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- Title
Estimation of the time since death-reconsidering the re-establishment of rigor mortis.
- Authors
Anders, Sven; Kunz, Michaela; Gehl, Axel; Sehner, Susanne; Raupach, Tobias; Beck-Bornholdt, Hans-Peter
- Abstract
In forensic medicine, there is an undefined data background for the phenomenon of re-establishment of rigor mortis after mechanical loosening, a method used in establishing time since death in forensic casework that is thought to occur up to 8 h post-mortem. Nevertheless, the method is widely described in textbooks on forensic medicine. We examined 314 joints (elbow and knee) of 79 deceased at defined time points up to 21 h post-mortem (hpm). Data were analysed using a random intercept model. Here, we show that re-establishment occurred in 38.5% of joints at 7.5 to 19 hpm. Therefore, the maximum time span for the re-establishment of rigor mortis appears to be 2.5-fold longer than thought so far. These findings have major impact on the estimation of time since death in forensic casework.
- Subjects
RIGOR mortis; FORENSIC medicine; ELBOW injuries; KNEE injuries; DEATH
- Publication
International Journal of Legal Medicine, 2013, Vol 127, Issue 1, p127
- ISSN
0937-9827
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s00414-011-0632-z