Chapter 10 Chapter two

The two female corpses were still placed in the morgue, and the corpses were burnt beyond recognition.They all died of burning due to high temperature effects such as flames, radiant heat, and hot metal. This is called burn death in forensic science, and the human body damage caused by this is also called burn injury.In real life, burning to death mostly occurs in some fire accidents, and arson suicide or homicide is relatively rare. However, in homicide cases, sometimes we also encounter situations where corpses are burned and traces are forged.Therefore, the examination of burnt corpses is an important task of forensic examination.

The two female corpses belonged to 4th-degree burns, which we call the charring period.Its characteristic is that the tissue moisture has disappeared, the protein has solidified, the tissue has become hard, brittle or black, and carbonization has occurred.Charred tissue is due to an extreme dry contraction that splits the skin and forms an auxiliary tear similar to an incision, chop, or contusion.Due to the contraction of the tissues, the shortening of the flexor muscles of the limbs, and the flexion of the joints, the entire carbonized corpse will form a fist-like posture. We usually classify burns according to their severity. 1st degree burns are also called erythema stage, which is the mildest burn.It is characterized by local skin hyperemia or redness, erythema formation, and local tissue swelling; second-degree burns are generally referred to as the vesicular phase.It is characterized by the formation of blisters on the red and swollen skin. The blisters are still located between the epidermis and the dermis. The blisters are filled with fluid, but the bottom of the blisters and the surrounding tissues are congested. For third-degree burns, we call it the scab stage or Necrotic period.This feature shows the coagulation necrosis of the full-thickness tissue of the skin, resulting in the formation of scabs and congestion of the tissue around the scabs, but the burn can go deep into the subcutaneous tissue and muscle layer; there are also 4th-degree burns, which is what I mentioned earlier , the kind that has been carbonized.

Another major task of examining burnt corpses is to distinguish whether they were burnt to death or burned after death.The main difference between the two is that the burnt corpse has erythema, but the cremated corpse does not; the burnt corpse blister is filled with liquid, contains white blood cells and fibrin, and the blister bottom and surrounding tissues have an inflammatory reaction, while the burnt corpse In corpses, there is more gas and less liquid in the pustules, and there is no inflammatory reaction at the bottom of the pustules and the surrounding areas; the subcutaneous scabs of burnt corpses are congested and edematous, with white blood cell infiltration, but there is no inflammatory reaction under the scabs of cremated corpses.

The internal phenomenon of the burnt corpse should be like this: there are soot and charcoal attached in the respiratory tract.This is because the living person has the ability to breathe during the process of being burned, so he will inhale the soot and charcoal in the flame into the respiratory tract when breathing.Therefore, in the mouth, nose, throat, trachea and bronchial groove of the deceased, we can see soot and charcoal attached. In addition, the internal phenomenon of burned corpses, such as carbon monoxide in the blood, because incompletely burned substances can produce a large amount of carbon monoxide, and these carbon monoxide will be inhaled into the body with the breathing movement of the burnt person, which is the same as the carbon monoxide in the blood. Hemoglobin binds together to form carboxyhemoglobin.Therefore, the viscera of a burned body should be bright red.If the heart blood of the deceased is taken for testing, once carboxyhemoglobin is found, it can be used as a confirmation of burn death.

Of course, the internal phenomenon of the burnt corpse is also manifested in the changes of the respiratory tract and internal organs.Due to the effect of high heat, the burnt corpses will have congestion, edema or blisters in the mucous membranes of the larynx, trachea, and bronchi, congestion, edema, hemorrhage, fatty degeneration, necrosis, and post-mortem epidural hematoma in internal organs.The above-mentioned organs of those who died immediately after burning generally only showed congestion, while other changes were not obvious. Andre, the forensic doctor of the police station, found that there was no smoke in the lungs of the victims, and the two women actually died before the fire broke out.So, this can be classified as a murder case.

In the days that followed, I launched an investigation into the background of the deceased.I first visited Laura Watson's relatives and friends.I learned that she is 29 years old, an out-of-towner, a medical worker, and drove along the Mississippi River to Iowa City to visit her cousin.Her cousin works at the University of Iowa and is a school administrator, responsible for the statistics of various materials since the University of Iowa was founded in 1876. "Our school includes more than 10 departments, more than 120 undergraduate majors and more than 7 types of bachelor's degrees. Of course, I have also counted more than 10 types of master's degrees and doctoral degrees in industrial technology. It should be said that Iowa The university is a comprehensive research university with more than 1,000 faculty members and more than 15,000 students..."

