A story today regarding a death that occurred in 2010 is a perfect example of why you do not jump to a conclusion when you first enter the scene where a death has occurred.  It takes several angles of an investigation in finding all of the facts to have an accurate determination of a death.  A decedent found with a gun close by could be a suicide, a homicide or an accident, so assumptions and/or tunnel vision should not come in to play.  A proper fact finding investigation with all of the professional team members involved will be what is necessary in making an important ruling on a death.   To see the newspaper article along with the related stories involving this case out of Durango, Colorado here is the link:  http://www.durangoherald.com/article/20111223/NEWS01/712239916/0/20111104/Garcia-faces-new-charges-in-shooting-case

_Statistics for 2010 from the Center for Disease Control for the top five leading causes of death. Slayings (homicide) is no longer on the list, has been since 1965. #5 is accidents and #10 is suicides.  The other good news...infant mortality is down 3.9%.

The remaining causes of death in the top 15 for 2010 are those of natural disease processes, with heart disease being the leader.

These statistics reveal a few things…

-- Breakthroughs in medicine have helped infant mortality, but not other natural diseases.  That is not to lay the blame on medicine, we are responsible for what we do.  Of the disease processes, most are likely result of our diets and habits, while others are unknown (i.e. cancer); some are one or the other – such as heart disease or diabetes with a family history, or cancer caused by smoking.  Others may be environmental or other causes, such as some environmentally related carcinogens.

At the same time, several natural diseases rose in the rankings, including Alzheimer’s, kidney disease and cirrhosis.  Of these, some are naturally progressing while others are essentially induced.  Research is making progress.  Alzheimer’s may be on the rise simply because of awareness and increased treatment – not too long ago when an elderly person showed symptoms it was just aging.

-- Homicides may be down due to social behavior and awareness, as well as law enforcement and policing efforts.  The highest ranking has been #13.

-- Suicides remain concerns both individually and to society.  There are no solutions to suicide, as contributing factors can include from mental health to personal.  Education and awareness continue to be the frontline efforts to lower the suicide rate.

-- Accidents, or deaths caused by unintentional acts, is the second leading Manner of Death.  These arise from everything from personal acts to work place incidents.  These may be from as negligence of the decedent or others, to careless and reckless behavior of the decedent or others.  In addition, we cannot overlook the impact that alcohol and other drug, licit and illicit, deaths have had on this particular Manner of Death.

Many feel that the purpose of the legal investigator is to find favor of the facts to their client.  This is far from the truth, no pun intended.  In fact (no pun intended again), the sole responsibility of the legal investigator is to elicit information through an investigative process that aids the fact finder in determine the facts and evidence to make their determination of the direct and circumstantial truth.  The trier of fact is typically a judge or jury.  However, in some instances this may be by the family or an insurance company.  This becomes an Equivocal Death Investigation, which hopes to provide peace of mind or closure, and to determine if the death of a loved one has been properly investigated, such as homicide vs. suicide, suicide v. accident, or accident v. homicide.

If should be further noted that the statistics in the stories are derived from death certificate data (one of the purposes of death certificates is to collect data).  Unfortunately, this may not be the most accurate way of collecting this data.  Specifically:
-- Most deaths that are reported as 'Natural' are not autopsied and therefore the final Cause of Death is appropriately subjective based upon medical history.
-- However, many elderly deaths are improperly classified as 'Natural' when the underlying cause could be an 'Accident', such as consequential to a hip fracture or other ailment as a result of an underlying unnatural and accidental event.

Full stories can be found at:http://www.kansascity.com/2012/01/11/3364738/murder-not-a-top-cause-of-death.html
http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-death-rates-homicide-20120111,0,1761439.story

A thorough official medicolegal death analysis, and if necessary full investigation, should be done at the time of death.  If there are any lingering or unanswered questions, an independent medicolegal death analysis, and if necessary full investigation, should be considered.

To learn more about our Equivocal Death Analysis and Equivocal Death Investigations, please visit:
Flat Fee - Equivocal Death Analysis

What does it mean to conduct an Equivocal Death Investigation or Analysis (EDI, EDA)?  We get asked this question time and time again.  An Equivocal Death Investigation is an in depth investigation into a death that has lingering questions.  Many families have come to us for help in understanding the circumstances surrounding a loved ones death.  The manners of death can be classified as any of the following:  homicide, suicide, natural, accident or undetermined.  Sometimes the family/loved one of the deceased individual does not agree with the final determination and have a yearning for more answers. 

We will analyze all of the information the family/loved one has on the decedent and comb through the information step by step to trace the steps in the original investigative process.  We will answer any questions the family/loved one has regarding the death, and we do this with an unbiased open mind. 

Reconstructing a death and the investigation will assist the family/loved one in the healing process.  Sometimes our minds can get carried away creating numerous scenarios which only adds to our lingering questions and distress over a loved ones death.  We can help quiet some or even all of those questions so that you may heal and carry on with your life.  Many times a professional second opinion regarding whether the investigation was conducted properly in the first place with be enough to ease your mind.

If we find discrepancies in the original reports, or find that the evidence does not match the final decisions, we will point out these concerns, which can sometimes mean reopening the case for further investigation.  Providing family/loved ones with answers to ease their minds is our main goal.  Life can be stressful and difficult enough without the constant worry surrounding a loved ones death.

Due to the overwhelming need for an Equivocal Death Analysis, we have created a flat-rate fee to further assist families in finding answers.  An affordable, small price to pay for peace of mind. 

At Associates in Forensic Investigations, LLC (AFI-LLC), we have found that families, as well as our colleagues and attorney clients, are often unsure if a complete investigation is necessary, or how to determine the necessity of a full Equivocal Death Investigation.  Often, just the assurance that a proper investigation was completed is all that is necessary, and warranted.

This review is NOT investigative, nor will AFI-LLC be able to answer the questions of Cause of Death and Manner of Death.  This is a review of the official investigation to determine if accepted and standard medicolegal death investigation procedures and protocols were followed.

At the conclusion of this review we will provide a letter of our expert opinion to answer this question.  If we find that there were errors or omissions, we may recommend additional steps, including an in-depth Equivocal Death Investigation (EDI).  Due to the nature of EDIs, these cannot be provided at a flat fee.

Please visit the information page and < Click Here for details >
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It is important to understand in medicolegal death investigation what 'homicide' is.  From our book and course: "Death resulting from intentional harm (explicit or implicit) of one person by another, or by grossly reckless behavior." - In death investigation, homicide is the medical determination.  Without making any judgment on this case, this demonstrates that it is important in both civil and criminal, and even probate cases, the value of understanding the autopsy, process, rulings and criteria.

It is also important to understand that the difference between a fatality and serious bodily injury is often only a series of events or fractions of an inch.  Autopsy means "to see with one's own eyes", which a trained medicolegal death investigator and forensic pathologist can assist with in serious bodily injury cases.

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_19168983