When a murder takes place and the forensic team comes to investigate it, they get a lot of information from the dead person as if, the corpse speaks to them. A key factor useful in homicide investigations is timing. Knowing the exact time of the death makes it easier to catch the murderer. This article gives a rough idea of how to determine the exact time of death by examining the dead body. To understand this information, we will first look at when and what changes occur in the dead body after death.

1. When the corpse talks
--------Dr. Prakash Verekar
Forensic Journalists
Ponda Goa
Once again, movement has started in the case of deceased Sushant Singh
Rajput. There has always been doubts as to whether his death was a
suicide or a murder. Now it seems that the case will be reopened and
reinvestigated.
When a murder takes place and the forensic team comes to investigate it,
they get a lot of information from the dead person as if, the corpse
speaks to them.
A key factor useful in homicide investigations is timing. Knowing the
exact time of the death makes it easier to catch the murderer. This article
gives a rough idea of how to determine the exact time of death by

2. examining the dead body. To understand this information, we will first
look at when and what changes occur in the dead body after death.
After death, the body undergoes unpredictable and complex changes.
These postmortem changes depend on a variety of conditions. Ambient
temperature, season and geographical location where the corpse is found
as well as the amount of body fat, purulent wounds, intoxication,
presence of clothing, bed sheet covering the body etc. Changes in that
corpse depend on such factors. Understanding postmortem changes is
essential to predict when death has occurred. This article is written with
the aim of explaining the various changes that occur in a human body
after death, its onset time, its rate and the factors affecting it.
Changes in the body after death are the result of physico-chemical and
environmental processes. They are affected by factors inside and outside
the corpse. These factors affect the commencement of changes and
either increase or stop postmortem changes. Factors that accelerate
necropsy include hot and humid weather, presence of body fat, open
wounds on the body, infestation or infection, and location of the carcass.
Post-mortem changes are delayed due to inadequately dressed body,
cold weather and storage of dead bodies in cold storage units.
According to the order in which these changes occur, postmortem
changes are classified into 3 types as immediate changes, early changes
and later changes.
Immediate post-death changes relate to the death of the body and the
death or termination of its systems. Physical death is associated with the
irreversible cessation of vital functions of the brain, heart, and lungs.
Thus, postmortem changes are referred to as "signs of death" or
symptoms of death. Immediate changes include insensibility, loss of
voluntary movement, respiratory arrest, circulatory arrest, and cessation
of nervous system function. At this time, primary muscle relaxation

3. occurs. Although insensibility and loss of voluntary movement is
considered to be one of the early signs of death, these symptoms can
also be seen in cases of drowsiness, unconsciousness, fainting and
electrocution states etc. Forensic experts conduct further investigations
to confirm death.
Respiration can be checked by placing a stethoscope over the upper part
of the lung where even the slightest breath sounds, if any, can be
detected. Here one is reminded that drowning, electric shock, in
neonates and Cheyne-Stokes respiration can cause respiratory arrest for
some time. It is not death. These people can be revived and made to live.
Circulation is checked by placing a stethoscope on the chest and
listening to the heart beat. Another alternative to using a stethoscope is
the use of an electrocardiograph (ECG). A flat ECG is indicative of
circulatory arrest. Nervous system dysfunction is detected using an
electroencephalograph (EEG) examination method. Brain stem reflexes
should also be examined. A null finding of breath sounds and
movement, heart rate, brain stem reflexes, ECG and EEG proves death
and these symptoms are recorded as signs occurring immediately after
death.
Early postmortem changes are associated with the death of body cells.
These include changes in the skin, eyes, postmortem loss of body
temperature (Algor mortis), postmortem muscle stiffness (Rigore
mortis), and postmortem discoloration of different parts of the body
(livor mortis).
After death, the person's skin turns pale and within minutes of death the
skin loses its elasticity, the lips become dry and hard. Numerous changes
in the eye occur after death, including corneal opacity, loss of pupillary
and corneal reflexes, and loss of intraocular tension. Due to this the eyes
become dull. If the eyes are kept open after death, dust accumulates in
the open area of the eye. This dust appears as a yellow triangular area on
the exposed sclera. An important visual observation is the fragmentation