In this lady's home, she babbled to me about the above.I could only smile wryly at her words. Although I was not interested in listening to Laura's cousin continue to introduce the history of the University of Iowa and those honorary awards, I still got some in my ears. According to "US News and World Report's evaluation of the master's degree of public universities in the Midwest of the United States, the school has ranked second for 9 consecutive years and so on. "Actually, I just want to say that I know the history of this university because I graduated from this university. Of course, according to the evaluation of higher education institutions in the United States by the "Princeton Review", the University of Iowa is also rated as the best university in the Midwest of the United States. One of the best universities. I still remember that the business school of this university has been accredited by the International Association of Elite Business Schools, an internationally recognized MBA degree education authority, for ten consecutive years. So I know what you said, and now we are not Come talk about your sister?"

I said so much in one breath, and finally made Laura's cousin shut up.However, she immediately changed her tone of speaking, she said, we kept praying, hoping that it wasn't her, but there was always an ominous premonition in my heart.Really, we really don't want her to die, you have to believe that what I say is from the bottom of my heart. She probably saw that I was a little impatient, but I could only quickly end this meaningless conversation. "Oh! Ma'am, please forgive me for disturbing you. We will contact you when we think of any new situation." I greeted her while getting up.

Next, I investigated another deceased, Maria Leiner, whose identity was not confirmed until later.She is 27 years old and is an environmental scientist. She also came to this city on a business trip and lived in a nearby hotel.Maria’s former friend said to me: “Maria likes this city very much. That day was St. Patrick’s Day. She liked this festival very much. Maybe it’s because of the strong festive atmosphere near the university town, so she decided to go there to see her friends… …but never came back.” Every March 17th is the traditional Irish festival St. Patrick's Day, and many countries will hold celebrations on the weekend before the festival.The state of Iowa in the United States is no exception. This place started celebrating on March 17, 1737.

It is understood that St. Patrick's Day originated in Ireland at the end of the fifth century, and it was specially set up to commemorate the local patron saint Patrick.In 432 AD, St. Patrick was sent by the Pope to Ireland to persuade the Irish to convert to Christianity.After he landed from Wicklow, angry local pagans attempted to stone him to death.But St. Patrick was not afraid in the face of danger, and immediately picked off a three-leaf clover, which vividly explained the doctrine of the Holy Trinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.His eloquent speech moved the Irish deeply, and they were baptized by St. Patrick.On March 17, 493 AD, St. Patrick passed away. In memory of him, the Irish designated this day as St. Patrick's Day.

