All about the mummification process has been shared by a forensic pathologist called Judy Melinek.
It is pertinent to mention that, when the police entered the couple’s residence in Santa Fe, NM, they met Hackman’s body in the clay hall, while his wife as in the bathroom was used to his side, near an countertop, next to scattered pills.
The authorities also noticed that, at the time of the fall, she potentially knocked down a space heater that was close to her head, and signs of decomposition were observed, swelling near her face as in mummification in both hands, as well as her feet were observed when she was found.
His dog also died just a few feet from Hackman Betsy’s wife and it was only later that Hackman’s body was discovered, and a cane to walk near his body was found, which led to the suspension that had “fallen suddenly.”
Explaining all this, as well as the mummification, the forensic pathologist spoke with the one who spoke People Magazine and said: “When you have broken bodies or that have not been seen, and especially with people who have not been seen for a while, the first question in terms of discovering what happened is to discover the moment of death.”
“And a way to discover the moment of death is to look at markers on the scene, indicators of when it was the last time, they were alive. And those tend to be more reliable than anatomical markers once the body is wrong. ”
Because while “in the early stages after death, we can trust things like rigor Mortis, the hardening of the body, or algor mortis, which is body temperature. And we can use them to try to reduce the postmortem interval, but once the body breaks down, it is much more difficult to do. “
Therefore, in such cases “scenes of scenes and circumstantial evidence” are used.
Questions such as: “When was the last time they were alive? When were they found dead? When did the mail begin to accumulate? It also becomes part of the equation because “that indicates that no one went to the mailbox to pick it up. Therefore, you can know from the seal of date in El Correo, when it was the last time they started session on their computer or opened their phone or called anyone.”
According to Melinek’s findings, more than 10 days passed since everything happened and at that time “they begin to crumble and there will be certain organs that disintegrate and no longer show the anatomical markers that could help us discover if they were working or working correctly.”
Even the main forensic doctor took a step forward to say at the exit: “He will not be able to know about postmortem changes, because once you reach the mummification, all bets are disabled. It depends on where they were at home, what they carried, all kinds of things can affect postmortem changes. Once you get to that mummification stage, there is nothing to … to be able to distinguish the two deaths over time. “
