NCJ Number
132311
Journal
Journal of the Forensic Society Volume: 31 Issue: 1 Dated: (January/March 1991) Pages: 7-19
Date Published
1991
Length
13 pages
Annotation
Using infrared thermology in combination with computerized image processing to measure the post-mortem cooling of the human head, five cases were studied at the Cardiff Royal Infirmary in April 1987 to estimate time of death.
Abstract
Image processing provided a detailed temperature map of the head and face divided into upper and lower parts and comprised of hot and cold features. Although all the bodies arrived at the mortuary at least one hour after death, the processing demonstrated that each of the features on the head had started at a different temperature and that there was a distinct difference in the pattern of heat loss between hot and cold. In all cases studied, the two main findings were a difference in cooling pattern between the lower part and upper part of the head and a consistency in the cooling pattern of the lower part of the head. A statistical comparison of various model fits -- Newtonian model, Marshall's model, and the infinite cylinder and sphere heat transmission theory models -- to the raw data indicated a novel double application of Newton's law accounted best for the phenomenon observed. In particular, the chin and zygoma features presented with the least error in the data fitting, the mouth with the most error. 3 tables, 4 figures, and 22 references (Author abstract modified)