E.H Autopsy Report : a visual representation from a mortician
I'm back with another analysis of an autopsy, today's Reb turn. His report was WAY harder to understand due to the massive head and face injuries, so I'll simplify everything as much as I can on the drawings and deliver a more extensive explanation.
Original autopsy report - external analysis
Visual colored representation
Rigor mortis: Defined as the chemical process where the muscles freeze in position after death. EH only had it present on the lower extremities, meaning from his hips to his feet.
Livor: Process where the blood cells and plasma pile up over the areas with more pressure applied to them after death. EH just like DK had it present on his dorsal, meaning (allegedly) his shoulder blades, spine, lower back, elbows, and heels.
Pectus excavatum / Scar: Considered a congenital malformation that presents at birth where the sternum and ribs grow in an inward position, giving the middle of the chest a sunken appearance. He also had a scar on it, probably meaning he had a procedure done to deal with the issue. Probably a Ravitch procedure.
Abdominal green discoloration: The earliest sign of the decomposition process caused by the accumulation of fecal matter. Postmortem phenomena that usually occurs between 24-and 36 hours postmortem; again, his was showing earlier.
Moles / Pigmented Nevus: Positioned on the right side of the groin and also on the lower right side of his back. A common, non-cancerous skin spot, moles.
Abrasions: Of a reddish-brown color, associated with purple contusions, which means that they were probably caused by both friction and blunt force trauma. From the color, they could be 2-3 days old.
Punctate lacerations and cuts: On the upper left arm in a cluster, meaning there are several of them. Most definitely caused by a sharp object. The autopsy calls these by lacerations and cuts and not scars, meaning they were probably done that same day. It's up for debate, but the most definite cause could be lacerations caused by flying glass from when Deputy Gardner fired at Harris, causing windows to break and the glass to inflict the injuries. Gardner did think he struck the perps at some point because he saw them pulling away from the window. Another probable cause could be self inflicted wounds. Again, we don't know, but it would be curious to know everyone's perspective.
Drying artifact: On his upper right back, placed horizontally, probably caused by built-up pressure against that point, creating a localized depression of the skin. My theory is that it could've been caused by his body resting against the shelf.
Okay, bear with me; this was so hard to even interpret that I went a bit crazy doing so.
Let's start with the eyes. It's known EH had hazel eyes, and post mortem the cornea gets disturbed, giving the natural pigment of the eyes a grey appearance, which people refer to as ''the loss of the soul in the eyes''. This is a common post-mortem phenomena that happens due to drying of the eye, rigor mortis, lack of hydration, light exposure, etc. He had a curious thing happen: while his left eye remained hazel, the right one was already grey and disturbed.
Well, from my perspective, I believe the right side of his brain and face were more affected than the left one, possibly due to the angling of the firearm. The bullet trajectory could've caused the rigor of the face to start faster on the right side. It could also be caused by unequal eyelid closure; maybe the right one remained open, making it dry faster because of airflow and exposure. So this localised discolouration was not a coincidence.
When it comes to his mouth, it was deeply injured. His tongue had already started discolouring from drying, and remnants of gunpowder were located on it and on his hard palate, near the wound. The corners of his mouth had deep lacerations, and his alveolar ridges (on the gums) had been fractured. His lower lip had lacerations. His buccal mucosa (the inside of the cheeks) had been deeply lacerted as well. He had blown off his lower lateral incisor on the right side of his jaw, and he also had external injuries near the right side of his mouth. The wound was present on the hard and soft palates; it penetrated through his nose and the base of the skull.
Face and head. It was clear that it was the area with worst injuries. The contour of his head got deformed and possibly lifted from the impact. His sides were covered in lacerations and cuts caused by the broken bones of his face. From his forehead to the nose bridge and down the right side of his nose, he had a very deep laceration caused by the bullet. He even had fragments of the fracture (as in bones) peeking through. This wound affected the medial aspects of his orbits as well (near the lacrimal glands). Injuries on his right side were deeper.
A wound started on his lower right forehead and extended all the way back to his scalp right over the height of the ears, probably the deepest wound.
Both his ears had blood stains and had been bleeding. His left eye had a deep red-purple discolouration around his orbit, possibly from breaking his nose mid rampage, which would also explain his nose injuries being deeper as well. Both his eyes were 'staring' straight ahead.
This one has been def harder than D.K to analyse, I'm sorry if something is hard to understand, any questions can be referred to my ask or in the comments.
Any other perp I could analyse?
