It Ain't Necessarily So

On the Criminal Brief blog (March 30, 2008), D. P. Lyle, M. D., dispels some common forensics misapprehensions.

Among the common myth-conceptions he discusses:

The Quick Death

The Pretty Death

The Bleeding Death

The Accurate Time of Death

The One-punch Knockout

The Disappearing Black Eye

The Quick Healing

The Untraceable Poison

The Instant Athlete

The Instant Lab Result

"No one dies instantly. Well, almost no one."

"Real dead people are ugly. I don't care what they looked like during life, in death they are pale, waxy, and gray."

"Your detective arrives at a murder scene a half hour after the deed. Blood oozes from the corpse's mouth and from the [wound] in his chest. Tilt! Dead folks don't bleed."

"The Untraceable Poison: No such thing."

. . . and much more.

D. P. Lyle and Jan Burke have launched CRIME AND SCIENCE RADIO.

Category: Detective fiction