USE OF AUTOPSY FINDINGS IN EVALUATION OF EVIDENCE COLLECTED DURING CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION TO DETECT A STAGING IN A CASE OF WORK-RELATED FATALITY
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Acta Medica Mediterranea, 2020, 36: 1929
USE OF AUTOPSY FINDINGS IN EVALUATION OF EVIDENCE COLLECTED DURING CRIME
SCENE INVESTIGATION TO DETECT A STAGING IN A CASE OF WORK-RELATED FATALITY
Alessandro Feola1, Giulio Di Mizio2, Marisanta Colucci1, Carmela Giordano1, Bruno Della Pietra1
Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Naples, Italy - 2Department of Legal, Historical,
1
Economic and Social Sciences, University of Magna Graecia, Catanzaro, Italy
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Autopsy is fundamentally important in verifying evidence collected during crime scene investigation, particularly
in confirming the compatibility between objective lesions and their purported cause. Sometimes it is possible to identify a staged crime
scene created to misattribute responsibility for a death.
Case Report: The authors present the case of a work-related accident involving a construction worker during construction of
a high-speed railway. According to the testimony of other workers, the victim had leaned over the edge of a wall in a tunnel under
construction and had fallen from a height of 4.20 m before hitting the central rail of the nearest track. The forensic pathologist did not
participate in the crime scene investigation. However, autopsy revealed elements that were not consistent with the purported cause of
death. The images taken at the site inspection were re-evaluated and it was concluded that the injuries and other elements were not
consistent with a fall from height, but that the worker had been killed by a heavy object dropped from above.
Conclusion: The present case is an example of the importance of the forensic pathologist’s investigation, which could have been
useful from the outset to immediately differentiate between a primary scene and staging. This case highlights the indispensability of a
correct and exhaustive investigation to assess whether a crime occurred, what type of crime was involved and the event dynamics and
the need to improve creme scene investigation tools.
Keywords: crime scene investigation, staged crime scene, autopsy.
DOI: 10.19193/0393-6384_2020_3_301
Received November 30, 2019; Accepted January 20, 2020
Introduction involves the intentional manipulation of the crime
scene to mislead investigators(3). The Crime Classi-
Crime scene investigation is one of the most fication Manual(4) defines staging as the alteration of
important elements of the medico-legal analysis the crime scene before the arrival of police and states
of a case. The evidence collected during this step that this alteration can occur for two possible rea-
combined with autopsy findings allows the forensic sons: to divert the police investigation from the main
pathologist to reconstruct the dynamics of a lethal suspect or to protect the victim or his family.
event. Evidence collection is especially important Hazelwood and Napier distinguish ‘verbal
when there has been intentional alteration of the staging’ (perpetrated simply by lying verbally or in
crime scene. These situations have been documented writing about circumstances) from ‘physical staging’
in the literature, but are extremely difficult to quan- (perpetrated by adding, removing or changing the
tify, given the nature of the phenomenon(1). Some position of crime-scene evidence)(5). Staging may
authors hypothesize an increase in staged cases now also be classified into three types according to its
that there is more information regarding investi- aim: primary staging, whose purpose is to mislead
gative procedures available to the public in books, investigations and remove suspicion from oneself;
television shows and movies(2). Specifically, staging secondary staging, whose aim is to astonish socie-
1930 Alessandro Feola, Giulio Di Mizio et Al
ty, degrade the body of the victim or send a mes- The corpse, which was located on the track,
sage; and tertiary staging, which is generally carried was in a prone position with prevailing support on
out not by the offender but by a family member of the right side; the lower limbs were slightly bent and
the victim(6). Primary staging can be further distin- overlapping and the left cheek rested on the track
guished as ‘ad hoc’, in which the offender alters the ballast (Figure 1).
scene after the crime, or ‘premeditated’, in which The main injury was located in the skull, where
the offender acts before the crime to mislead the a large lacerated-contused wound about 20 cm in
investigation(5). Ad hoc staging is characterized by length and with notably irregular and bruised mar-
the attempt to cover up a crime-like act, omission or gins was found along the course of the sagittal line
negligence by altering the scene in such a way as to from the frontal to the occipital region, passing
provide an alternative explanation for events(4) through the right parietal region. The environmental
The authors herein present a case of primary temperature was 16°C; the emergency service phy-
physical ad hoc staging in a case of work-related sician recorded a cadaveric temperature of 34.5°C,
accident attributed to a fall during the construction rigor mortis in the cranial region and absence of hy-
of a high-speed railway. Re-evaluation of the entire postasis.
forensic investigation allowed us to resolve the case
and to understand the true event dynamics. Autopsy findings
A complete autopsy with histological and tox-
Case report icological exams was performed 96 hours after the
crime scene investigation. The clothing worn by
Case history the victim seemed to be brand new and without the
The events took place in a railway yard in south- blood stains or brain material usually found in such
ern Italy. Coworkers reported that they had a conver- cases. Only a few drops of blood were present on
sation with the victim for several minutes while he the victim’s jacket and trousers, a finding not con-
was looking over a 4.2-m wall that formed one side sistent with major cranioencephalic injury. There
of a tunnel under construction beneath a building. was an approximately 20-cm lacerated-contused
After greeting each other, the two colleagues left. head wound located near the course of the sagittal
When they were a few steps away, they heard a loud line from the frontal to the occipital region, passing
scream and a thud. Turning back, they realized that through the right parietal area (Figure 2A).
the colleague with whom they had conversed had
fallen from the wall. The crime scene investigation
was performed by the Scientific Police without the
presence of a forensic pathologist, who was called
just for the autopsy.
