Wilma Duijst

Maastricht University | UM · Department of Criminal Law and Criminology

Studying post-mortem changes based on signs of decomposition (e.g., using scoring models) is one of the methods used in scientific studies to relate observable changes to the post-mortem interval (PMI). The majority of the studies on cadaver decomposition are based on large cadavers. There is limited literature on the decomposition pattern and rate...

Voordat opsporing en de inzet van deskundigen aan de orde is, moet het idee ontstaan zijn dat (mogelijk) sprake is van een strafbaar feit. Het overlijden van een persoon kan aanleiding zijn om op dat idee te komen. Gelukkig wordt slechts een zeer beperkt deel van de overlijdens veroorzaakt door een misdrijf en dat is dan ook gelijk de moeilijkheid....

When considering the manner of death, two categories can be distinguished, namely natural death and unnatural death. Though most physicians think that the distinction between the two is evident, this is not the case. When comparing the Netherlands, Belgium, England and Germany it is noticed that the terms natural and unnatural might be used in law...

Objective: General Practitioners (GPs) have an important role in the Dutch system of external post-mortem examination (E-PM). They perform at least 50% of the E-PMs. This research aims to study the competence of the GPs in the Netherlands in performing E-PMs. To achieve this, a survey was performed amongst GPs. The study analysed if GPs felt compet...

On average three times a year, the remains of babies are found in the Netherlands, making knowledge about the decomposition rate and pattern of small cadavers important to be able to estimate the Post-Mortem Interval (PMI). Scoring models and PMI formulas for decomposition used are based on the remains of adults and there is limited literature on t...

Wanneer een persoon overlijdt en er een indicatie bestaat voor een sectie (obductie), wordt hiervoor toestemming van de nabestaanden gevraagd, indien de persoon zelf voorafgaand aan zijn overlijden daarvoor geen toestemming gegeven had. Ook voor postmortale radiologie wordt toestemming gevraagd van de nabestaanden. De reden voor het vragen van toes...

To investigate the differences between pre- and post-fire fractures, 30 human forearm bones were subjected to either blunt-force impact, burning, or both. Bones, covered in soft tissue and wrapped in clothing, were burned in a reconstructed house fire. The burning context and dynamics led to differential burning, that was equal amongst the three gr...

Estimating the postmortem interval (PMI) is a challenging task for a forensic medical doctor, pathologist, anthropologist or entomologist, particularly when decomposition is advancing. Numerous studies have been carried out in the field of forensic taphonomy in other countries, especially in the United States. However, little has been done so far i...

Burned human skeletal remains luminesce visibly to the human eye when irradiated with alternate light sources. This characteristic can aid the recovery of human remains in difficult context and provide information on the exposure temperature. However, the observed colour of luminescence of samples collected from fire scenes is heterogeneous which m...

When investigating burned human remains bone fractures can be encountered, the question then rises whether a bone fracture occured before, during of after heat exposure. To investigate the differences between fractures that were already present before the fire versus those that occured during and after the fire, 30 fresh human forearm bones were su...

On average three times a year, the remains of babies are found in the Netherlands, making knowledge on the decomposition rate and pattern of small cadavers important in order to be able to estimate the Post-Mortem Interval (PMI). Scoring models and PMI formulas for decomposition used are based on the remains of adults and there is limited literatur...

Het schatten van het postmortale interval aan de hand van ontbindingsstadia is een van de methoden die door een forensisch arts wordt gebruikt. Zowel bij volwassen personen als bij baby's en kinderen is het van groot belang om dit tijdstip van overlijden vast te stellen. Scoringsmodellen en PMI-formules voor ontbinding die gebruikt worden zijn geba...

Het schatten van het postmortale interval aan de hand van ontbindingsstadia is een van de methoden die door een forensisch arts wordt gebruikt. Zowel bij volwassen personen als bij baby’s en kinderen is het van groot belang om dit tijdstip van overlijden vast te stellen. Scoringsmodellen en PMI-formules voor ontbinding die gebruikt worden zijn geba...

Objective Feedback of patients’ medical information among healthcare workers within the acute care could improve the quality of care during an Emergency Department (ED) visit. However, in practice, feedback among healthcare workers leads to juridical discussions. Therefore, this study explores whether ED patients agree with medical information feed...

