Update

Michael Jackson’s autopsy results came back with the findings that lethal doses of Propofol were found in his body. Jackson’s personal physician had been treating the king of pop for insomnia giving Jackson 50 milligrams of propofol every night using an intravenous drip. Read the story from the New York Times here.

Click here for previous comments about Jackson’s death.

First episode

Forensic science is a fascinating subject for almost everyone, especially if it deals with celebrities like Michael Jackson’s case or high profile cases like Caylee Anthony’s case. Lately, a new interest has emerged among the forensic community and keeps growing more and more. It’s a blend of history and forensic science. Forensic History? Even when any forensic scientist knows that human remains older than 50 years are generally not subject to a forensic investigation, the analysis of cases that go beyond the legal scope thrill many colleagues worldwide.

From “historic autopsies” to the actual exhumation and analysis of remains, the forensic study of historic cases is the new trend.

We will be presenting some cases from all continents on a series of different episodes beginning in this post with a case from the 18th century.

Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, or simply Mozart, died in Vienna at the age of 35 at 1:00 AM on December 5, 1791. The mysterious death of the famous composer has long fascinated researchers. Mozart’s cause of death is recorded as hitziges Frieselfieber, or “severe miliary fever” referring to symptoms such as high temperature and rash. One of the problems with Mozart’s cause of death investigation lies on the fact that there is no corpse, no bones to analyze. All scholars have are the testimonies of those who were around Mozart at the time of his decease. Several years before the musician’s death, his grave was dug up to be reused and his remains were lost forever.

Proposed manner of death include all but suicide. The list of causes is enormous. Wolfgang could have been murdered by the Venetian composer Antonio Salieri although it is not clear why Salieri would have done such a thing. Arsenic and mercury poisoning have been suggested as possible causes, the latest being used by many poets, painters, philosophers, and musicians victims of syphilis. For the accident theory, the anthropologist, Pierre-Francoise Puech suggested Mozart had died from complications of a head injury after he studied a fracture on a skull rescued by a gravedigger who dug up Mozart’s grave and knew which body was Mozart’s.

Quite a few diseases (i.e. rheumatic fever Henoch-Schönlein purpura, chronic glomerulonephritis, and trichinosis) have been blamed of being the responsible of the composer’s death too. However, a new study from the University of Amsterdam points out to kidney damage caused by a streptococcal infection. In other words, a strep throat. Here’s the paper published in this week’s issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Alcohol elimination

A Wilkes County man was sentenced to 33 years in prison without possibility of parole for the deaths of Harley and Helen Carter. The man, Ricky D. Norman was driving a truck traveling south on Old U.S. 21, when he collided with a car driven by the Carters. Not only Norman admitted that he was speeding, he also had been drinking and had cocaine in his system at the time of the crash. As a matter of fact he had been convicted of DUI three times and had a fourth DUI charge pending at the time of the accident. What caught my eye was the fact that the prosecution and defense experts differed as to whether he was legally drunk.

The trial lasted a week and much of the trial testimony involved experts who had opposing views about how intoxicated Norman was and how far he was from the intersection when Harley Carter pulled out in front of him. How could two experts do not agree on the alcohol level Norman had? Well, Norman had two broken ribs, a collapsed lung, a broken pelvis, a broken sternum, two broken bones in his left forearm and a broken right heel, and was taken to Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital. Due to his injuries, I guess, his blood was tested two hours after the accident and the test results showed Norman’s blood alcohol content was 0.03.

Paul Glover, an expert from the Forensic Tests for Alcohol Branch of the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, testified Thursday that Norman’s blood alcohol content at the time of the wreck would have been 0.08. Glover used a technique called “retrograde extrapolation”. He said he determined a rate at which Norman’s body was eliminating alcohol, and calculated backward to determine the blood-alcohol level at the time of the wreck. A defense expert, Andrew Mason, told jurors that Norman’s blood-alcohol content would have fallen within a range of 0.05 to 0.09 at the time of the crash. For him, Glover’s determination is not scientifically supported, partially because people don’t eliminate alcohol at constant rates.

