If These Bodies Could Talk: True Tales of a Medical Examiner

Alpina 4th Magistralnaya 5, bld. 1 Office 159-169
123007, Moscow, Russia International@alpina.ru

Copyright © 2021 by Alexey Reshetun

Managing Editor: Marina Krasavina Project Editor: Natalia Pepelina Translator: Sonja Swenson-Khalchenia Copyeditor: Kevin Bridge Proofreaders: Karen O’Donnell, Beth Dymond Cover design: Yuri Buga



All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.



Printed in Russian Federation



                                   ISBN 978-5-9614-7201-1

To my colleagues — the forensic medical examiners at the Moscow Forensic- Medical Bureau.

                Contents







Foreword to the New Edition.................................. 9
Introduction ............................................... 11

PART ONE
Laying the Groundwork .......................................15
    1. What Exactly Is Forensic Medicine?................... 17
    2. Just Who Is a Medical Examiner?...................... 22
    3. Pathologist or Medical Examiner? What Is Similar, What Is Not. 28
    4. To Cut or Not to Cut? That Is the Question .......... 32

PART TWO
The Professional ........................................... 39
    1. Our Tools ............................................41
    2. Put On Your Lab Coat ................................ 49
    3. When the Cure Is Worse Than the Disease...............60
    4. Land of the Living .................................. 67
    5. Student Life ........................................ 76

PART THREE
Working With the Dead                 .......................85
    1. Phenomena of Phenomena .............................. 87
    2. Examining a Body: Expectations and Realities......... 94
    3. Exhumation ......................................... 107

PART FOUR
Trauma ........................................................121
    1. A Bat, a Hammer, a Stick, and Other Ways to Die: Blunt Hard Objects........................................ 123
    2. Forks Over Knives: One Hole versus Five—Sharp Instruments and the Wounds They Leave Behind ......................... 129
    3. Buckle Up for Safety, Buckle Up!....................... 136
    4. Gunshots and Explosions in Times of Peace ............. 145
    5. Mass Casualty Incidents ............................... 152
    6. Off with Her Head! .................................... 159

PART FI   VE
Asphyxiation ................................................. 165
    1. Hanging: Fact and Fiction.............................. 167
    2. Strangulation: “Eventually, It All Comes to Light” .... 173
    3. Death in the Water: Sometimes It Is Drowning, Sometimes It Is Not....................................... 177
    4. There’s No Life without Air............................ 184
    5. Warning! Choking Hazard ............................... 187

PART SI   X
Heat and Electricity ......................................... 193
    1. Fair Heat Breaks No Bones.............................. 195
    2. The Cold Never Bothered Me, Anyway..................... 201
    3. I Am in Shock ......................................... 205

PART SE    VEN
Drugs and Alcohol ............................................ 209
    1. Drink Like a Fish........................................211
    2. Say No to Drugs!....................................... 216

PART EI   GHT
Children ..................................................... 221
    1. Cannibal Parents........................................223
    2. You Are Going to Poke an Eye Out! ......................226
    3. Parental Neglect .......................................229

PART NI    NE
Disease ...................................................... 239
    1.  Sudden Death: Cardiovascular Diseases ................ 241
    2.  Cancers................................................245
    3.  Tuberculosis and HIV.................................. 249

PART TEN
Myths ........................................................ 253
    1.  Old Wives’ Tales ......................................255
    2.  Worms and Fecal Stones................................ 258
    3.  Smells................................................ 261

PART ELE    VEN
MISCELLANEOUS ................................................ 265
    1.  Morgue-turned-abortion Clinic..........................267
    2.  A Bad Neighborhood ....................................270
    3.  Transgender and Intersex Cases........................ 272
    4.  Train and Quarry...................................... 274
    5.  A Funny Story ........................................ 277
    6.  Spirituality ..........................................279

Conclusion ................................................... 283
Notes......................................................... 285
Bibliography ................................................. 287

                Foreword to the New Edition







It has been over a year since the first edition of my book was published. During that time, I have given many talks in several cities, given media interviews, and even been recognized in the street a few times (I am famous!). I have received over one hundred letters, both emails and handwritten, two of which invited me to join an organization to save the universe, the others simply expressing gratitude. I answered all of them, other than the two from another realm. It is nice when all kinds of people you do not even know like your work. That was a new feeling for me, something I was not used to. Before the first edition came out, I had no idea what kinds of things readers would share with me. I learned that many of them were really interested in finding out more about my specialty, that they were able to look beyond old prejudices, and some were even able to re-evaluate their lives. It would seem that my work was done. After all, the book came out, and people liked it. But, my dear readers, you have rightly pointed out to me that some things were missing from the book. I have tried to include them all here.
    In this new edition, I will talk about the many types of tools we use at work. Each of them has a specific purpose. I will also talk about what we do in the lab, about exhumations, motorcycle injuries, dismemberment, and iatrogenesis, and, finally, about some of my favorite students.

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IF THESE BODIES COULD TALK

                Some chapters include case studies and quotes from real criminal cases.
                I am always open to hearing from you. And I would be grateful if, after reading my book, you send me a few lines letting me know what you think. Email mossudmed@gmail.com or Instagram @mossudmed.

                Introduction







Once upon a time, when I was a boy, I saw the three-volume Atlas of Human Anatomy ¹ by Raphael Sinelnikov at my parents’ friends’ house. I got carried away by the book and its realistic drawings and Latin inscriptions. I could not understand a thing, but the words sounded so mysterious and fascinating. I was too young to be thinking about a career in medicine, but I knew that I was deeply interested in the human body, and the way that every single detail has been designed so carefully.
     Then I enrolled at the Omsk Medical Institute, which was renamed Omsk State Medical Academy just two years later (today, it is known as Omsk State Medical University). In Omsk (thanks, in part, to the excellent professors of the general anatomy department), I decided to specialize in this particular field of medicine. Even now, at Omsk State Medical University, there is an anatomical preparation* of upper extremity blood vessels and nerves in a formalin bath, prepared by me under the watchful eye of the admirable Professor Vladimir Rublev. After Omsk, fate took me to the challenging city of Chelyabinsk, where I completed my studies over the next four years, and where I delved into the most interesting topics, such as topographic anatomy and pathological anatomy. I also began specializing in forensic medicine there. In 1997, the Department of Forensic Medicine was a sad

    * Anatomical preparations—natural or artificially prepared parts of the human or animal body.

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