Utilization of oral flora fluctuation to estimate the time of death during the early postmortem period
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Authors
Todd, Kelly E.
Issue Date
2007
Type
Thesis
Language
en
Keywords
Forensic sciences
Alternative Title
Abstract
Time of death estimation has long since been a challenge for forensic investigators. This original study was designed to investigate a new way to estimate the time of death: time-dependent oral flora fluctuation. In this study, ten severed hog heads were sampled once premortem, and postmortem every hour for twenty four hours. Three experimental hypotheses were tested in this study: one, that oral flora will fluctuate after death; two, that the bacteria found can be identified; and three, that the fluctuation can be applied to a time line. Colonies were counted and statistically analyzed and identified based on results from 6 standard microbiological tests. Based on the tests conducted, the fluctuation in oral flora was found to be significant for 2 of 20 found colonies, the bacteria could not be specifically identified, and the data for the 2 significant colonies were applied to a mathematical equation to determine time.