Three Forensic limitations!

At a lecture about Forensic Entomology:

So, what does it mean?

1) On hot days, the maggots thrive!

2) There are computer programs out there for calculating the postmortem interval (PMI) from arthropod successional data. Entomology-assisted determination of the PMI promises to be a reliable technique in cases of homicide, suicide, accidental death, and unattended death due to natural causes.

3)The corpse could be ANYWHERE!

Dr. Boris Kondratieff (on the right)

CSU Entomologist, Dr. Kondratieff was on hand to help us understand how blowfly maggots help determine the time of death. Here he is pointing out a "maggot mass", where the maggots cluster together when feeding in order to maximize the benefits of combined metabolic heat.

After the lecture, we went out for dinner!

For further reading:

Necrosearch revisited: further approaches to the detection of clandestine graves. In: "Forensic Taphonomy. The Postmortem Fate of Human Remains."