Author Question: Post-Mortem Injuries

Giacomo asks: I'm writing a scene where the killer cuts off the victims' lips while they are alive. how would the M.E. know if the vic was alive or not by looking at the corpse?

Jordyn says:

Sometimes, the best thing for me to do is offer an author several resources to delve through to find the answer they're looking for. Here's the list of resources I sent to Giacomo:

1. What Crime Scene Insects Reveal About the Victim's Wounds: http://insects.about.com/od/forensicentomology/p/csiwounds.htm

2. Antemortem vs. Postmortem Injuries. Which means injuries before and after death.  http://shs.westport.k12.ct.us/forensics/07-injuries/antemortem_&_postmortem_injuries.htm

3. Twenty-seven differences between antemortem and postmortem wounds: http://ourforensicmedicine.blogspot.com/2010/02/27-differences-between-antemortem-and.html

4. Medico-legal significance of a bruise: http://www.legalserviceindia.com/medicolegal/bruise.htm

5. Post-mortem changes: http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1680032-overview

Does anyone else have any resources that might help with Giacomo's question?***********************************************************************Giacomo grew up in a large Italian family in the Northeast. No one had money, so for entertainment he and his family played board games and told stories. He loved the city—the noise, the people—but it was the storytelling most of all that stuck with him. Now Giacomo and his wife live in Texas, where they run an animal sanctuary with 41 loving "friends." Sometimes he misses the early days, but not much. Now he enjoys the solitude and the noise of the animals.