Forensic entomology: Lethal child neglect, and credit card fraud
From ForensicWiki
Source: Zoology 104 (Suppl. IV):53
Source:'' Zoology 104 (Suppl. IV):53, also: 94th Annual Meeting of the German Zoological Society (DZG), Osnabrück, June 4-8, 2001. Click here for a German article about this presentation.
International Forensic Research & Consulting, Postfach 250411, 50520 Köln, Germany, forensic@benecke.com
We describe two cases where insects helped to answer the following criminalistic questions:
- How long was a child neglected before it died?
- Had a person already been dead when her credit card was used?
(a) On the skin surface under the diaper (anal-genital area) of a starved child, third instar larvae of the false stable fly Muscina stabulans FALLÉN, and the lesser house fly Fannia canicularis L. were found. F. canicularis adults are attracted to both feces and urine. From the face, larvae of the bluebottle fly Calliphora vomitoria L. were collected. C. vomitoria maggots are typical early inhabitants of corpses. From the developmental times of the flies, it was estimated that the anal-genital area of the child had not been cleaned for about 14 days (7 to 21 day range), and that death occurred only six to eight days prior to discovery of the body. This is the first report where an examination of the maggot fauna on a person illustrated neglect that had occurred prior to death. Later, a special request was made by the parents concerning a fixed date of death to engrave in the tombstone.
(b) In the flat of a person that was found dead on a couch, numerous larvae, and adults of the so-called "Totenfliege" (Fly of the Dead) Cynomyia mortuorum (L.) were found. Determination of the post mortem interval led to the conclusion that the person had already been dead when her bank card was used.
Reference
Benecke M (ed.) Forensic Entomology Special Issue. Forensic Sci Internat, see here: (click)
Acknowledgements
Case (a) was a close cooperation with the Intitute of Legal Medicine, the Homicide Bureau, and the District Attorney's Office in Leipzig, Germany. Case (b) was a close cooperation with the State Police (LKA) of Saxonia, Germany.
