A Dismemberment Case From Portugal

Abstract

Abstract Although postmortem dismemberment of a human body cannot be considered an infrequent event, in Portugal, in what forensic anthropology cases are concerned, the case here reported is quite uncommon. Part of a dismembered skeletonized body was found by the police during the follow up of a fire in an open-air site. In a first phase, the skull and upper limbs bones were recovered. Two weeks after, part of the bones of the lower limbs were retrieved. There was the suspicion that the remains could belong to a Ukrainian individual who disappeared 2 years before. In what concerns identification, the dental prosthesis with three teeth made up of a silver ligament was crucial since we got a perfect match both with dental records and pictures. Besides, the biological profile was in agreement with the suspect. Both upper and lower limbs bones displayed animal bite marks as well as clear cuts. Perfect matches were achieved for the several portions of the same bone. The cut edges of the bones were thoroughly examined to determine the kind of tool that had been used. SEM analysis allowed a more detailed analysis of the striae. The conclusion was that a hand saw was the most probable tool with the final steps done manually. The false starts analyzed and the clean cuts of the severed ends reinforced this diagnosis. Furthermore, it was possible to achieve the directions of the cuts, which led to the knowledge of the victim’s body position while it was being dismembered. The color of the cut surfaces matched the surrounding bone, indicating that the damage did occur before the bone was exposed to decomposition. Moreover, the different colorations of the various pieces of the same bone indicated that the body was already dismembered when it started decomposing. Since the remains were completely skeletonized and the recovery was quite incomplete, in the absence of any type of perimortem cranial injury, the cause of death was not determined. Although only a few bones were retrieved, the forensic anthropology expertise was able to facilitate identification and document an interesting and unique case of dismemberment.