Comparison of false starts by saw created on flesh and dry bones; as close as possible to the real conditions of criminal dismemberment

• Published in: International journal of legal medicine Vol. 138; no. 5; pp. 2157 - 2167
• Main Authors: Bernardi, Caroline, Nogueira, Luísa, Amoretti, Nicolas, Carle, Georges F., Alunni, Véronique
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.09.2024; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Bones; Floors; Forensic anthropology; Forensic Medicine; Maceration; Medical Law; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Original Article; Soft tissues; Soft parts; Forensic medicine; Human bone; Pig bone; Criminal dismemberment; Saw marks
• ISSN: 0937-9827; 1437-1596; 1437-1596
• DOI: 10.1007/s00414-024-03256-6

In most experimental protocols, false starts are produced on dry bones obtained through a maceration process for anthropological analyses, for the sake of reproducibility. Although this allows for controlled experimental conditions, the absence of soft parts when experimentally creating false starts does not correspond to the real conditions of criminal dismemberment. The main objective of this study was to determine if the results of experimental work on the characteristics of false starts were valid under medico-legal conditions. In this experimental study, a hand saw (rip saw, wavy set, TPI 32) was used. 240 false starts were produced on human and pig bones. Randomly, the false starts were either produced on a dry bone or on a flesh bone. The criteria for microscopic analysis included the shape of the walls, the shape and visibility of striae on the floor, the shape of the profile, and the minimum width of the false start. On human bone, 100% of the false starts produced on a bone that had previously undergone a maceration process for anthropological analyses (dry bone) allowed the definition of all the blade characteristics. This was the case for 78.3% on bone in the presence of soft tissue (flesh bone). The striae on the floor of the false start are in some cases less visible with flesh bones, implying that it may be more difficult to conclude on the characteristics of a saw under medico-legal conditions.