Introduction
The recovery of a decomposing body between a supermarket parking lot retaining wall and a residential garage answered the questions of people who kept on wondering the source of a foul odor. The body was then brought to the OME’s office after which I was asked to carry out a careful analysis for purposes of verification of the allegations of having been beaten and shot several times from the back with a.22 gun. The identification process was uneventful. He had missing for two months and the police had the report of a missing person who matched his features. He was a 45 year old white male with tattoos and had undergone facial surgery at some point in his life. The other entire feature marched the police report. Given the bad condition of the body, I requested that it gets cleaned so that I would carry out my study and prepare my report.
Description of Remains as Seen on the Slides (Exhibit 85-942)
The frontal part of the skull had a line that marked a surgical point. The back of the skull had two bullet holes. Also, there were shattered dentures comprising of the lower jaw with thirteen teeth in a fairly good condition and vertebrae column bones (Behrensmeyer 151-153). In clear consistency with the single body that had been found, there was no duplication of the available parts, which points to the fact that this was one individual (Komar & Buikstra 23-24). The gross appearance before the cleaning revealed that he was male, as he had been earlier identified.
The Bullet Holes
One of the bullets had entered his jaw from behind at the angle of the ascending ramus. This bullet then exited through the mouth of the victim. The impact of the bullet was the shattering of his dentures. There were three shots to the head in total with one going through the mandibles. The reason for the number three is that the skull had three bullet holes. And the assumption that the bullets were fired from behind is based on the entrance-exit behavior of bullets whereby as a bullet enters a target, the hole is small but when it gets out, it creates a big hole as it exits with either flesh of bone. Another shot may have gone through his neck. This conclusion was drawn based on the fact that the vertebrae column bones also had considerable breakage that appears to have been caused by a bullet.
The above remains did not reveal any beating apart from the fact that he was shot (Galloway 45-47). The effects on his skull and the dentures were as a result of the bullets. The skeletal coloration appeared normal. The coloration on the dentures and the vertebrae bones appeared normal too.
Conclusions
The individual who had already been identified as a forty five year old white male was shot three times on the head as shown by the three bullet holes on his skull. One bullet went through the mandible and another may have gone though his neck. The bullets are responsible for the broken jaw bones. There was no visible evidence of beating.
What I would have added to the report if I had the Remains
I would have added the detailed physical appearance of the body and the character of the other body parts since not all of them are available (Burns 21).
Works cited
Behrensmeyer, Kay. “Taphonomic and ecologic information from bone weathering.” Palaeobiology 4 (1978): 150-162.
Burns, Karen. Forensic Anthropology Training Manual, The (2nd ed.).New York: Prentice Hall, 2006. Print.
Galloway, Alison. (ed.).Broken Bones: Anthropological Analysis of Blunt Force Trauma. Springfield: Charles C Thomas, 1999.Print.
Komar, Debra & Buikstra, Jane. Forensic Anthropology: Contemporary Theory and Practice (1st ed.).New York: Oxford University Press,2007.Print.