Caveats of Death Investigations:
Recording the Time of Death
By: Joseph Giacalone
Recording the time of death can often be a tricky situation for investigators. There are a number of things that are out of the investigator’s control, Time of Death (TOD) is only one of them. The golden rule for death investigations is to treat every one as if it is suspicious until evidence proves otherwise.
Investigators have to deal with many things at the beginning of a death investigation to enable the medical examiner (or coroner) to make the proper Manner of Death classification. First and foremost, make sure that the crime scene is secured. Death investigations require a team. This team consists of: investigator, medical examiner (or coroner) and/or a medicolegal investigator (MLI). One of the most important and often confusing caveat of investigations is the TOD.
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