Attending ex-girlfriend's wedding, arresting the groom's officer on the spot

“Let’s start with a physical examination and record the basic characteristics of the body.” Zhang Kai’s voice came through the mask, carrying a slight muffled thud. Xiao Lin picked up a measuring tape and squatted down beside the body: “Male body, preliminary age estimate 45-50 years old, height 175cm, weight approximately 65kg, hair length 10cm, black with a few white hairs, dry hair texture. Wearing a dark gray polyester jacket, the left cuff is torn 8cm long, there are 3 ripped creases at the collar, about 1.5cm apart; dark blue cotton work pants, the cuffs are covered with a lot of brown mud, the mud mixed with sand and humus; black leather shoes, the sole pattern is clear, the heel wear depth is 0.3cm, consistent with long-term walking characteristics.” She paused, pointing to the body’s wrists, “Both wrists have circular pressure marks, the left mark is 0.8cm wide and the right mark is 0.7cm wide, the edges of the marks have epidermal peeling, and there is local bleeding, consistent with restraint characteristics before death.”

Zhang Kai took the magnifying glass and carefully examined the wrist indentation: "The indentation is regular in shape, with no jagged edges, and there is fresh bleeding at the site of epidermal erosion, indicating that it was formed before death and that the deceased still had vital signs when bound." He gently pricked the skin at the indentation with a dissecting needle, "and extracted a small amount of yellow fibers, which are preliminarily consistent with the composition of the yellow plastic rope found in the previous on-site investigation. It is speculated that the binding material was that broken yellow plastic rope." He added, "The indentation is deep enough to reach the dermis, and there is local tissue edema, indicating that the binding force was relatively strong. The deceased had struggled, which may have caused circulatory problems, but it was not the cause of death."

Determining the time of death requires cross-verification from multiple dimensions. Zhang Kai first examined the rigor mortis of the body: "The jaw joint is completely stiff, unable to open the mouth; the neck muscles are stiff, and the head cannot be turned; the upper limb elbow and wrist joints are stiff to level III, with the fingers in a semi-flexed position; the lower limb knee and ankle joints are stiff, and the toes are rigid." He compared the results with the rigor mortis development scale, "Based on the location and intensity of the rigor mortis, the preliminary judgment is that the time of death was between 12 and 15 hours ago, which is around 7 pm to 10 pm on August 15th."

Xiao Lin raised a question: "Professor Zhang, the temperature at the transfer station is low at night. Will this affect the rate of rigor mortis? Also, the body was dumped next to garbage in a complex environment. Will this accelerate or slow down decomposition?" Zhang Kai nodded, turned the body over, and examined the skin on the back: "No obvious livor mortis was found on the back, only light purplish-red patchy indentations on the shoulder blades, which faded when pressed," he explained. "Livor mortis usually begins to appear 2-4 hours after death, enters the diffusion phase at 6-12 hours, and becomes fixed after 24 hours. Currently, the livor mortis has not yet become fixed. Combined with the degree of rigor mortis, this indicates that the time of death was indeed 12-15 hours ago. The low temperature environment only slightly delayed the development of rigor mortis and has little impact on the overall judgment."

The subsequent corneal opacity examination further narrowed down the time of death. Zhang Kai shone a flashlight into the corpse's eyes: "Moderate corneal opacity, blurred pupils, and complete loss of light reflex," he recorded the data. "Corneal opacity is divided into three grades, with moderate opacity corresponding to a time of death of 8-16 hours, which is basically consistent with the results of rigor mortis and livor mortis." He added, "There are scattered punctate hemorrhages in the conjunctiva, which may be caused by hypoxia or external pressure before death. It is necessary to combine this with an internal autopsy to confirm whether it is related to the cause of death."

Analysis of the stomach contents provided a more precise basis for the time of death. Zhang Kai used a scalpel to make an incision along the midline of the abdomen and carefully separated the stomach wall tissue: "The stomach was empty, with only a small amount of semi-digested rice, meat scraps, and vegetable fiber remaining, about 15ml," he said, placing the stomach contents sample into a test tube. "The edges of the rice grains dissolved, the muscle fibers of the meat scraps were broken, and the vegetable fiber softened. Based on the degree of food digestion, it is estimated that the last meal was 4-6 hours before death, which is between 3 pm and 5 pm on August 15th." Xiao Lin immediately retrieved the previous interview records: "Merchants around the transfer station said that there is a casual restaurant nearby, and around 5 pm is the peak dinner time. The deceased may have eaten there, but no witnesses have been found yet."

Determining the cause of death is the core of the autopsy. Zhang Kai first examined the neck of the corpse: "No obvious strangulation marks or ligature marks were found on the skin of the neck, but there was a 4×5cm subcutaneous hemorrhage on the right side of the neck. The center of the bleeding area was dark purplish-red, and the edge gradually faded to light red." He used hemostatic forceps to separate the subcutaneous tissue. "The bleeding depth reached the sternocleidomastoid muscle layer, and the muscle fibers were broken in an irregular shape, which is consistent with the characteristics of a contusion caused by a blunt object. The contact surface of a blunt object should be flat with a certain curvature at the edge, such as a steel pipe or a wooden stick. The force of the blow was relatively large, resulting in local tissue bleeding and swelling."

Xiao Lin suddenly pointed to the corpse's mouth: "There is a 2×2.5cm ulcer on the right side of the oral mucosa, with bleeding on the surface. The teeth are not loose or missing, but there is a tear in the gum of the right molar." Zhang Kai examined the throat with a laryngoscope: "The pharyngeal mucosa is congested and edematous, and there is a small amount of light red foamy fluid in the trachea. There is no foreign object obstruction, ruling out the possibility of death by mechanical asphyxiation." He added, "The damage to the oral mucosa and the tear in the gum may have been caused by the suspect covering the mouth with his hand or a tool to prevent the deceased from calling for help. It also indicates that the deceased resisted during the attack."

The thoracic autopsy revealed crucial fatal injuries. Zhang Kai used a skull saw to open the chest cavity, exposing the heart and lungs: "The heart was of normal size, with diffuse petechial hemorrhages under the epicardium; there was a 6×7cm contusion area in the upper lobe of the left lung, with hemorrhage and swelling of the lung tissue, blurred edges, and some alveoli ruptured," he said, picking up lung tissue with forceps. "The severe pulmonary contusion led to pulmonary dysfunction and respiratory failure—this was the main cause of death." He further explained, "Pulmonary contusions are usually caused by blunt force trauma to the chest or violent convulsions. Combined with subcutaneous hemorrhage in the neck, it is speculated that the suspect first struck the victim's neck to incapacitate him, then struck his chest, causing pulmonary contusion, ultimately leading to death from respiratory failure."

"What about the restraint marks on the wrists and the tear in the jacket? Were they caused by the struggle before death, or by handling the body after death?" Xiaolin asked, puzzled. Zhang Kai pointed to the bleeding at the restraint marks: "The edges of the restraint marks show peeling and bleeding, indicating they were formed before death. The deceased still had vital signs and clearly struggled when restrained. The tears in the jacket are neat, with no obvious stretching marks. The tear on the left cuff has cutting marks, possibly caused by the suspect slashing the victim with a knife during the struggle, or by being snagged by a metal part at the transfer station." He examined the tear with a magnifying glass: "There are metal fragments remaining at the tear, which preliminary testing indicates are iron alloy components, consistent with the material of the garbage compression bins at the transfer station. It is speculated that the jacket was snagged by the edge of the compression bin during the handling of the body." (End of Chapter)