Case report - The murder of the carpet

Magni, P.A. and Testi, R. (2007) Case report - The murder of the carpet. In: 5th Meeting European Association for Forensic Entomology (EAFE), 2 - 5 May 2007, Brussels, Belgium.

Abstract

In a torrid day of July 2006 the corpse of a women was discovered in a parking lot located in front of a small plant in Turin. The body was wrapped with plastic bags, a blanket and covered by a carpet. The corpse and blankets were found carefully laid down on the ground, partially hidden by some wood benches and vegetation. The finding place is located in a densely inhabited area, close to the entrance gate used from the workers of the plant; moreover during the night some prostitutes are used to haunt this area. The corpse was found in advanced stage of decomposition, with partial skeletization. The wrists and the ankles are tied, the head was contained by a plastic bag, hermetically closed at the neck. The eyes and the mouth were covered by adhesive tape and a sock is inserted in the mouth. The insects colonization was extended particularly on the arms and the pelvic zone; the insects sampled during the inspection and the autopsy belonged to Diptera and Coleoptera orders. It was moreover observed a non-determined eggs colonization either on the carpet and on some wood rests coming from the benches. The woman was identified thanks to a print of papillary fragment inserted in the AFIS system as a young Slavic prostitute; enquiries were initially focused on her bully and his nephew, who used to attend the woman’s home. The nephew was exculpated for circumstantial data, while the determination of the PMI with the entomological method leads to the discharge of the bully. Investigations were concentrated therefore on a third man, that eventually admitted his guilt.

Item Type:	Conference Item
Conference Website:	http://www.eafe.org/
URI:	http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/57679

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