How is the manner of death determined? What you should know

Dr. Banerjee, who practices in several states, said “a lot of communication” is needed between those conducting post-mortems and those tasked with finding a possible culprit. A former medical examiner in Rhode Island, she occasionally lent her expertise at crime scenes, but only in direct examination of the physical body.

Otherwise, crime scene investigators delivered what they had.

“A death is reported and a medical history is taken [by authorities]said Banerjee Oxygen.com. “Whatever is known at this point, but again, that’s still very preliminary.”

Part of Dr. Banerjee’s career consisted of training resident or junior doctors who wanted to become pathologists. She often told them, “Sometimes you have to trust your gut,” when her findings about a person’s death did not match those in the preliminary report. However, it was always important to keep the investigators’ notes in mind.

“Because history changes,” she said. “By the time the investigation continues, X, Y, Z, it could be a completely different understanding. Because the police hadn’t done everything either.”

Take, for example, the alleged accidental death of wealthy New York philanthropist Leslie Neulander, of which only one case is reported Accident, suicide or murder. Her death in 2012 was initially thought to be an accident until her friend and retired medical examiner, Dr. Mary Jumbelic investigated her friend’s death and determined that Neulander’s injuries were due to defensive injuries rather than a fall.

Financial turmoil, infidelity, and a history of violence would be factors that would lead to the woman’s manner of death being changed to murder and her husband ultimately being convicted of murder.

“Let’s say I find something strange,” said Dr. Banerjee Oxygen.com. “I treat it [as] suspicious.”

The evidence found on the body is sealed and signed by pathologists, handed over to law enforcement and enters the chain of custody.

Of course, there are simpler examples where the cause of death doesn’t require as much work, such as when a person has suffered a fatal heart attack. Experts like Dr. Banerjee will have to work with what they have, especially in more complex situations. When suspicions arise, they conduct “extensive investigations,” often including DNA, toxicology and other methods of modern technology.

“If it is unclear, we always treat it as suspicious,” she claimed.

Retaining fingernails would also be common, but x-rays were crucial in finding out how someone died.

“X-rays are an invaluable tool for us to see what’s going on inside the body before we even open it,” Banerjee said. “It always shows whether there are bullets or a knife point or something like that. Maybe you can collect broken bones.”

But x-rays aren’t just useful for finding details that suggest a violent death; They could also detect diseases. For example, fluid in the lungs could indicate pneumonia, or an enlarged heart could indicate a variety of physical illnesses.

Professionals tasked with performing autopsies have five options to choose from regarding the manner of death: accidental, suicide, homicide, natural causes and undetermined.

Dr. Banerjee said if she couldn’t fit a person’s death into one of the top four boxes, she would mark it as “undetermined.” She clarified that the manner of death was a medical decision and not a legal decision. In this case, law enforcement could continue to conduct their own investigation.

An example might be a man who died after his car crashed into a tree at 90 miles per hour, and therefore his manner of death is classified as an “accident.” However, if police later discovered that the vehicle’s brake lines were severed by his despised ex-wife, the report could be changed and the death ruled a “homicide.”

“It may even be some kind of cold case,” Banerjee said Oxygen.com. “The ‘undefined’ doesn’t mean ‘I don’t know, I give up.'” It just means, “I can’t channel it better, but you can still work on it,” and if there’s new information, we can at any time check again.”

Some of the most recent cases are presented in Accident, suicide or murder Causes of death for which the manner of death was changed included the on-campus death of Florida college student Jennifer Kairis, the 2002 car accident of Deborah Hollermann and the poisoning victims of Missouri respiratory therapist Jennifer Hall.