Figure 2: a) the head wound located near the course of the sagit-
tal line from the frontal to the occipital region; b) in the right later-
Figure 1: The corpse was located on the track in a prone al deltoid region, an approximately 7×3-cm oval area of ecchymo-
sis characterized by almost-parallel excoriated stripes along the
position.
main axis.
The crime scene investigation began 3 hours The margins of the wound appeared marked-
after the events and included all the structures sur- ly irregular, frayed and bruised, particularly along a
rounding the railway and the tunnel. 10-cm section of the middle segment. Spreading ofUse of autopsy findings in evaluation of evidence collected during crime scene investigation to detect a staging 1931
the wound margins revealed a comminuted fracture for the non-compliant employer. Sometimes to avoid
extending bilaterally in the fronto-parietal-temporal the legal consequences of non-compliance with
region, forming a huge hole in the calvaria. This hole workplace safety regulations, attempts are made
was irregular in shape, with a maximum width of to hide or modify the crime scene. In this sense, a
about 3 cm in the frontal region, whereas the maxi- correct medico-legal investigation is fundamental
mum width in the parietal region was 7.3 cm because in order to establish the compatibility of the inju-
of the extensive loss of bone fragments. Some of the ries found on the corpse with the narrative versions.
bone fragments had completely penetrated the dura In our case, autopsy examination revealed that the
mater. The brain was visible through the lacerated worker’s death resulted from cranioencephalic and
meninges and showed complete traumatic decay thoracovertebral trauma followed by almost imme-
with widespread areas of haemorrhagic necrosis. diate arrest of vital functions. The elements detected
After removal of the brain, the fracture lines at the on the victim’s clothes and the location and configu-
level of the calvaria were found to extend to the skull ration of the injuries did not appear to be consistent
base. There were also fractures of the nasal bones with an accidental or suicidal fall from height(9). In
and of the right zygomatic bone. In the right lateral addition, there were no injuries on the upper limbs or
deltoid region, an approximately 7×3-cm oval area hands to suggest that the victim had tried to mitigate
of ecchymosis characterized by almost-parallel ex- the impact. The toxicological results were complete-
coriated stripes along the main axis of the lesion was ly negative for narcotic, psychotropic and alcohol-
found (Figure 2B). There were multiple rib fractures ic substances, excluding the possibility that altered
of the left hemithorax and compression fractures of consciousness had contributed to an accidental fall.
the vertebral bodies of T2, T3 and T4. During the All this contradictory evidence triggered
autopsy examination, fragments of brain, lungs, re-evaluation of the crime scene investigation and
heart, liver, spleen and kidneys were collected and the photos taken at the time by the Scientific Po-
placed in buffered formalin. Histological samples lice. According to the data collected at the time of
were subsequently prepared with haematoxylin and the crime scene investigation, the distance from the
eosin staining. There was marked congestion and in- soles of the victim’s shoes to the wall of the tunnel
traparenchymal haemorrhage at the encephalic level. was 3.79 m; the distance between the same wall and
Central and peripheral blood, urine, bile and vitreous the inner rail-the supposed point of head impact-was
were collected for toxicological tests, which were 5.24 m. No bloodstains were present on the inner rail
negative. or the track ballast. According to these data, the im-
pact occurred with the head perfectly perpendicular
Discussion to the rail and corresponding to the fronto-occipital
lesion
Fatal accident at work refers to an accident at However, the distance from the wall, the ab-
work which leads to the death of a victim within one sence of bloodstains on the inner rail and on the track
year of the accident. In 2017, according to the Eu- ballast, the orientation of the point of impact and
rostat data there were 3552 fatal accidents in the EU- the absence of any further lesions excluded an ac-
28, a ratio of approximately 942 non-fatal accidents cidental fall from height. The only valid hypothesis
for every fatal accident(7). The construction industry consistent with the technical evidence was that the
has been identified as one of the most hazardous in- cranioencephalic lesion was caused by the impact of
dustries in many parts of the world and falls from a heavy, narrow object (believed to be a steel I-beam)
height are a leading cause of fatalities in construc- that fell from above and gained considerable kinetic
tion operations(8). In case of work-related death, the energy before striking the right frontal-parietal re-
Italian National Institute for Insurance against Ac- gion (not protected by helmet) near the median line.
cidents at Work (INAIL) grants benefits (econom- As it fell to the ground in a horizontal orientation,
ic and not) in favor of surviving family members. the heavy object subsequently struck the right del-
However, in the event of non-compliance with the toid region and the left anterior hemithoracic region,
rules on safety at work, the consequences for the em- causing multiple rib fractures in that area.
ployer are very severe. Finally, the investigation confirmed that the
Recently, the Italian Parliament is discussing worker had not fallen from height, but had been hit
about the introduction of the crime of work-related in the head by a heavy object that had fallen from
homicide with penalties of up to 18 years in prison above while the worker was without a helmet.1932 Alessandro Feola, Giulio Di Mizio et Al
The work-related accident, therefore, must References
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–––––––––
found. Corresponding Author:
Alessandro Feola
Email: alessandro.feola@icloud.com
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