Doel: Terugkoppeling van medische gegevens in de acute zorgketen kan de kwaliteit van deze zorg verbeteren, maar leidt in de praktijk tot juridische discussies. Het doel van deze studie is onderzoeken of SEH-patiënten akkoord zijn met terugkoppeling van medische gegevens aan ambulancepersoneel en of dit verschilt van toestemming voor terugkoppel...

Purpose Between 0.1—3% of injured children who present at a hospital emergency department ultimately die as a result of their injuries. These events are typically reported as unnatural causes of death and may result from either accidental or non-accidental trauma (NAT). Examples of the latter include trauma that is inflicted directly or resulting f...

De duiding van letsel en ernst van letsel in het Nederlandse strafrecht.

When a capital crime is committed the post-mortem interval (PMI) is of particular importance in investigating a suspect’s alibi in court. A forensic expert can use different methods to estimate the PMI. This research focuses on who is considered an expert in court and whether the methods used to estimate the PMI are reliable. In this study, the met...

A crucial role in the external postmortem examination system of the Netherlands is that of the attending physicians, who are either general practitioners or physicians in hospitals. They perform 85% of all external postmortem examinations and must immediately report to forensic physicians all unnatural deaths and deaths that they are not convinced...

Bone has photoluminescent characteristics that can aid the analysis of thermally altered human skeletal remains as part of the forensic anthropological investigation. Photoluminescence stands collectively for fluorescence and phosphorescence. Because the difference in lifetime between fluorescence and phosphorescence is usually in the range of nano...

Background Acute or chronic stress can lead to physical and mental disorders. Measuring cortisol can objectify the degree of stress. Cortisol is traditionally measured in serum, but recently the relevant fraction of free cortisol can be reliably measured in saliva, using the very sensitive liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) m...

Introduction: Elephantiasis is endemic around the equator. In Western countries the phenomenon is extremely rare. Case description: A Dutch 41-year-old severely obese male was found dead in his home. During the external examination, an extensive skin infection was seen on both lower legs. The man was treated for erysipelas two years prior and did n...

Introduction In 2012 and 2013 a movie and a book about a ‘dignified end of life’ were published in the Netherlands. These items described suicide using an ‘exit bag’ to establish asphyxiation using helium (the helium method). ‘Right-to-die-organisations’ inform the elderly about this method. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the u...

Memorad Forensische radiologie in de rechtszaal Radiologie wordt in toenemende mate gebruikt in de rechtszaal. in dit artikel worden de problemen die rijzen tussen radiologie en het strafrecht beschreven.

A taphonomic research facility for the study of human remains was recently realized in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to systematically investigate the decomposition of the human body under known conditions. Governmental authorization was obtained to make use of the body donation program of the Amsterdam University Medical Centers, location Academic M...

Purpose The aim of this study was to investigate whether post-mortem computed tomography (PMCT) provides additional information regarding the cause of death and underlying diseases in a general practitioners’ (GP), out-of-hospital population. Methods and materials Bodies donated to our anatomy department between January 2014 and January 2018, who...

Introduction Countries around the world are confronted with a rising count of patients that die from COVID-19. Up to this date, there is no scientific evidence that proves that a COVID-19 corpse is still infectious. Different guidelines are being followed worldwide on how to deal with a COVID-19 positive corpse. The aim of this review is to compare...

Background and goal: The Police is sometimes confronted with the death of a subject during physical restraint. In most of these cases a clear Cause of Death (COD) cannot be determined by the Pathologist. The goal of this research is to find and clarify a pattern and pinpoint a clearer COD. Method The research group is compiled of 38 closed police...

Fire investigations, especially involving deceased, are considered difficult. Fire is destructive, it can completely consume soft tissues and organic components within the calcified tissues. This impedes the analysis necessary for answering questions regarding, for example, the identity of the deceased. The forensic investigation starts with the re...

De regeling van het verschoningsrecht in het voorstel voor een nieuw Wetboek van Strafvordering codificeert jurisprudentie. Codificatie van jurisprudentie gebeurt vaker. Uniek is wel dat dit wetsvoorstel zorgt voor codificatie van jurisprudentie, die afwegingen zoals die uitdrukkelijk door de wetgever zijn gemaakt terzijde schuift. In plaats van be...

