teacher background information
FSE09
Case studies
In the hood of the jacket, there was a small
amount of soil. More larval scenopinids and adult
dermestid beetles were found in the soil when it
was sorted by hand. The forensic entomologist
also found an adult histerid beetle and mites.
History of forensic entomology
Forensic entomology is not a new science. The
first recorded case of forensic entomology was
in China in 1235 AD. After a person was found
dead, all the peasants in the village were
required to bring their farming tools to the
village centre. The killer’s weapon was
identified because there were flies feeding on
the tiny amounts of blood attached to the
tool.
The forensic entomologist estimated a PMI of 5276 days by comparing the results with other data
already collected. This estimate was lowered to
slightly over 52 days, based on the condition of
the larval skins of the dermestid beetles, which
were in good condition. The mites recovered
were also consistent with this time frame, and
because other mite species weren’t present, the
forensic entomologist reckoned the time since
death to be closer to 52 days.
Case Study 1
The skeletal remains of the buried young girl
from Hawaii (adapted from ‘A fly for the
prosecution: how insect evidence helps solve
crime’ by M. Lee Goff)
In the decomposition studies used for
comparison, the last observed larval activity for
dermestid beetles was on day 51. Usually, the
larval skins decompose rapidly when exposed to
the weather. The fact that these skins were in
excellent condition and could easily be identified
indicated that they had been shed recently.
The remains of a female child (30 months of age)
were recovered from a shallow grave on a narrow
ledge in Oahu, Hawaii. The remains were buried
in dirt and gravel, and some bones were partially
exposed. Other bones were scattered on the
surface. The skull was facing upward, and the
lower jaw was located about a meter from the
skull.
In the meantime, police investigators were
dealing with conflicting accounts of the crime.
On 3 May, the girl’s father stated that his
daughter had been kidnapped on the night of 2
May. He said that two men forced him and his
daughter into a car, dropped him off in Honolulu
and beat him. He said the kidnappers ran off
with his daughter. The father was treated at the
hospital for injuries. According to the father’s
story, these events occurred 51 days before the
discovery of the body.
The pathologists at the morgue examined the
body and found the girl’s skull, jaw, most of the
ribs, the pelvis and legs and left arm. The right
arm was missing. Small bones of the left foot
appeared to have been chewed and so did the
bones of the left forearm. This indicated that a
large animal had attacked the body after death.
The girl was wearing a hooded jacket and a pair
of running shoes. The next day, the girl’s right
arm was found at the burial site.
When the story appeared on the news, two men
came forward and told the police that they had
beaten the father but that he had paid them to
do so. When the father heard the men’s story, he
changed his own story. He told police that he
was hiking with his daughter on 2 May but had
slipped and dropped the girl over a cliff. He said
that he tried to revive her but failed and buried
her in a shallow grave. He admitted that he
made the kidnapping story up.
The body was examined but only a small number
of insects were found on the body. Empty
puparial cases (cocoons) of the calliphorid
Chrysomya rufifacies (a type of blow fly) were
attached to the skull under the scalp, which had
largely been eaten away.
Adult dermestid beetles, Dermestes maculatus,
were present on the bones, and third instar
larval skins of that species were observed in
areas under the scalp, inside the skull, and on
the leg bones. The larval skins of the dermestid
beetles were in good condition and did not
appear to have been exposed to the weather.
Larval scenopinids (Diptera - flies) were
collected from the scull near the bases of the
hair. Adult clerids, Necrobia rufipes, were
recovered from the bones of the left foot. A
silverfish
(Thysanura:
Lepismatidae)
was
recovered from the body bag.
Forensic investigations: Case studies (teacher background information)
FSE09 | revised June 2013 | © The University of Western Australia
The police did not believe the father’s accident
story and charged him with murder. By the time
of the trial, the father had changed his story
again. The only aspect of the case that had not
changed was the time of death estimate that the
forensic entomologist provided. The jury
accepted the forensic entomologist’s testimony
but did not believe the father’s story.
