Herman the Shocker
The Shocker brings you unfiltered views of reality and educational content from the world of crime, accidents, and forensics
Facial injuries caused by kicking and stamping. Death was caused by multiple fractures of the facial bones and…
This individual was hit by a car and slid on the road surface that lead to injuries to…
An elderly woman was found dead in October 2002 in her third floor apartment in urban Cologne, Germany.…
Whether the death is accidental, suicidal, or homicidal is one of the main questions asked of the forensic…
Postmortem animal interference of human corpses or remains is a well known phenomenon to forensic death investigators, the…
This woman has fatal injuries after falling on an escalator. Linear lacerations and abrasions are clearly consistent with…
A 22-year-old woman in Russia committed suicide by lying on the tracks in front of an oncoming train.…
The stippling around an intermediate-range gunshot wound will vary with the firearm and ammunition used. This is an…
A man’s body was found floating in the ocean approximately one-half mile offshore. A gaping head wound was…
Many well documented reviews of gunshot suicides show that the weapon is found to be still in the…
Decomposition, or putrefaction, is a combination of two processes: autolysis and bacterial action. Autolysis is the breakdown of…
This man committed suicide through the mouth with a rifle, in the photo we see the exit wound…
An unrestrained right rear seat passenger was propelled forward during a front-end collision. She landed in the right…
Contact entry gunshot wound from a .22-caliber magnum. A magnum load, because it has more gunpowder in the…
A man was found dressed in a formal suit, having taken his own life with a self-inflicted shotgun…
! Child death warning ! The Russia-Ukraine war, now entering its fourth year as of April 2025, has…
Dismembered torso in a homicide case. The severed neck of a dismembered torso must be inspected carefully for…
This photo shows the effect of a bullet that has grazed the scalp. A bullet graze wound occurs…
This individual died and his body was scavenged by a cat, no further info. The phenomenon of postmortem…
Note the bloating and decompositional blisters as well as the greenish discoloration around the area of the abdomen.…
This individual was strangulated with a rope and then the assailant cut the neck. In a homicide where…
Shotgun wounds impart a large amount of energy to the tissues, particularly if fired at contact or close…
A hard contact entrance gunshot wound is present on the forehead of a young homicide victim. This type…
This individual has blunt abdominal wounds after falling out of the cabin when his tractor rolled over and…
Maggots cause most of the body's decomposition because the maggot will do the majority of the eating. Maggots…
This photo illustrates the level of violence involved in drug murders. This victim and his associate were tortured…
A case where death was caused by self strangulation. The initial picture is vaguely suggestive of the arm…
The head is the most common location for a suicidal shotgun wound (74%), followed by the chest (20%)…
Decomposition, or putrefaction, is a combination of two processes: autolysis and bacterial action. Autolysis is the breakdown of…
In this intraoral gunshot wound, note the tissue tears extending from the sides of the mouth. These tears…
This pedestrian was transected through the torso when he was run over by a train. Note the large,…
USA. Police found the body of Dana Bailey on March 5, 1987, at her apartment. She sustained six…
A woman was discovered hanging in what appeared to be a suicide, and due to the passage of…
During a car crash, rotational movement of the occupant’s head against the jagged glass resulted in a deep…
Vehicular intrusion occurs when external objects penetrate a vehicle’s occupant space during a crash. In this case, a…
The images show a jet of ignited putrefaction gas (methane) at the end of a needle inserted into…
Suicidal hanging of a young man with the knees bent and the feet touching the floor. The hanging…
Germany. On the afternoon of a bright day in early spring, a 69-year-old man was riding a motorcycle…
Note the bloated face of the deceased. This victim’s body was found indoors during the summertime. He had…
Oval to round cutaneous defects caused by crustaceans postmortem on the neck and upper trunk in a drowning…
This 52-year-old woman has a contact gunshot wound of her right temple. Note how the scalp is split…
The morbidity and mortality produced by obesity in the United States and other developed societies has reached epidemic…
On June 28, 2009, a 70-year-old male corpse was found in his house in Pisa. He was lying…
Skin burns on a victim of lysol suicide. The trickle pattern makes it obvious that the victim was…
A 42-year-old woman was discovered dead, the body was covered with fungal plaques. She had been leading a…
Massive injuries from contact handgun wounds of the head, when they do occur, are associated with Magnum calibers,…
This individual died lying on top of a gun. The patterned appearance of the gun is seen because…
Postmortem animal depredation is a substantial part of the taphonomic processes a body undergoes after death. While the…
A woman was found dead in her apartment in January 2009. She had not been seen for 40…