Samenvatting Zaalartsen op een reguliere verpleegafdeling moeten in staat zijn om met zekerheid de dood vast te stellen bij een patiënt. Het merendeel van de literatuur over het vaststellen van de dood is gericht op bijzondere omstandigheden omtrent het vaststellen van de dood , zoals bij IC-patiënten en patiënten die in aanmerking komen voor orgaa...

Ward doctors in regular medical departments have to be competent in declaring the death of a patient. The majority of literature on confirmation of death focuses on special circumstances, including intensive care patients and cases involving organ donation. There is no consensus regarding the procedure and criteria for declaration of death in a 'no...

Ward doctors in regular medical departments have to be competent in declaring the death of a patient. The majority of literature on confirmation of death focuses on special circumstances, including intensive care patients and cases involving organ donation. There is no consensus regarding the procedure and criteria for declaration of death in a 'no...

At this moment, no method is available to objectively estimate the temperature to which skeletal remains have been exposed during a fire. Estimating this temperature can provide crucial information in a legal investigation. Exposure of bone to heat results in observable and measurable changes, including a change in colour. To determine the exposure...

The extraction of sufficient DNA for subsequent amplification is becoming increasingly important in the field of forensic science. For the identification of the deceased, especially in cases involving severe fragmentation of skeletal elements, it is of utmost importance to base laboratory procedures on scientifically obtained, preferably empirical,...

When first published, this article inadvertently listed the Dutch NODO group individually within the author list without specifying the names of the collaborators. The collaborators have been listed within the Acknowledgements section only. The corrected author list is presented in this Correction.

Structural analogs of classic drugs, also called designer drugs, are a booming market due to the easy accessibility on the internet and their legal status. One of those ‘legal highs’ is an analog of phencyclidine, namely 3-methoxyphencyclidine (3-MeO-PCP). Very few fatalities have been reported where 3-MeO-PCP contributed to the death of an individ...

Postmortem interval (PMI) estimations which are used as evidence in Dutch court are sometimes solely based on the experience of the forensic physician without a scientific background. The aim of this study was to investigate the degree of agreement between forensic physicians and their PMI estimations. Fifteen cases were selected from 1534 external...

Throughout the years an increase has been observed in research output on biochemical markers for determining the postmortem interval (PMI). However, to date, a complete overview is missing on the results of postmortem biochemical markers (PBM's) for PMI estimation. In this paper, literature was reviewed in order to identify the knowledge lacunae of...

The Aquatic Decomposition Score (ADS) made by van Daalen et al., was developed to approximate the Post-Mortem Submersion Interval (PMSI) in bodies recovered in salt water. Since the decomposition process in salt water differs from the process in fresh water due to salinity, the temperature, and the depth of the water, we wanted to investigate wheth...

Op 19 juli 1998 werd de 18-jarige Moravia Ramsahai neergeschoten door een agent van de Amsterdamse regiopolitie. Korte tijd later overleed hij. De uitspraak van het Europese Hof voor de Rechten van de Mens (EHRM) over het onderzoek naar dit overlijdensgeval, waarin tekortkomingen in het onderzoek werden vastgesteld, was een van de aanleidingen voor...

The decomposition process of human remains can be used to estimate the post-mortem interval (PMI), but decomposition varies due to many factors. Temperature is believed to be the most important and can be connected to decomposition by using the accumulated degree days (ADD). The aim of this research was to develop a decomposition scoring method and...

Patiënten reizen wereldwijd voor niertransplantaties. Zorgverleners in Nederland krijgen te maken met deze patiënten, vóór en na de transplantatie. Wij presenteren de resultaten van een enquête onder Nederlandse transplantatieprofessionals over hun ervaring met patiënten die in het buitenland zijn getransplanteerd. Vervolgens beargumenteren wij dat...

Als na afloop van een brandincident een stoffelijk overschot wordt aangetroffen, is het van belang dat de causaliteit tussen de brand en het overlijden wordt onderzocht. Brand is zeer destructief voor het menselijk lichaam.Dit bemoeilijkt de interpretatie van onderzoeksbevindingen aan een lichaam. Er zijn diverse verschijnselen die tot op zekere ho...

After a mass fatality incident (MFI) it is of uttermost importance to identify all deceased and be able to rule out whether declared missing persons are amongst the dead. In MFI involving extreme circumstances, like fire, it can be difficult to obtain DNA from strongly degraded skeletal remains. It is important to know how to process the skeletal r...

