Introduction to Forensic Anthropology by Byers Steven N.;

Author:Byers, Steven N.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Routledge

BOX 11.2

Cause of Death in Mr. Miracle

Stan Rhine (1998) describes the case of a person that he refers to as Mr. Miracle. Not only did the skeleton of this individual manifest multiple healed fractures to the nose and humerus, as well as side of the face, but there were also numerous perimortem traumas. Rhine’s description of the injuries to the head, spinal column, rib cage, arm, and pelvis is too long to quote in full. However, his account of what these injuries tell concerning the circumstances surrounding the death of Mr. Miracle is an excellent example of the information concerning cause of death that can be determined from bones.

This is what an analysis of the skeleton told us, and on the basis of this information, it was possible to say that about the time he died Miracle had been hit in the left side of the head, shot in the arm, kicked in the chest, and kicked or hit on the back. He was stabbed at least eight times: once in the right chest, twice in the neck, three times in the front of his chest, in his arm, and in his groin. The stab to the neck and at least one to the chest entered on his left side, suggesting that the knife blade was probably more like six to eight inches long …

What can one conclude about the cause and manner of death when essentially all of the information comes from the skeleton? First, given the nature of the defects that can be seen on the skeleton, it is clear that nothing succeeds like excess. The large number and types of defects on Miracle’s skeleton, for example, made it easy to determine that his death was not a natural one. Nor was it suicide or accidental. All that is left is homicide.*

_______________

*From S. Rhine, Bone Voyage, University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 1998, pp. 212–214, with permission.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.