Victim's Body as Important Crime Scene Evidence



Corpse as a Crime Scene

When investigators scan the crime scene for evidence, their search centers around one crucial evidence to the crime – the victim's body. Indeed, the condition of the crime victim can indicate many information that led to the victim's death and those information are crucial during investigation. The dead victim's body is a silent witness to the crime and qualifies as a physical evidence. 

Therefore, autopsy is often conducted at criminal laboratories to determine the cause of death, the items used to kill the victim, and all other factors that contributed to the execution of the crime. 

Examining Victim's Body

Aside from the evident cause of a victim's death, the body is sent to laboratory for further examination that could point as evidence to the crime. During the examination or analysis of a victim's body, crime scene investigators look for common evidence that provide valid information about the crime. 

Different methods and equipments are used to gather evidence that can be used to identify the cause of death to the victim. There are several resources found on the victim's body that will help link together with the other physical evidences found by investigators at the crime scene during the initial examination. When they match those found on the victim's body, then it will provide a valid conclusion to the investigation.

Evidences To Look For

When crime scene investigators inspect the victim's body for possible clues to the crime, they follow a few standard protocols. There are basic criteria that investigators follow so they do not simply conduct a random search of the body but follow a methodical approach. The following are some of the criteria used when examining a victim's corpse at the crime scene:

*How is the victim's skin condition?
*Are there any skin marks or signs of struggle between the victim and its perpetrator?
*Was the scene where the victim laid to rest the same where she had been actually killed?
*Was the victim's position her original position when she died or is she intentionally posed that way?
*Is the victim nude?

All these factors play a major role in providing the initial information that investigators can gather for the crime case. Plus, it will also set the stage as to what other evidences they need to look for in relation to the condition of the victim's body upon arriving at the crime scene. Below are just some of the other type of evidences that investigators can search the victim's body for.

Body Fluids

This type of evidence can be mechanically recovered at the crime scene upon the initial examination of investigating officers. However, it can be analyzed further at the criminal laboratories to identify what type of body fluid was found at the victim's body. It can either be a blood stain, seminal fluids, or some other types of fluids, but they all point to what transpired during the actual crime. 

Moreover, criminal investigators must also look into where specifically in the victim's body the particular fluid was found. In some cases, the detection of seminal fluids in a victim's body indicate that the victim was raped by the suspect before she was killed.

Latent Prints

The main goal behind a crime scene investigation is to identify the suspect involved in the crime. And all evidences gathered at the scene are intended for that same goal. Therefore, investigators use various equipments and techniques to recover latent prints, such as fingerprints, that would lead to the identification of the suspect. 
