Study of Skeletal Remains

The present study examines a case in which signs of incised wounds were found on skeletal remains of a murder victim. The authors have studied the skeletal remains and the dynamics of the murder in order to reconstruct the kind of weapon utilized. 

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The bones examined belonged to a woman that had disappeared from almost 10 years and where recovered from the garden of the house belonging to her former partner. The main feature of these remains was the discovery of a damage of a thoracic vertebra (T1).

When the object of forensic investigation is constituted by skeletal remains, obtaining information is more difficult because of the absence of soft tissues. The source of information is represented by bones only. Certainly there are some missing tiles that can't be regained: many lesions or trauma that involves soft tissues don’t involve bones and this is why the pathologist is the only one that can suggest the cause of death. 

The most important information is obtained by the study of lesions, and what kind of object caused it. A forensic anthropologist can state that there are some potentially fatal lesions. Yet, without soft tissues, it is not possible to gain certainty about the presence of other lesions, not involving bones that could have caused the death.Read More....

Legal reporting in Forensic odontology

Writing an ideal Forensic odontology report is a blend of arts and science and sometimes it is challenging to write an ideal report. This article focuses on writing an ideal legal report.

Examination of teeth in many ways forms a unique part of human body as they are most durable and resilient part of the skeleton. The science dealing with establishing identity of a person byteeth is popularly known as Forensic Odontology or Forensic Dentistry. Dental professionals have a major role to play in keeping accurate dental records and providing all necessary information so that legal authorities may recognize mal practice, negligence, fraud or abuse, and identity of unknown individuals. Apart from the documentation provided by the International Organization for Forensic Odontostomatology,there is a paucity of literature available pertaining to the guidelines of an ideal and legal forensic odontology reporting. This limitation of the literature prompted the author to offer some more elaboration to the current guidelines, which can be easily adopted by forensic odontologists.

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Forensic Photography

Photography is a mixture of science and technology. It involves clicking of an image on to a film to be reproduced and stored for future use. In current times in addition to traditional photographs there is influx of digital imaging where in place of film the picture is stored in a digital way.

Use of these photographic techniques in forensic investigations is known as forensic photography. In forensic field it is useful at crime scene as well as in mortuary. Photography can help in storing of image and its reproduction at a later stage and can play a valuable role in investigation as well as in evidence in court of law. It includes pictures of crime scene, victim, accused, weapons, evidence, vehicles (as in road traffic accident) etc. A good photograph depends on quality of camera, illumination, nature of object, angle of photography as well as expertise of photographer.

As the old saying goes “A good photograph isworth a thousand words”, a carefully clicked picture can go a long way in crime investigation. To be fit for court the photographs needs to be clear, properly scaled, clicked from multiple angles and deposited by maintaining chain of custody. These pictures can either be overall images of the scene, context images showing relation between relevant evidence (like dead body and murder weapon), or close up images showing the details of evidence. As a general rule color photographs are better than black and white as they can give a much clear idea about the crime.

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