Potentially, the father’s story could have fit in
with the estimated time of death but he was not
credible to the jury. The father was charged with
murder and is serving a life sentence.
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Licensed for NEALS
Case Study 2
Case Study 3
http://research.missouri.edu/entomology/cas
estudies.html
Robert Donald Auker was convicted of the
murder and kidnapping of his former wife Lori
Ann Auker. Lori Ann’s body was discovered on
a hot day, 12 June 1989 by a young woman
who was walking down a dirt road near her
grandparent’s house. She smelled a bad odour,
investigated and found a decomposing body
wearing a jacket, jeans and sneakers. She
rushed home and her family contacted the
police. The pathologist, Dr Mihalakis testified
to the court that the cause of death was
homicide, most likely between seven and ten
knife stab wounds in the back and chest area.
Dr Mihalakis used Dr Kim, a forensic
entomologist, to confirm the approximate
time of death.
A few years ago, on 4 June, the body of a girl
was found alongside a rural highway in North
America. An autopsy revealed that she had
died of multiple head and neck wounds
inflicted by a heavy sharp object. Her brother
had reported her missing approximately 4 days
prior to the discovery of the corpse. She had
last been seen alive on the morning of 31 May
in the company of a 30 year old army
sergeant, the primary suspect. While
considerable
circumstantial
evidence
supported the theory that the victim had been
murdered by the sergeant, an accurate
estimation of time of death was crucial to
establishing a possible link between the
suspect and the victim at the time when death
occurred.
Dr Mihalakis collected the insects present on
and within the corpse and gave them to Dr Kim
who examined them. Dr Kim stated in court
that he was able to estimate the time of death
by analysing the insects. He explained that the
ambient air temperature and the physical site
of the body affected the rate of development.
Dr Kim used a climate report from the national
weather service and a description of the
autopsy and scene to help determine the time
of death.
Several estimates were offered by medical
examiners and investigators. These were based
largely on the physical appearance of the body
and the extent to which decomposition had
occurred in various organs. Numerous fly
larvae, adult flies and other insects were
collected from in and around the victim’s
wounds. Some of the larvae were collected
alive and reared to produce adult flies for
species identification. Others were placed
immediately into a liquid preservative to
identify the developmental stage. Reports
describing the condition of the body when
found and detailing autopsy procedures and
results were reviewed. Weather data,
including
maximum
and
minimum
temperatures, incidence of rainfall, cloud
cover, wind speed and direction, and relative
humidity were obtained from a weather
station located a short distance from the
crime scene.
These data indicated the
environmental conditions to which the body
and its associated insects were exposed.
Dr Kim identified samples of insects found on
the victim and examined a photograph showing
a mass of insects on the body and in the body
bag. Dr Kim took the average temperature
during the time the body had been missing,
the maturity of the insects present and the
stage of decomposition into account. He
determined that the body had been decaying
for between 19 and 25 days.
Lori Auker was identified using dental records
and was last seen wearing clothing like that
found on the corpse. Robert Donald Auker was
connected to the crime by film from an ATM
video camera film from 24 May (the day Lori
went missing) and through strands of cat and
human hair. Photographs of the corpse and
insects were presented to the jury to assist in
their understanding of forensic entomology.
Robert Donald Auker received a death
sentence upon his conviction.
Forensic
entomology helped estimate the time of death
(19 days), which aided in the jury convicting
Robert Donald Auker of murder.
Based on this total array of evidence,
entomologists determined that the first insects
to colonize the body had arrived on May 31
when the accused was found with the victim.
On questioning he admitted to have murdered
the girl by striking her six to eight times with a
small hatchet sometime around noon on May
31. Subsequently, he entered a plea of guilty
to the murder charge and was sentenced to
life in prison without parole.