Background: Postmortem CT is a relatively new field of interest within paediatric radiology. This paper focusses on its value in cases of unexpected natural death. Objective: We report on an observational Dutch study regarding the value of postmortem CT in children with an assumed natural unexpected death because postmortem CT is part of the Dut...

The colour of thermally altered bone, recovered from archaeological and forensic contexts, is related to the temperature(s) to which it was exposed. As it is heated bone changes in colour from ivory white, to brown and black, to different shades of grey and chalky white. It should be possible to estimate exposure temperature based on visually obser...

Het schatten van het tijdstip van overlijden is een van de taken van een forensisch arts. De mate van ontbinding, het proces van verval van het lichaam, is een van de methoden die wordt gebruikt om het tijdstip van overlijden te bepalen. Het is echter onbekend hoe betrouwbaar deze methode is. Om dit te toetsen zijn vijftien casus gese- lecteerd uit...

Literature on luminescent properties of thermally altered human remains is scarce and contradictory. Therefore, the luminescence of heated bone was systemically reinvestigated. A heating experiment was conducted on fresh human bone, in two different media, and cremated human remains were recovered from a modern crematory. Luminescence was excited w...

Is lichamelijke integriteit bij leven op één lijn te stellen met lichamelijke integriteit na de dood? En welke mogelijkheden tot inbreuk op de lichamelijke integriteit van de levenden heeft de wetgever gecreëerd en welke grenzen zijn door de wetgever gesteld aan inbreuken op de lichamelijke integriteit van het lijk? In dit artikel wordt ingegaan op...

De afgelopen tijd is er discussie geweest in verloskundig Nederland over de mogelijkheid een gedwongen sectio te verrichten, na interventie van een rechter. Ook is er al langer veel te doen omtrent vrouwen die aanbevolen zorg afwijzen en, bijvoorbeeld, met een medische indi- catie thuis willen gaan bevallen. Bij beide situaties valt regelmatig de t...

This study aimed to develop an aquatic decomposition scoring (ADS) method and investigated the predictive value of this method in estimating the postmortem submersion interval (PMSI) of bodies recovered from the North Sea. This method, consisting of an ADS item list and a pictorial reference atlas, showed a high interobserver agreement (Krippendorf...

Systeemvergelijkend onderzoek naar lijkschouw en sectie.

Als het antwoord op de vraag of er een strafbaar feit is gepleegd niet eenduidig is, dan verdient het sterk de voorkeur om het strafrechtelijk onderzoek en de discussie tussen de deskundigen te laten plaatsvinden vóór de zitting en niet, zoals dat nu gebeurt, op de zitting. Als op de zitting blijkt dat er helemaal geen strafbaar feit is begaan zou...

Politie en medische hulpverleners komen elkaar met grote regelmaat tegen, soms hebben beiden een hulpverlenersdoel, soms heeft de ene partij een hulpverlenersdoel en de andere een opsporingsdoel. Zowel politieambtenaren als hulpverleners hebben een beroepsgeheim en toch is informatie-uitwisseling gewenst en vaak noodzakelijk om de veiligheid van bu...

Information on the temperature and duration that skeletal remains have been exposed to, can be crucial in a legal investigation. Because the bone matrix consists out of an in- and organic component it changes in a predictable sequence when exposed to heat, first dehydration, than carbonization, followed by calcination. There is much discussion on t...

Files of the Dutch bureau of missing persons at the North Sea (BVPN) were investigated to analyse the process that led to identification of human bodies recovered from the North Sea between 1980 and 2013. Of the 94 cases that were analysed 41.5 % was identified by the family, 23.4% by the use of DNA and 17% by the use of the dental status. The link...

Evidence based guidelines can help healthcare practitioners to provide better and more cost effective care for the average patient with a specific medical problem [1]. During the past 15 years, the Cochrane Collaboration, NICE, and many other national and international organizations have provided obstetric medicine with a wealth of new evidence bas...

Physicians and other health care professionals seem well placed to play a role in the monitoring and, perhaps, in the curtailment of the trafficking in human beings for the purpose of organ removal. They serve as important sources of information for patients and may have access to information that can be used to gain a greater understanding of orga...

Physicians and other health care professionals seem well placed to play a role in the monitoring and, perhaps, in the curtailment of the trafficking in human beings for the purpose of organ removal. They serve as important sources of information for patients and may have access to information that can be used to gain a greater understanding of orga...