Forensic Pathology for Police - Brainshare Public Online Library

Chapter 4
Death Investigation
And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel
and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Where is your
brother Abel?’ ‘I don’t know,’ he replied. ‘Am I my brother’s
keeper?’ The Lord said, ‘What have you done? Listen! Your
brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.’
Genesis 4:8–10
Abstract This chapter deals primarily with the non-autopsy aspects of death investigation.
It provides an overview of the various types of death investigation systems
within the United States and describes the various responsibilities of death investigators,
including initial investigation, scene investigation, and follow-up investigation.
A brief description of grief counseling is also provided.
Keywords Death investigation · Coroner · Medical examiner · Scene investigation
· Grief counseling
Introduction
In its simplest description, forensic pathology is about the investigation of death,
and the forensic autopsy is but one aspect of the entire death investigation. As
was presented in Chapter 3 (introduction to forensic pathology), the overall death
investigation may be divided into the initial investigation, the examination of the
body (which may or may not include a complete autopsy), and the follow-up
investigation. In this chapter, we will focus on the different types of death investigation
systems and then concentrate on a death investigator’s duties regarding
the non-autopsy aspects of the death investigation, namely the initial investigation,
including the scene investigation, and the subsequent follow-up investigation. The
reader is referred to Chapter 7 for a more in-depth discussion concerning the body
examination and forensic autopsy.
J. Prahlow, Forensic Pathology for Police, Death Investigators, Attorneys,
and Forensic Scientists, DOI 10.1007/978-1-59745-404-9_4,
C○ Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2010
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