Dismembered Corpse : medicolegal implications

Choi, Young Shik; Lee, Sang Yong; Kim, Yu Hoon; Jo, Gap Rae; Lee, Bong Woo; Yang, Kyung Moo; Chung, Nak Eun; Seo, Joong Seok; Lee, Han Young; Lee, Won Tae; Kang, Hyun Wook

Abstract

Disposal of a homicide victim by dismemberment is rare, but individual cases are on record in most major medicolegal departments. Recognition of postmortem mutilation may be of importance in the interpretation of certain murders committed by sexual perverts and other mentally deranged individuals and sometimes performed for the sole reason of easier disposal of the body. Postmortem dismemberment is usually readily recognizable as such; The edges of the injuries are dry and lack evidence of bleeding. The joints may be disarticulated without fracture, or the use of an axe or saw may be evident from examination of bones. Parallel horizontal or oblique furrows in the bone surface are caused by skipping of the saw prior to establishing depth. Such patterns on the bone may assist in identifying the particular saw involved. So we report 25 dismembered corpses that autopsied in National Institute of Scientific Investigation. This paper can help in attempting to establish not only the first criminal investigation steps but also the medicolegal approach methods in unidentified and dismembered deaths.