Maggot and Worm Revisited : The Role of the Entomologist in Homicide Investigation

A postmortem interval of 19-20 days was estimated for the remains of a female, ca. 48 years of age, recovered from a ditch on the island of Oahu, Hawaiian Islands, based on an analysis of arthropods present on the remains. Exposed remains present a temporary and progressively changing habitab and food source for a wide variety of organisms ranging from bacteria and fungi to vertebrate scavengers. The arthropods comprise a major element of this biota and previous studies have shown that the various taxa arrive at' the remains in definite predictable succession patterns (Early & Goff in:press, Payne 1965, Reed 1958). Beginning with the work of Megnin (1894), knowledge of these sarcosaprophagous arthropods ane their succession patterns have been used by forensic science in the estimation of postmortem intervals in cases of homicide, suicide, accident or unattended death due to natural causes. As a preliminary part of a program in forensic entomology in the Hawaiian Islands, decomposition studies were conducted at various localities on the island of Oahu to establish baseline data. These studies were a cooperative effort of the Department of Entomology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, and the Department of the Medical Examiner, City and County of Honolulu. Partial results of these studies and techniques have been previously reported by Early & Goff (in press) and Goff et ale (1986) as a checklist of arthropods associated with exposed carrion, including human remains. While there are a number of publications available detailing the results of decomposition studies conducted with various animal models, there are relatively few demonstrating application of results of these studies. During the period from Feb. 1983 to May 1986, 27 cases were referred to the Forensic Entomology Laboratory, University of Hawaii at Hanoa, by the Chief Medical Examiner, City and County of Honolulu, for determination of postmortem interval by entomological techniques. One of these is presented below as a case study.