Flies at the crime scene

Author: Hong Man / Cao Lijun / Zhao Feifei
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-01-01
Features: This is a scene that most people would turn away from, covering their noses—the corpses decomposing to various degrees, usually due to accidents or injuries rather than natural death. However, forensic entomologists approach these bodies with a calm and analytical gaze. For Lee Goff and his colleagues, every corpse discovered at a crime scene is an ecosystem, a unique microenvironment successively occupied by various flies, beetles, mites, spiders, and other arthropods: some use the corpse as food for their larvae, some feed directly on the tissues and byproducts of decomposition, while others prey on the scavengers on the corpse. Goff uses cases he has personally participated in to illustrate how knowledge about these insects and their life habits helps forensic entomologists provide crucial evidence for criminal investigations. Even when a corpse has decomposed to just a skeleton, insect evidence can still often provide the only possible estimate of the time of death (i.e., the time interval between death and discovery of the body) as well as various clues about the case: such as whether the body was moved from the initial crime scene, or whether drugs were the cause of death. As an experienced forensic investigator, Goff frequently provides consulting services to law enforcement agencies in the United States and other countries. This unique position qualifies him to tell the story of the development and practice of forensic entomology: a story that may be chilling but utterly fascinating.