A ‘murder bag’ or ‘detectives box’ is a kit used by crime scene investigators that contains protective gear and tools to recover evidence. The first steps in the creation of the ‘murder bag’ were made by 19th century medicolegal pioneers… Read More ›
Forensic Anthropology
Where is the grave of Revolutionary War hero Captain Margaret Corbin?
A contractor tasked with constructing a new retaining wall for the Molly Corbin Enhancement Project at the West Point Cemetery disturbed Corbin’s burial in October of 2016. Captain Margaret “Molly” Corbin is the Revolutionary War hero who took over her… Read More ›
Is this the face of ‘Bella in the Wych Elm’?
In February 2018, Dr. Caroline Wilkinson, forensic anthropologist and Director of the Faces Lab at Liverpool John Moores University, revealed her facial reconstruction of ‘Bella in the Wych Elm‘. The digital reconstruction shows the smiling face of a young woman… Read More ›
Dissecting the true age of Old Tom Parr
On August 4, 1997, newspapers around the world announced the death of Jeanne Louise Calment, who died her home in Arles, France. She was not a political leader, a scientist, or a famous actress. Jean had the world’s longest (recorded)… Read More ›
Murder for the Holidays: The slaying at Sandringham
Editor’s Note: I recently found out about a European, pagan tradition of celebrating the Winter Solstice, a time when “the dead would have particularly good access to the living,” with ghost stories. Writers of mystery novels continued this tradition by… Read More ›
Halloween Horror Post #4 (2017): The bizarre reality of Walking Corpse Syndrome
For me, zombies are probably the scariest of the iconic horror monsters because humans are either zombie food fighting for survival in a post-apolocalypic landscape or they are transformed into mindless walking corpses that are doomed to feed on the… Read More ›
Halloween Horror Post #3 (2017): The cinematic after-life of an unidentified skeleton
I recently read an article by John Squires, published in 2014, over at Halloween Love about how Dawn of the Dead unintentionally featured a real dead person. Some of the movie crew rented what they probably thought was a fake… Read More ›
Facial reconstruction of ‘Mary Magdalene’ skull revealed
Last month National Geographic reported that biological anthropologist Philippe Charlier, from the University of Versailles, and forensic artist Philippe Froesch collaborated on a project to create a 3D computer reconstruction of a face that might have belonged to Mary Magdalene. … Read More ›
Paul Revere: The first American forensic dentist
Paul Revere inadvertently became America’s first forensic dentist when he was given the gruesome task of identifying the body of Dr. Joseph Warren, the man who sent him on his famous “midnight ride.” Warren was struck down by a British… Read More ›
Saint Catherine of Siena’s divine head
One of the most captivating displays of saintly relics is at the Basilica Cateriniana di San Domenico in Siena, Italy, a town about 45 miles (72km) south of Tuscany. Worshippers and tourists who visit this search can see the mummified head of… Read More ›
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