4. of blood vessels known as the 'Kevorkian sign'. The Kevorkian sign
appears within minutes of death and lasts for about an hour.
After death and cessation of circulation, conduction of body heat ceases.
Since a dead body does not generate heat, the body begins to lose heat
due to the temperature difference between the body and the
surroundings. Heat loss due to radiation is initially significant but then
decreases. Most of the decrease in body temperature is due to heat
conduction. This drop in body temperature after death is known as 'algor
mortis' and is used to accurately estimate the time since death.
Many factors can affect the rate at which a body cools down after death.
The most important factor in changing the rate of cooling is the ambient
temperature. The greater the difference between the body temperature
and the ambient temperature, the faster the cooling rate. Body heat
decreases rapidly in windy or humid environments. If the body is
covered with clothing or other coverings, the rate of heat loss is reduced.
Changes also occur in the muscles of the body after death as mentioned
above, the muscles undergo a primary relaxation.
Within an hour there is primary relaxation (relaxation of the muscles)
along with pallor of the skin. After two to six hours, the muscles begin
to stiffen. In seven to 12 hours the whole body hardening process is
complete. After 12 hours, this stiffness subsides and the body begins to
soften, and within one to three days, the entire body becomes soft and
relaxed. Around that time, the body begins to decompose.
Stiffness is first seen in the involuntary muscles of the heart after death,
i.e. the process of muscle stiffness begins with the involuntary muscles
of the heart. Later it appears in the eyelids, followed by the neck, lower
jaw, chest, upper arms, abdomen, lower legs, and finally the fingers and
toes. Rigor mortis appears 1 to 2 hours after death, spreading to the
whole body 12 hours after death. Lasts for next 12 hours and fades in
next 12 hours.

5. In children and the elderly, physical rigors appear rapidly in death from
major epidemics such as cholera or from poisoning. In such a situation,
hardness also disappears quickly. Individual muscles are affected
differently by the hardening process.
Due to the stiffness of the erector piles muscles, the hair stands up,
pimples appear on the skin. This phenomenon is called 'cutis anserina'.
There are many other types of minor changes.
A group of muscles that are heavily used just before death becomes stiff
and rigid immediately after death. This 'immediate stiffness' mainly
involves the hands. Rigidity of the whole body may occur in cases of
violence, suicide, drowning etc. before death. In such cases, the victim's
hand is stiff and clinging to clothes, buttons or hair etc.
Circulation is a continuous process driven by the pumping action of the
heart.
However, once a person dies, circulation stops and blood begins to flow
to the lower parts of the body due to gravity. This effect causes red-blue
staining of the lower body, called livor mortis, postmortem staining, or
postmortem lividity. These sizes increase and spread to all lower parts in
4 to 6 hours and the effect is complete in 6 to 8 hours.
Any change in body position causes the blood to settle in the lower part
of the new body position. This is called 'migration of postmortem
lividity'. However, this migration may not occur after 6 to 8 hours after
death.
The appearance of postmortem staining depends on several factors,
including blood volume and coagulability at the time of death, as well as
death by asphyxiation. In cases of poisoning, postmortem stains may be
of a different color. Carbon monoxide poisoning shows cherry red spots,
cyanide poisoning shows pink spots, and nitrate poisoning shows brown
spots. Thus, autopsy scars can provide useful information about the

6. condition of the body or the cause of death, in addition to the time since
death.
After death, if the dead body remains lying there, it starts to rot. There
are many ways in this decomposition process, according to which the
time of death can be correctly diagnosed. This part of investigation is
complex and can be investigated only by forensic specialists in this field.
Immediate postmortem changes are of clinical importance in diagnosing
death. The symptoms like Loss of voluntary movement and loss of
sensation are also seen in cases of narcosis, catalepsy, fits of
unconsciousness, drowning and electrocution, in addition to death.
Similar symptoms can also be seen in Drowning, electrocution,
respiratory arrest in neonates and Cheyne-Stokes respiration can occur.
Due to this, the doctor takes a decision only after examining thoroughly
before declaring the patient dead.
In murder and suicide cases, the apprehension and punishment of the
suspect responsible for the death depends on when the death actually
occurred. If the time of death is known, it is possible to find out where
the suspect was at that time.
Forensic experts are skilled in this type of investigation and its
conclusions. Forensic science has advanced a lot in the last hundred
years. Now a university of forensic science has been established in
India. This National Forensic Science University has a branch at Ponda in
Goa. We are students of this university and we are writing this many
articles so that maximum number of people know about this science.
Similarly, the purpose is to deter people of bad disposition from
committing crimes. No matter how much planning someone does
before committing a crime, he will be caught and given appropriate
punishment. No criminal will get away with committing a crime. The
forensic scientist are now equipped to find out all that is necessary to
bring justice.