Friends of the deceased Maria also provided us with some questions related to Maria's occupation.She is an environmental scientist, and she usually wants to put forward some suggestions and opinions on the protection and utilization of the environment. I heard that she is writing a thesis on the protection of the environment in Iowa, so she came here, and she wants to comment on her Organize and summarize the required information.However, her friend didn't understand, how could Maria live in that apartment?Does she have any acquaintances there? The three college students who lived in the burning apartment were out of town on the night of the fire.Therefore, they didn't know what happened here at all. When they heard that the apartment they lived in was on fire, they were stunned, and then they were angry and sad. Fortunately, the three college students did not encounter a disaster, and they even wondered when this ominous omen began.They thought hard and couldn't find the answer.They grieve for the two women who were killed in the fire.All three said: "It seems that we can no longer live in this apartment." During the investigation, they all said they did not know Laura Watson and Maria Leiner. "Who are they? Where are they from? How did they end up in the apartment we lived in? What the hell is going on, Mr. Inspector, you know, we're college students! Rubbish, we are highly educated people!" The three university students denied that they had lent out their flats to others.As for how the fire happened, they were also confused, and they even asked the police back when they were under investigation. I understand this behavior quite well.I said, "If it were me, I would ask the same questions as you are now." I'm at a bit of a standstill here, but my colleagues are getting some clues.Detective Inspector Harry found Laura Watson's SUV in a car park.The administrator there said that this car has been here for several days, but no one came to drive it. They hope that someone can drive the car away immediately, so that he can arrange for other cars to park. Harry said to the administrator: "This car needs to be stored with you for a few days. We are from the Iowa Police Department, please!" What's more, the forensic doctor of the police station finally completed the autopsy on Laura and Maria.Obviously, the two corpses were hit on the head with a blunt object, causing severe trauma, resulting in death.So, we turned back to the fire scene for another search.In the room we found a piece of barbell with blood and hair on it, which was obviously the murder weapon.There are two types of barbells: standard barbells and non-standard barbells.A standard barbell is composed of three parts: a horizontal bar, a barbell plate and a clamp.Weightlifting competitions use international standard barbells, which include men’s barbells and women’s barbells. According to regulations, the total length of the barbells should not exceed 2.20 meters and 2.15 meters respectively, the diameter of the barbells is 0.028 meters, and the diameter of the largest barbell plate is 0.45 meters. The 2.5 kg barbell is red, the 2 kg is blue, the 1.5 kg is yellow, the 1.0 kg is green, and the 0.5 kg is white.The structure of the non-standard barbell is the same as that of the standard barbell. Its size requirements are not strict, its production requirements are not high, and its weight can be freely specified.In addition, in order to meet some special requirements, it is necessary to develop certain local muscles. It can produce various types of special barbells according to needs, such as flexion barbells, bow barbells and ring-shaped bells. We can now be sure that the fire must have been deliberately set on fire.Clues to the identity of the killer may lie hidden in the ashes, just waiting to be discovered. What baffles us is how did these two women end up in the apartment of a strange man?If it is a woman, it can also be explained, we can see it as a pure love murder or vendetta.However, there were the bodies of two women at the scene, and they did not come from the same place when they were alive.That is to say, they were brought here by a person without knowing each other, and then there were cases of death and arson. "Is it okay for me to understand this?" At the case discussion meeting, I put forward my point of view. "It is theoretically possible. Under certain conditions, a person can bring two unknown women here by some means. The problem now is to find out when the criminal brought them brought them, and why they were brought to this apartment instead of other places, it should be said that in the city of Iowa, they can be taken to many places." My colleague Arthur said answer me. At this moment, forensic doctor Andre pushed open the door of the conference room and reported to us the amazing clues he had just discovered. "Gentlemen, although I know this is not a good thing, I still have to inform you that I carefully compared the body tissues of the two deceased, and found a fact that I couldn't believe: the two deceased were not on the same day. dead." The words of the forensic doctor made us realize that the whole process of the case will become more and more complicated. "Apparently Laura Watson died late Wednesday night or early Thursday and her body has been sitting in the apartment. And Maria Rainer died late Thursday night or early Friday, and Laura Watson died In the same apartment, there's nothing wrong with it." Andrei sat down on a chair in the conference room, and it seemed that he was also exhausted during this time. "Then, let's first analyze the criminal's psychology. Under what circumstances does a criminal who puts people to death have the intention to kill? If the victim and the criminal compromise, will he still kill them?" I think this is unlikely. It is precisely because the two victims resolutely refused to compromise with the criminal and had a very strong desire not to cooperate with the criminal, so he was motivated to kill. Of course, among these people, there are also some spirited Obstacles, because when a person is impulsive, he will do some inexplicable things." Inspector Harry put forward his own analysis. "According to Laura's friends, they saw Laura in a local bar on Wednesday night. At that time, she was talking to a man. But they didn't know the person who spoke to Laura, and they thought Laura and the man were the same. Good friends, so they didn't take it seriously. It should be said that they were careless or used to this way of communication. Because we have all talked to strangers before, I remembered the characteristics of the strange man - tall, Messy hair." I also listed the clues that I have investigated during this period of time. "What other characteristics does that man have?" Colleagues became interested and asked one after another. "Laura's friends saw Laura about midnight that day, and Laura left the bar with the man. The man was in his twenties, with brown hair and tousled hair, wearing glasses and was tall. "I've taken what Laura's friends say because it's happened to us too.At some point, someone has a nice chat with you and asks if you'd like to go to another party or another bar.At this time, when we are having fun, we will say, well, then let's go!But after the event, we also have a sense of sudden awakening, as if we had a dream that cannot be explained in words.Usually we think that doing so will not bring any danger to ourselves, but it seems different now. When talking to strangers in the future, we should maintain a kind of vigilance in front of them. "You continue to follow up. Maybe this kind of thing happened to Maria. This may be a key to the case." Inspector Harry thought about it and said to me like this. In fact, Harry was right.Over the next few days, I talked carefully with Maria's friends and found that something like this happened to Maria the next night.Because the owner of another bar saw Maria leaving his bar with a man of similar appearance. If these two women did not drink, they should have a strong sense of judgment, and they should be said to be quite educated people.Maybe that night, that person said, "Hey, I know there's a party, would you like to come with me?" That's something they would never have agreed to before, but this time, they made a mistake. Because the two victims were not killed on the same night, the killer apparently had free access to the apartment, coming and going as he pleased. But the college students who rented the apartment said they had no idea who the killer was.