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

While carefully examining the details of the wound with a magnifying glass, Xiaolin listened attentively to Zhang Kai's analysis. He then quickly recorded in the autopsy logbook: "On the left side of the deceased's chest, between the 4th and 5th ribs on the left side of the sternum, there is a narrow, elongated wound, approximately 4 cm long, 1 cm wide, and 3 cm deep. The wound edges are neat and smooth, without any serrated marks. Inside, there is a small amount of dark red blood clots, some of which are dried. Around the wound is a bluish-purple contusion band approximately 0.5 cm wide. Around the wound are fine scratches, 0.5-1 cm long and very shallow, arranged parallel to each other and perpendicular to the main wound. Preliminary inference is that the wound was caused by a single-edged knife stabbing vertically. The murder weapon is a single-edged knife with a blade 4-5 cm long and 1 cm wide. The handle is likely made of wood or plastic, without obvious anti-slip texture. The scratches were caused by accidental cuts from the weapon's blade. The murderer acted swiftly and decisively, suggesting premeditated murder."

Hearing Xiao Lin's question, Zhang Kai slowly shook his head and said, "We can't rush to a conclusion, Xiao Lin. As forensic doctors, the most important thing is to be rigorous. We can't determine the fatal wound and cause of death just based on the location and depth of the wound. We also need to conduct an internal autopsy to examine the deceased's heart to see if it was pierced, and whether the extent of the heart damage was sufficient to cause immediate death. At the same time, we also need to examine the deceased's other internal organs for damage and other fatal factors, such as residual poison, suffocation, or fatal wounds in other parts of the body. Only through a comprehensive internal autopsy, ruling out other fatal factors, and confirming that heart damage is the only cause of death, can we finally determine that the deceased's cause of death was a stab wound to the chest that pierced the heart, leading to excessive blood loss and death."

“I understand, Teacher Zhang,” Xiao Lin nodded quickly, a look of guilt on his face, and said, “I was too eager to succeed and neglected the rigor of forensic autopsy. In the future, I will definitely be more patient and meticulous, and cooperate with you carefully in carrying out the autopsy work. I will not rush to draw conclusions, and I will repeatedly confirm every detail to ensure the accuracy of the records and the authority of the autopsy results.”

After speaking, Zhang Kai adjusted the angle of the operating light, shining it on the deceased's neck. Then, he picked up the dissection forceps and carefully combed through the hair and skin on the deceased's neck, meticulously examining the ligature marks. There was a slight ligature mark around the deceased's neck, ring-shaped, about 1 cm wide, bluish-purple in color, with indistinct edges. There was no obvious skin damage or subcutaneous bleeding. The depth of the ligature mark was uneven, shallower near the front of the neck and deeper near the back, exhibiting a "shallower at the front, deeper at the back" characteristic.

"Furthermore, the uneven depth of the ligature marks, being shallower at the front and deeper at the back, indicates that the perpetrator applied uneven force when strangling the victim's neck, with greater force applied to the back of the neck and less force to the front. This strongly suggests that the perpetrator used a soft object to strangle the victim from behind, pulling backward with both hands, resulting in a deeper ligature mark at the back of the neck and a shallower one at the front," Zhang Kai continued. "The width of the ligature marks is about 1 centimeter, indicating that the soft object used to strangle the victim's neck was about 1 centimeter wide, most likely a towel or strip of cloth. Such items are soft and would not cause obvious skin damage after strangulation, leaving only a blurry circular ligature mark, which perfectly matches the characteristics of the ligature marks we observed."

While carefully examining the details of the ligature mark on the neck with a magnifying glass, Xiaolin listened attentively to Zhang Kai's analysis. He then quickly recorded in the autopsy logbook: "The deceased's neck has a ring-shaped ligature mark, encircling the entire neck, about 1 cm wide, bluish-purple in color, with blurred edges, no obvious epidermal damage, no obvious subcutaneous bleeding points, and uneven depth, shallower at the front and deeper at the back; preliminary inference is that the ligature mark was caused by a soft object such as a towel or strip of cloth, about 1 cm wide; the ligature pressure was relatively high, causing subcutaneous hematoma in the neck, and the ligature time was relatively short, indicating it was used to control the deceased and prevent them from struggling; combined with the fatal wound on the chest, the preliminary inference is that the perpetrator first used a soft object to strangle the deceased, then stabbed the chest with a single-edged knife to cause death, and finally disposed of and buried the body."

“This is just a preliminary deduction,” Zhang Kai waved his hand and said, “We still need to conduct an internal autopsy to further confirm this deduction. For example, we need to examine the victim’s neck muscles, trachea, esophagus, etc., to see if there is any damage, the extent of the damage, and whether it matches the characteristics of the ligature marks; we need to examine the victim’s heart to see if it was punctured, whether the extent of the heart damage was sufficient to cause immediate death, and whether there was any damage to other internal organs. Only by confirming these details through an internal autopsy can we finally determine the murderer’s modus operandi and the specific cause of death. Okay, the ligature marks on the neck have been examined. Next, we will examine other parts of the victim’s body to see if there are any other wounds, bruises, scratches, etc., whether there are any hidden wounds, and whether there are any clues left by the murderer, such as hair, fibers, skin flakes, and other physical evidence.”

First, examine the deceased's head. The deceased's head was covered in dust and dirt. The hair was black, about 5 centimeters long, and short, covered in dust and dirt.

There were also some small weeds and fibers that, based on initial observation, were quite similar in color and texture to the fibers extracted from the site. Further extraction and comparison are needed.

The deceased's skull showed no obvious indentation or fracture marks. Gently pressing on it did not produce any obvious bone friction sound. Preliminary assessment indicates that the deceased's skull had no external injuries.

The deceased's face was swollen and distorted, making it impossible to discern the specific features. The facial skin was bluish-purple, and there was a noticeable bruise on the left cheek. The bruise was irregularly shaped, about 3 cm x 2 cm in size, and bluish-purple in color, with slight swelling around it. It was suspected to have been caused by being punched or struck with a blunt object, which was consistent with the preliminary findings of the on-site investigators.

The deceased's eyes showed swollen eyelids, conjunctival congestion, corneal opacity, and dilated pupils approximately 5 mm in diameter. Both pupils were the same size and showed no light reflex, consistent with post-mortem pupil characteristics. The deceased's nasal cavity contained a small amount of soil residue, with no obvious foreign object obstruction or bleeding. The deceased's oral cavity showed neatly arranged teeth without missing or broken teeth. The teeth exhibited slight wear, indicating moderate wear. Preliminary estimation suggests the deceased was approximately 35-40 years old. The degree of tooth wear is closely related to age, and moderate wear strongly suggests a 35-40 year old age, largely consistent with the initial estimate of 30-40 years by the on-site investigators. (End of Chapter)