title: Forensic examination after exhumation: Contribution and difficulties after more than thirty years of burial.
abstract: We report a case of a Tunisian footballer who was found dead abroad under suspicious circumstances. The cause of death was, originally, attributed to a lightning strike. The corpse was buried without/autopsy. Over thirty years later, the family requested the exhumation to verify the identity and the cause of death. The exhumation was performed in 2011. DNA profiling from teeth and femur bone samples confirmed the identity of the deceased. The dry bone study revealed defects in the skull and the pelvis evoking firearm injuries. Post-mortem CT with three-dimensional (3-D) reconstruction allowed to confirm the characteristics of firearms injuries and to speculate about the number and the trajectories of potential shots. Nevertheless, the vitality of these injuries as well as the eventual fatal shot and the shooting distance could not be determined. Likewise, the type of the eventual weapon could not be clarified as there were no bullets or any metallic projectile fragments. Despite all doubts, the forensic explorations have allowed to verify the identity of the deceased, to evoke firearms injuries and, mainly, to deny the proposed cause of death after more than thirty years of burial. Moreover, the loss of soft tissues and bone fragility were the major obstacles.
authors.affiliation: Forensic Department, University Hospital Habib Bourguiba, Sfax, Tunisia; Faculty of Medicine of Sfax, University of Sfax, Tunisia. Electronic address: docyoussef@live.fr.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nouma
authors.affiliation: Forensic Department, University Hospital Habib Bourguiba, Sfax, Tunisia; Faculty of Medicine of Sfax, University of Sfax, Tunisia.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ben Amar
authors.affiliation: Forensic Department, University Hospital Habib Bourguiba, Sfax, Tunisia; Faculty of Medicine of Sfax, University of Sfax, Tunisia.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zribi
authors.affiliation: Forensic Department, University Hospital Habib Bourguiba, Sfax, Tunisia; Faculty of Medicine of Sfax, University of Sfax, Tunisia.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bardaa
authors.affiliation: Forensic Department, University Hospital Habib Bourguiba, Sfax, Tunisia; Faculty of Medicine of Sfax, University of Sfax, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hammami
authors.affiliation: Forensic Department, University Hospital Habib Bourguiba, Sfax, Tunisia; Faculty of Medicine of Sfax, University of Sfax, Tunisia.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maatoug
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002048:Burial; D049249:Exhumation; D006801:Humans; D007085:Ilium / Q000293:injuries* / Q000473:pathology; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008297:Male; D011180:Postmortem Changes; D012886:Skull / Q000293:injuries* / Q000473:pathology; D012887:Skull Fractures / Q000473:pathology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014416:Tunisia; D014948:Wounds, Gunshot / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*
keywords: Ballistics; Exhumation; Firearm injuries; Forensic autopsy; Post-mortem imaging; Skeletonization