A medicolegal death investigator (MDI) is a person trained to perform an independent death investigation alongside law enforcement. The first concern of any such investigator arriving on scene is whether or not the scene is secure and safe. If there are any scene security issues then the investigator should stage in a safe place away from the scene until law enforcement determines the scene is secure. It is never a good idea to enter an unsecured scene. Having a medicolegal death investigator or first responder running into an unsafe scene may place them in danger and end with the MDI or first responder needing to be rescued.
Preserving Scene Integrity
After determining the scene is safe the primary job of a medicolegal death investigator is to preserve the integrity of the death scene. Maintaining the integrity of the death scene means no one is allowed into the area that does not need to be there, thus preventing the destruction of any physical evidence at the scene and preventing any physical evidence from being inadvertently introduced to the scene. There is rarely a good reason to move a dead body before the investigation begins, unless the scene is simply not safe and cannot be made safe.
The medicolegal death scene investigator should begin the investigation by identifying and documenting the name and contact information of the person or persons who found the body. They must determine if any attempts were made to move the deceased. The MDI should identify who pronounced the death of the person at the scene and document what the time of death was, and how the person was determined to be deceased. If EMS was called to the scene did they check for a pulse, look for breathing or start CPR or did the deceased present as an obvious death? An obvious death means the person has been dead for a few hours or days and there are obvious signs of death such as bloating, skin color changes, and mottling.
Photographs Preserve the Scene
Photographing the body and the death scene is important and provides a visual record that can later be used in court as evidence. Pictures show how the body was found and what physical evidence was found on or near the body. Essentially, photographs preserve the death scene visually, and that allows people who later join the investigation to see everything as it was at the time the body was first discovered. A photograph can also help answer any questions that arise later regarding the position or location of the deceased for jurors.
The physical evidence at a death scene is often instrumental in determining who or what is responsible for causing the death. The process of collecting physical evidence must be done in accordance to department protocol and following all local, state, and federal laws. This includes determining a chain of custody for each piece of evidence that will be adhered to at all times. If the chain of custody is broken it can result in the physical evidence being thrown out as evidence and perhaps having the case dismissed altogether.
Maintaining Custody of the Body
Once the medicolegal death investigator has identified and collected any pertinent physical evidence deemed important to the investigation then the body is carefully wrapped, tagged and bagged for transportation. The MDI maintains custody of the body until it is transported to the coroner’s office where a forensic autopsy is performed by a pathologist. A forensic autopsy is a medical examination of the physical body from head to toe, inside and out, including the internal organs, and is used to determine the physical cause of death.
Before leaving the scene the medicolegal death investigator needs to verify who will be notifying the family that their loved one is deceased. A sudden unexpected death throws a family into an emotional and often financial crisis and being told your mother, father, brother, sister, or child has died can cause people to react in both predictable and unpredictable ways. To help families deal with the sudden unexpected and often violent death of a family member it is imperative that the investigator maintain a professional demeanor at all times. If the scene is becoming volatile, the MDI should leave and contact law enforcement.
It takes days, weeks and even sometimes months to process a death scene investigation and to determine the cause of death. The death scene investigation involves a variety of forensic science and forensic medicine personnel, including the medicolegal death investigators, law enforcement officers, medical personnel, EMS, doctors, clergy, and many other behind the scenes personnel in labs including toxicology, ballistics, blood splatter, chemistry, and biology. One can guarantee that not everything will be neatly wrapped up and resolved within in the 40 minutes seen on most television shows or movies.
Sources:
- U.S. department of Justice “Death Investigation: A Guide for the Scene Investigator” (accessed March 1, 2011).
Erika Lyn Smith - Erika Lyn Smith - is a Psych RN, who has completed the UMSL Medicolegal Death Investigator Training Course, and is finishing a BS in ...
