body was found.
Once the death scene investigation is complete, the medical examiner is also responsible for
preparing the body and overseeing the transportation of the corpse to the mortuary for the autopsy
itself, while ensuring the least possible disturbance or loss of evidence.
They will place and secure bags over the deceased’s hands, feet and head and place the body in
a body bag to retain any evidence like loose fibres as it’s being transported to the
morgue in a hearse.
The autopsy itself usually only takes between 2 to 4 hours to perform, but it can take up
to 6 weeks for the results to be ready - yet another misconception from TV, where we’ve
come to expect the entire investigation to be neatly wrapped up within the timeline of
a 60 minute episode.
Autopsies are best performed within 24 hours of death before the organs begin to deteriorate,
but even autopsies performed on decomposed or exhumed bodies can still provide vital
new information.
The autopsy itself starts with yet another careful inspection of the body.
Something else we don’t see much of on TV are the many, many layers of duplication and
redundancy that go into a real life investigation.
The medical examiner will carefully weigh and measure the body and document its characteristics
like age, gender, and hair and eye colour.
Once the clothing has been removed, they will examine the body yet again, this time looking
for trace evidence, signs of injury like bruising, scratches or wounds, and identifying marks
like tattoos or scars.
An x-ray may be done to look for any broken bones, skeletal abnormalities or to locate
bullets lodged in the body.
The medical examiner will meticulously record all of these findings on both a body diagram
and in recorded verbal notes.
Once the outside of the body has been thoroughly examined, it’s time for the internal exam.
The dissection starts with making a large, y-shaped incision on the torso, from the shoulders
to the mid chest and all the way down to the pelvic region.
Then, a saw is used to cut through the cartilage and rib cage to expose the internal organs.
The organs are first examined and documented in place, and then removed one by one to be
weighed and carefully inspected.
Tissues samples may be taken, along with blood and urine samples, to be tested for drugs
or infections.
The stomach is also emptied so that the contents can be examined and tested.
Next the examiner makes a precise incision around the back of the head from ear to ear
and pulls the skin forward to expose the skull.
A specially designed saw is used to open the cranium without damaging the soft brain tissue
below, the skull cap is removed, and finally, gingerly, the medical examiner removes the
brain for closer inspection and further testing.
After carefully preserving and cataloguing the various tissue and organ samples, the
organs are carefully set back into place inside the body, after being sealed in bags to prevent
leakage.
The rest of the body cavity is stuffed with wool, the rib cage is set back in place, and
the large incision is sewn back up using the characteristic “baseball stitch” so famous
from the big screen.
Finally, the body is carefully washed and prepared to be delivered to the funeral home.
The professional who performs the autopsy undertakes their work with the utmost care
and respect, so even a body that has undergone a thorough autopsy can still be presented
in an open casket to allow friends and family to see their loved one one last time.
With the crime scene thoroughly investigated and the autopsy carefully performed, the medical
examiner will use their mountains of documentation - their copious notes and voice recordings,
their carefully drawn sketches, the countless crime scene photographs and video, the test
results, and more - to prepare their official report on the cause and manner of death.
This report will be used by investigators to hopefully solve the crime and get justice
for the victim, but unlike in the TV shows, this process can take months or even years,
if it even gets solved at all.
Thanks to the CSI effect, we seem to expect crime scene investigation to be like what
we see on TV, but real life is not as flashy, as exciting or nearly as fast.
It is every bit as impressive, though.
The medical examiner plays a key role in the investigation from the very first moment that
the body is found right up until the body is sewn back together and prepared for the
funeral home.
The examiner oversees the investigation of the crime scene, completes the crime autopsy
and it’s hard to imagine how real-life CSI could solve murders without them!
If you thought this video was fascinating, be sure and check out our other videos, like
this video called “What Happens When You Dig Up a Body?”, or perhaps you’ll like
this other video instead.
As always, thanks for watching, and don’t forget to like, share and subscribe!
See you next time!