Everything about the mummification process was shared by a medical examiner named Judy Melinek.
It is relevant to mention that when the police entered the couple’s residence at Santa Fe, NM, they met Hackman’s body in the locker room, while his wife as in the bathroom lying on the side, near a counter, next to dispersed pills.
The authorities also noted that at the time of the fall, she potentially overthrew a radiator which was close to her head, and signs of decomposition, ballaisant near her face as well as mummification in both hands, as well as feet were observed when she was found.
Their dog also died barely a few meters from Hackman’s woman, Betsy, and it was not until later that Hackman’s body was discovered, and a walking cane was found near his body leading to the suspension that he had “suddenly fallen”.
Explaining all this, as well as mummification, the medical examiner spoke to People Magazine and said: “When you have decomposed bodies or that have not been seen, and especially with people who have not been seen for some time, the first question in terms of trying to understand what happened is to determine the time of death.”
“And a way of understanding the time of death is to look at the markers on the scene, indicators of when was the last time, they were alive. And these tend to be more reliable than anatomical markers once the body is seriously decomposed. »»
Because even “in the first phases after death, we can count on things like mortis rigor – the stiffness of the body – or Algor Mortis, which is body temperature. And we can use them to try to reduce the post-mortem interval, but once the body is broken down, it is much more difficult to do. »»
Consequently, in such cases, “scene results and circumstantial evidence” are used.
Questions like: “When will go back the last time they were seen alive?” When were they found dead? When did the mail started to accumulate? Also be part of the equation because “it indicates that no one was going in the mailbox to collect it. So, you can say from the postage stamp by post, when when they went back to their computer or opened their phone or called anyone. »»
According to Melinek’s conclusions, it was more than 10 days because everything happened and at that time, they “begin to collapse and there will be certain organs which disintegrate and no longer show the anatomical markers which could help us to determine whether they worked or operate properly.”
Even the chief forensic scientist has advanced to say the point of sale: “You will not be able to say that post-mortem changes, because once you have mummification, all bets are deactivated. It depends where in the house they were, what were they carrying, all kinds of things can affect post-mortem changes. Once you arrive at this mummification stage, there is nothing to do … be able to distinguish the two dead in time. »»
