A Coroner’s Guide to Writing Autopsy Scenes: Dr. Christina VandePol

The banner shows a modern autopsy table. If your crime book contains an autopsy scene, you want to get it right. Please welcome Dr. Christina VandePol, here to set you straight using her own expertise. Some of this may surprise you:

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MIss Demeanors

Author

Marni Graff is the award-winning author of The Nora Tierney English Mysteries and The Trudy Genova Manhattan Mysteries. Her story “Quiche Alain” appears in the Anthony-winning Malice Domestic Anthology, Murder Most Edible.  Managing Editor of Bridle Path Press, she’s a member of Sisters in Crime, Triangle SinC, Mavens of Mayhem SinC, the NC Writers Network, and the International Crime Writers Association.

20 comments

  1. Thanks for this informative post and for the links to additional resources. Between new technologies and that patchwork investigative system, it’s a daunting topic!

  2. Thanks for this information, Christina. Two beta readers of my up coming NYPD Detective Chiara Corelli Mystery, called me out for having a relative identify a victim.

    1. I wonder if it’s more common to do that in (for example) the U.K.? It seems to happen all the time when I watch BBC mysteries. But no, here most coroners and MEs may not even have an appropriate place for families to view let alone identify someone.

  3. Wow, this is great! On a weird side note about getting the details right–I once was a reader for a short story anthology, and one of the submitted stories included an autopsy scene in NYC. One of my friends worked as a photographer for the medical examiner, and I recognized her from the description in the scene of the short story! That was such a strange coincidence, it made me push the story to the front of the line because it felt so authentic. The story made it into the anthology, for the same reason. After I found out the name of the author, it turned out he had been an NYC detective, witnessed many autopsies, and knew my friend. So… details matter!

    1. Hi, Emilya, yes, there are so many more people involved with autopsies than just the forensic pathologist and (usually) one assistant. For example, in the region where I worked it seemed some rookie law enforcement officers were required to attend at least one autopsy. I always kept a close eye on them to make sure they weren’t going to crash to the floor!

  4. I finally, hopefully, found a site that will answer a few questions to make my novel accurate. It’s not about an autopsy, but there is a coroner testifying about one. It’s not intended to be a long scene with difficult cross-examination and medical stuff I don’t know. Here are the facts, and I do apologize – if there is a better way to do this please let me know.
    1. Deceased hit in the back of his head with a rock and dies.
    2. Body found 3 in country weeks after death. Snow and rain kept animal activity at minimum. Murder is suspected.
    Question – Would an autopsy this long after the murder be able to detect a traumatic brain injury? Or would the best they could do after this time be to just rule blunt force trauma?

    Thank you so much!

    1. Hi, Shell, and interesting you mention testifying, which I’ve done; just a few times but fascinating. Earlier this year I posted two blogs on my website about coroners in court which you may want to look at, assuming your novel is set in the U.S.
      To answer your specific question, it is unlikely the brain tissue itself would be able to be examined because it decomposes rapidly into a semi-liquid state. Most likely the damage to the skull bone(s) would be the only remaining evidence as far as the body itself. The question forensically might be whether this could have been an accident (hiking and falling onto a rock) vs. a homicide. Then the surroundings become relevant: was the person found near a rock? Did it have blood or hair on it? Of course the weather might have removed some of that.
      Hope this answers your question! Best of luck with your novel.

      1. Thank you very much. After reading your well-explained answer, I know exactly how I will proceed.
        Shell

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