[Part I. The use of entomological methods in determination of the time of death -- case presentations]. / Czesc I. Wykorzystanie metod entomologicznych do oceny czasu zgonu -- opis przypadków.

ABSTRACT

The report presents two cases, in which medico-legal assessment of the time of death was supplemented by entomological studies. In Case 1, where the corpse was completely mummified, insects found on the body allowed for determining that death had occurred 1-1.5 years prior to discovery of the victim, thus making it possible to determine the upper limit of the relevant time range, what could not have been accomplished based solely on medico-legal examinations. In Case 2, where highly advanced postmortem changes rendered precise determination of the time of death by medico-legal methods impossible, and the insect species living on the body suggested that death had occurred approximately 3-6 months prior to discovery of the corpse, non-scientific data demonstrated that death might have occurred not earlier than slightly more than two months before the body was found.