It is early on a Monday morning in the cellar under Aarhus University Hospital. The man on the table is lying there, ready for the autopsy. He has been stabbed in his chest, his arms, his back and his neck.
A sticky ooze of blood indicates where the victim has been lying. Experienced crime scene investigators mark evidence traces after the knife killing. Even minor splashes can be used in the search for evidence. For example, the direction of the splash can be determined by its form.
»Given what he has been through,« says the forensic pathologist at the Department of Forensic Medicine at Aarhus University, Asser Hedegård Thomsen, as he covers him with a sheet, »he’s actually looking pretty good.«
»When I carry out my work, I do things that I would prefer not to do. I have no desire to open up this man’s skull, but I do it because I have to. And I don’t walk in off the street and do it for fun. They have called me because there is a job that needs to be done.«
It has been three days since the homicide was committed, and on the dead man’s body faint purple post-mortem lividity has formed, for example on the hip.
The victim’s clothes are carefully removed and placed in paper bags. As they proceed, crime scene investigator Ruth Glerup takes photos for the forensic report and for the investigation.
Hic Gaudet Mors Succurrere Vitae is written in Latin over the door to the autopsy room – »This is the place where death delights to help the living«. All the homicide autopsies are conducted in a closed room specially equipped for the purpose called The Homicide Room.
»My greatest fear in an autopsy is that we overlook something. That someone comes along after the victim has been buried and says, ’It was me. I killed him,’ when I have pointed to another explanation.« When the department secretary has laboriously typed in all his many observations, Asser Hedegård Thomsen (center) will have to spend the days ahead finishing drawings from his sketches, writing a summary and a conclusion. The whole thing has to be watertight when at some stage the case comes before the court, when he will probably be called in as an expert witness.
Crime Scene Investigator Ib Jensen carefully holds the deceased’s hand, while his colleague Ruth Glerup rubs ink powder onto his fingers. They take fingerprints, which are then fixed on a transparent sheet for further investigation. During the autopsy, samples are also taken of tissue, blood, urine and from the nostrils. They allow the forensic chemists to determine whether, for example, the victim was drunk or high when he died. The tissue samples can help exclude other causes of death. »You never know what might be relevant before you have tested for it. This guy here might have been snorting cocaine with his attacker. And if the victim behaved strangely leading up to the homicide, might it have been because he had meningitis,« asks Asser Hedegård Thomsen.
»The large number of stab wounds are an indication that the attacker was agitated. If this had been my first case, I would probably have thought that it was very brutal. But today, not least because of my research, I know that this is not uncommon. That’s why it’s good to have objective data.«
Finally, forensic technician Erling Laursen threads a leatherwork needle and sews the homicide victim together again with cotton thread. »I do it as well as I can for the sake of the next-of-kin. If a victim looks really awful, we write a note saying ’not suitable for viewing’,« He says. »But this guy looks pretty good,« he continues. »And ready to be seen by his mother.«