This individual died from a complete body transection across abdomen, and decapitation in a motorcycle accident. Blunt-force abdominal…
This picture was taken by an Italian medical student during an autopsy on the island of Malta. Apparently,…
The "burst head" effect from a shotgun refers to extreme cranial trauma caused by a close-range shotgun blast…
Incomplete skeletonization of a forearm due to post-mortem animal scavenging by a domestic German Shepherd. Skeletonization (synonym: skeletalization)…
USA. A case of simple asphyxia combined with external airway obstruction by a plastic bag, in a suicidal…
This photo depicts a standard “execution type” drug hit. The victim’s hands were secured behind his back. A…
The individual shown in the image committed suicide by shotgun. The image is taken during autopsy. The head…
A 56-year-old woman was found dead in her bedroom. Her face and the bed were covered with thick…
This individual committed suicide by hanging. Here the body is at the morgue for inspection. Hanging is one…
2018 - Argentina. A 62 year old motorcyclist died after getting stuck to the rear underride guards of…
Numerous hesitation marks accompany the self-inflicted gouges to the neck by a broken bottle. Hesitation marks are not…
The April 2025 issue is out With a monthly subscription the Shocker brings you unfiltered views of…
This individual has self-inflicted incised wounds on the neck, in the antecubital fossae, and on the flexor aspects…
Serbia. A 67-year-old woman, without any somatic or psychiatric comorbidities, was found dead in a shed in her…
This individual was run over by a train. Railroad deaths in the US totaled 757 in 2020, a…
USA. A cluster of incised wounds across the face and neck. Incised wounds can also be referred to…
Occasionally, one is able to glean important information from wounds such as in the 19-year-old female featured in…
A man drove his watercraft into the port side of a boat. The propeller wounds begin on the…
This individual has fatal chop wounds on the side of the head from an axe. Chop wounds are…
Notice the protrusion of the tongue on this decomposing individual. The rate of decomposition depends on the temperature,…
A broad range of carnivores can be involved in the postmortem destruction of corpses located in open spaces…
Probes are effective in demonstrating the paths of projectiles through the body. All cutaneous wounds must be photographed…
Lacerations inflicted by a claw hammer. Multiple lacerations with split and abraded margins are typical for bludgeoning but…
This man has a gunshot wound on the right side of the chin. Stippling is evident immediately around…
Decomposition, or putrefaction, is a combination of two processes: autolysis and bacterial action. Autolysis is the breakdown of…
This man committed suicide by holding a grenade with both hands close to his mouth. Deaths from explosive…
On May 5, 1998, at approximately 9:17 a.m., Wichita, Kansas, officers were dispatched to a small, one-bedroom, duplex…
Note the bulging eyes, lips and face with protrusion of the tongue on this decomposing individual, all related…
The injuries sustained by victim who was beaten about the head and face with a rock. Homicidal blunt…
This victim who was inebriated had fallen off the bed unto the floor landing in this position with…
Middle-aged man committed suicide by shooting himself with a shotgun in the head. The head is the most…
The scrotal area enlarges during decomposition due to the buildup of gases produced by bacteria involved in the…
Explosive effect of a contact gunshot wound from a .44 magnum revolver. The explosive effect of the wound…
The March 2025 issue is out With a monthly subscription the Shocker brings you unfiltered views of…
Postmortem feeding from fish and crustaceans found on this body retrieved from the ocean. No further info. Bodies…
The individual in the pictures committed suicide by hanging. Marbling is a common finding usually found after at…
Two 21-year-old men were involved in a motor vehicle collision after being seen leaving a house party together…
An example of how blood can obscure the true nature of an injury. In the first picture of…
Decomposed head and fractured skull of a person, who disappeared in the autumn before the river was covered…
Russia. This individual was attacked and killed by a bear. Bear attacks can be fatal, though they are…
Suicidal firearm wound from a twelve-bore shotgun. The wound shows a muzzle impression with soot soiling, the double-barrelled…
This individual committed suicide by hanging in the woods. Hanging suicides in remote locations pose unique forensic challenges.…
USA. This victim was beaten and tortured before he was shot in the head, stuffed in a 55-gal…
An autoerotic asphyxia death in which the cross-dressed victim used duct tape, various ligature mechanisms, and freon gas.…
Massive body injury in a pilot who crashed at high speed (after clothing removal). An aircraft crash typically…
This individual has a skull fracture with exposure of brain mass, as well as a fracture of the…
Note the bloating and protrusion of the tongue on this decomposing individual, all related to the decomposition process.…
Mangled body after shell explosion, no further info. A shell, in a military context, is a projectile whose…