Before receiving his sentence, Norman said he was convicted because of his criminal record and not because of his responsibility for the fatal crash. He said he felt it was okay to drive after drinking four beers, that it wouldn’t bring him up to the legal limit which, in North Carolina, is 0.08.

I would love to hear from our faculty and students about how uncertain it would be to determine alcohol elimination rate. Are there any variables, maybe personal variables that need to be taken into account? 

Click here for more details on this story.

Science, art or voyeurism?

The Musée de l’Elysée in Lausanne, Switzerland, opened an uncommon exhibition: “The Scene of the Crime”. More than a 100 pictures, taken by Rodolphe Archibald Reiss, are presented in this exhibit and can be seen until October 25th. Click here for more information about the pictures at The Musée de l’Elysée.

Reiss was a professor of forensic science at the University of Lausanne. He became the head of photography at the same university in 1899. There is, of course, controversy surrounding the exhibition. The Museum suggests that sensitive people and children under 14 should not visit the exhibition. Are these images offensive?

There are several ways to portrait death, and there are several reasons to do so. Death is a taboo subject in contemporary society, but at the same time brutal, violent death appeals to morbid curiosity of people. There are different ways to deal with death and cultures put in place different restrictions and practices associated with rituals. Death can be celebrated, embraced or feared.

As forensic scientists who regularly use photographs to document crime scenes, autopsy findings and bone trauma to name a few, we are shocked at the use of post-mortem photographs for entertainment. Photography, like many other disciplines, has a link to Forensic Science world. The use of the photography in criminology receives the name of Forensic Photography. Alphonse Bertillon was one of the first to systematically photograph and document crime scenes, but “Weegee”, whose real name was Arthur Fellig, was probably the most famous.

The practice of photographing death as any other social event like weddings, baptisms and birthdays was very popular. Photographing the recently deceased is also known as Memorial Photography or Postmortem Photography and was a common practice in the nineteenth century.In some South American countries the practice continued even until the 1950’s! Even though photographing death as a social memento has ceased, there is a small number of contemporary photographers whose work often deal with death and corpses like Andres Serrano, Enrique Metinides, Joel-Peter Witkin, Maeve Berry, and Walters Schels.

Should scientific uses of photography be made accessible to the public? Have your say in our blog about this exhibition and the use of photography to capture death outside the science realm.

Latest news

There continue to be more questions than answers as we approach the one-month mark since the pop icon’s death. Since Michael Jackson’s autopsy reports are delayed, headlines go from those concerning Rupert Everett comments to the secret son of Michael Jackson.

In other news, the Los Angeles Times reported today a security breach involving staff members at the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Department. Six employees improperly viewed Michael Jackson’s death certificate hundreds of times in the two weeks immediately following the pop star’s death. Also, the Armstrong Medical Clinic, the clinic of Jackson’s personal cardiologist, Dr. Conrad Murray was raided yesterday. Dr. Murray has already been questioned twice by the Los Angeles Police Department and about three dozen officers participated on a search that ended up seizing a computer hard drive and more than 20 documents.

Two autopsy results are still pending and authorities are investigating several doctors and going after records that could shed light on Jackson’s death. Michael Jackson’s cause of death is still a mystery and the results of his autopsy probably won’t be known for another two weeks. Toxicology reports are going to become very important and results need to be interpreted in context of the artist medical history.

Jackson’s family members fear foul play whereas investigators are focusing on propofol (brand name Diprivan). Could propofol have played a role in Michael Jackson’s death? Are prescription drugs to blame or a mix of drugs? Did doctors play any role on Jackson’s death?

A psychiatric autopsy might also be performed. This type of study can provide clues about Jackson’s mental state prior to death.

Stay tuned, we will be posting updates.