Forensic investigations: Case studies (teacher background information)
FSE09 | revised June 2013 | © The University of Western Australia
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body and the extent to which autolytic
changes had occurred within various organs.
Case Study 4
http://research.missouri.edu/entomology/cas
estudies.html
The maggots observed in and around the body
during the autopsy were identified. Rearing of
maggots to the adult stage was not possible as
none of the specimens had been maintained
alive. Soil samples yielded no additional
specimens. Numerous photographs depicting
the crime scene, the surrounding vegetation
and terrain, and the body itself were
examined.
In November a partially clad woman’s body
was found by passing motorists in a wooded
area approximately 50 feet from a welltraveled highway in suburban Washington, DC.
The deceased was a young, adult black
female, weighing approximately 116 pounds.
Her body was cold, rigor mortis was absent,
and only minor external decompositional
changes were evident. The victim had died of
multiple stab wounds to the chest and neck.
Climatological data, including maximum and
minimum temperature, cloud cover, rainfall,
wind speed and direction, and relative
humidity were obtained from a National
Weather Service (NWS) observatory located
less than a quarter of a mile from where the
victim’s body was found. Additionally, reports
describing the condition of the body when
found and detailing autopsy procedures and
results were reviewed.
During the autopsy, several large maggots
were observed migrating away from the
corpse. This behavior is characteristic of fully
developed, post-feeding blow fly larvae.
Several additional maggots were removed from
the neck wounds and clothing.
The victim was subsequently identified as a 21
year-old mother who resided with her infant
and parents in an urban apartment complex in
southeast Washington, DC. She had been
reported missing by her parents 18 days prior
to the discovery of her body. She was last seen
alive during the early morning hours on
Wednesday, 26 October in the apartment of
the primary suspect, who had a history of sexrelated offenses and violent crimes and had
recently been released from prison.
The largest fly larvae inhabiting the remains
were fully engorged third instar larvae and
post-feeding larvae of Calliphora vicina. One
specimen showed morphological signs of
pupation.
Based on the temperature records for the
relevant period, the number of days necessary
for Calliphora vicina to develop from egg to
prepupa was calculated. Because the average
daily temperature to which the developing
flies were exposed was cool (10oC) and
because too few larvae were present within
the corpse to elevate microenvironmental
temperature, the postmortem interval was
estimated to be 15 days.
Witnesses recalled having seen a man and
woman struggling and having heard a woman
screaming in the vicinity of the apartment
house during the early morning hours 18 days
prior to her discovery. Hair from the victim’s
head and pubes was found on bed sheets in
the suspect’s apartment. A shoe belonging to
the deceased was subsequently found in a
secluded urban woodlot located a short
distance away. Samples of blood and hair
taken from the suspect’s car also were
identified as belonging to the victim. An
analysis of auto carpet fibers, removed from
the victim’s clothing, further demonstrated
that she had been transported in the same
vehicle.
Based on the entomological data and the other
evidence
acquired
during
the
police
investigation, the suspect was arrested and
charged with first degree murder, kidnapping,
and felony rape. He was eventually tried,
found guilty of all charges, and was sentenced
to a lengthy prison term. Later it was learned
that he had murdered the victim during the
early morning 18 days prior to discovery and
had hidden the body, by covering it with tree
branches, a mattress, and other debris, in a
nearby urban woodlot. Three days later, again
during the early morning hours, he had
transported the corpse to the location where
it was found. The materials used to hide the
body may have prevented oviposition by adult
Calliphora vicina during the first few days
following death. The fifteen day postmortem
interval was valid.
While considerable circumstantial evidence
pointed to the suspect, an accurate estimate
of the time of death was critical in
establishing
the
sequence
of
events
surrounding the death. Several conflicting
estimates of postmortem interval, varying
from 2 to 8 days, were offered by medical
examiners and case investigators, based
primarily on the physical appearance of the
Forensic investigations: Case studies (teacher background information)
FSE09 | revised June 2013 | © The University of Western Australia
page 3