Coroner Talk™ | Death Investigation Training | Police and Law Enforcement

The question in this series is whether law enforcement ignored certain facts because it did not fit a pre-textual narrative or were simply instructed to look the other way resulting in  known facts and evidence never being considered. All this goes into the question of cocaine, killing, and coverup. Facts of case as reported by […]

The post Pt. 1-Cocaine, Killing, and Coverup – appeared first on Coroner Talk™.

Every crime scene presents unique obstacles for the investigator, but in a death investigation three elements will always exists to  some degree. These three elements make up the investigative triangle. Although independent in nature – they are interdependent in the investigation. A complete and accurate investigation can not be accomplished without weaving these three elements […]

The post Three Elements of the Scene – Panel Discussion appeared first on Coroner Talk™.

Today, the term “biometrics” is not limited to fingerprints. It also includes palm prints, irises, and facial recognition. In an effort to harness new technologies, and to improve the application of tenprint and latent fingerprint searches, the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division developed and incrementally integrated a new system to replace the Integrated […]

The post Integrated Biometrics appeared first on Coroner Talk™.

Even if we do the best investigation possible, there will often be disagreement in our cause and manner rulings.  This could  apply to any manner of death; suicide, accident, even in a ruling of natural death. The article below from Detroit Free Press is a great example of the implications that can arise from a […]

The post Implications in Cause and Manner Rulings appeared first on Coroner Talk™.

Defining Time of Death    There are several times of death. Let me repeat that—there are several times of death. Time of death seems to be a simple and straight forward term that obviously means the exact time that the victim drew his last breath. Unfortunately, it’s not quite that simple. There are actually three […]

The post Determining Time of Death appeared first on Coroner Talk™.

How does our profession  influence crime writers? In the western world, crime fiction – mystery, thrillers, suspense, etc. – makes up somewhere between 25 and 40 percent of all fiction book sales. Why is the crime genre so popular? Crime is fascinating, to be sure, because most of us  don’t commit it. But the popularity of […]

The post Crime Fiction – Real Life appeared first on Coroner Talk™.

Forensic odontology is the application of dental science to legal investigations, primarily involving the identification of the offender by comparing dental records to a bite mark left on the victim or at the scene, or identification of human remains based on dental records. A forensic dentist is an informal title for a forensic odontologist, a […]

The post Forensic Odontology appeared first on Coroner Talk™.

Post Mortem Facial Reconstruction A Postmortem Reconstruction is developed by reconstructing facial characteristics of an unidentified deceased person with decomposed or damaged human tissue. The image will first show trauma to the victim and is repaired digitally or by applying paints directly to the photograph, covering the injured area making the features recognizable. The drawing […]

The post SketchCop Solutions appeared first on Coroner Talk™.

Crime wreaks havoc on the very framework of our society, no one is immune from it.  Regardless of race, background, or financial status, crime can and will touch your life in a negative way.  The role of the criminal investigator is to fill the gap from suspect to victim.  The investigative function centers around the […]

The post The Criminal Investigative Function appeared first on Coroner Talk™.

Toxicology testing is a vital piece of  the post mortem investigative puzzle.  Many investigators confuse the importance of toxicology in cases where no autopsy is being conducted. An even greater danger is submitting fluids for testing but then making an incorrect determination because of the miss-interpretations of the results. To better understand the dangers and […]

The post Toxicology Interpretation and Obstacles appeared first on Coroner Talk™.