Herman the Shocker
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US. Shotgun suicide, c.a. 1940's, colorized. No further info. In the head, neck, and limbs, shotgun exit wounds…
Scene of suicide. The victim was a 57-year-old psychiatric inpatient who had left her ward unnoticed and jumped…
Perioral lacerations from an intraoral gunshot wound blowback from a closed mouth. In this intraoral gunshot wound, note…
Chicago, Illinois, US. In this case, the female victim’s body was discovered by a relative who went to…
An elderly couple was found dead at home. The husband’s body was semiprone over the wife’s legs. The…
This soldier died in the Ukraine-Russia war and his body was scavenged by animals postmortem. The phenomenon of…
This individual committed suicide with a gunshot to the head. Head injuries from shotguns and high-powered rifles are…
The early bloating stage of decomposition is accompanied by drainage of red-brown purge fluid from the nose, mouth,…
Note the bulging eyes, lips and face with protrusion of the tongue on this decomposing individual, all related…
The September 2024 issue is out With a monthly subscription the Shocker brings you unfiltered views of…
These photographs depict the body of a man in a bathtub, fully clothed and lying in the water.…
Putrefaction with “purging.” Note the red to brown fluid gurgling from the mouth and nose. This can sometimes…
This man committed suicide by cutting his own neck. No further info. Cut throat is not the commonly…
Russia. This man was nearly decapitated. It is unknown if this was a homicide or an accident. Accidental…
Chop wounds of the scalp and skull from a hatchet. Chop injury represents a unique category of sharp…
Fatal head injury from a boat propeller. No further info. Often when discussing boat safety one aspect is…
Postmortem bloating of body may create a misleading picture of obesity. Bloody decomposition fluid oozing from mouth and…
Mogok, Myanmar - 2021. Two protesters were shot and killed by regime troops during a demonstration on Saturday…
Seen here is a close-range shotgun entrance wound as evidenced by the slight scalloping of the wound edges…
This individual died from autoerotic asphyxia using ligature strangulation. Note padding on ankles. Pornographic literature was positioned on…
Germany. In a case of extended suicide, a man killed his wife with a contact gunshot to the…
Mummification occurs in hot, dry environments. The body dehydrates and bacterial proliferation may be minimal. The skin becomes…
Maggots cause most of the body's decomposition because the maggot will do the majority of the eating. Maggots…
Russia. This individual committed suicide by laying on train tracks, she then got decapitated from an arriving train.…
Florida. The burned body of this young woman was recovered from the fire scene. She had fallen onto…
USA. This case involved a woman who was discovered in this position on her bed in her apartment.…
New York. These photos depict a close-up of the victim and the extensive damage inflicted by the high…
Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. Firefighters had responded to a house fire and in the process of extinguishing…
Russia. This woman has fatal stab-cut and incised wounds on the neck from her roommate. Stab-cut and incised…
This decedent was found in a car. Given the degree of decomposition, a protected sequestered source of DNA…
In the late 1980s, young women were being stalked along Route 40 in Delaware by a man who…
The Netherlands. A view of victim on floor prior to removal and a view of void area on…
Decomposition, or putrefaction, is a combination of two processes: autolysis and bacterial action. Autolysis is the breakdown of…
This individual died in his bedroom during a house fire, no further info. Nearly 4000 Americans die each…
The August 2024 issue is out With a monthly subscription the Shocker brings you unfiltered views of…
Although putrefaction is a mainly anaerobic bacterial reduction process, decomposition is dominated by aerobic microbiological processes that may…
This woman died from a gunshot wound to her face. Severe facial destruction is shown. Lacerations on the…
Spain. Cross section of the body from a train suicide. No further info. Fig.1 Cross section of the…
Spain. This individual fell from height and suffered multiple fatal fractures in the extremities; as well as skull…
Muzzle stamp abrasion with blow back lacerations. A muzzle imprint is a mark left on a person or…
Putrefaction is the most absolute sign of death. Externally, the first sign of putrefaction (decomposition) is a greenish…
A fatal case of burns by flash fire which caused the death of a 41-year-old woman when she…
Postmortem scavenging is common among wild and domestic rodents; they are well known to alter or destroy the…
This individual has been run over by a train causing extensive disintegration of the body. Railway injuries are…
January 28, 2018 - Magelang, Indonesia. A relative of an elderly couple was checking in on them but…
The photograph demonstrates a classic sweeping incised wound created by an individual standing behind the decedent. It should…
The police were called to a possible suicide. The only witness to the event stated that the deceased…
Patterned abrasion on neck associated with autoerotic hanging with belt, no further info. Autoerotic death refers to the…
In contact gunshot wounds with bony tissue underlying the injury, the injuries are typically called a stellate wound,…
Spain. This individual died after getting crushed by a building under construction. No further info. Fig.1 Worker crushed…
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Suicide victim found in mid- to late stages of putrefaction. The marbled green, red, and…
Postmortem venous marbling refers to the appearance of a marbled pattern on the skin caused by pooling of…
Krönlein shot indicates a prolapse of an intact brain hemisphere or, more rarely, of both brain hemispheres in…
A gunshot wound is an injury caused by a bullet or other projectile fired from a weapon, such…
Mummification occurs in hot, dry environments. The body dehydrates and bacterial proliferation may be minimal. The skin becomes…
Russia. A mentally ill woman killed her mentally ill mother in their shared apartment. The daughter used a…
This homeless man was found dead inside a concrete shelter. The body showed. evidence of postmortem animal scavenging.…
Los Angeles, US. This individual had been missing for a month when his body was found. No further…
The July 2024 issue is out With a monthly subscription the Shocker brings you unfiltered views of…
Although putrefaction is a mainly anaerobic bacterial reduction process, decomposition is dominated by aerobic microbiological processes that may…
Saponification is the process of the conversion of fatty tissue to adipocere. Saponification usually occurs in unoxygenated, alkaline,…
This individual has a fatal crushing injury to his head, no further info. A crushing brain injury causes…
Spain. This individual died after getting crushed by a building under construction. No further info. Fig.1 Worker crushed…
Patterned injury on the gluteal area of a victim who jumped from the 5th floor of a building,…
Tattooing results fom close range discharge, with gunpowder particles being impregnated into the skin. The dispersion pattern and…
Carbonized corpse prepared for dental identification. Postmortem identification represents one of the great branches of study and research…
Typical postmortem changes combined with mud and debris as well as sloughing of the skin of the hands…
Nassau County, New York. This photo depicts the position the body assumes as a result of intense heat…
September, 2020 - Jacareí, Brazil. An elderly man identified as Benedito Moreira was arrested on Tuesday, September 22,…
In contact gunshot wounds with bony tissue underlying the injury, the injuries are typically called a stellate wound,…
Victim of hemorrhaging peptic ulcer found on the floor in his bathroom. Note the brown color of the…
Switzerland. In October 2006, around 12 a.m., the Geneva Police Department police were informed that the body of…
Spain. Extensive destruction caused by an explosive device. No further info. Fig.1 Extensive destruction caused by an explosive…
Pontiac, Michigan. In a police interview, a man admitted to having gay tendencies at the age of seven.…
Skin slippage is a part of the decomposition process when the top layers of skin become disconnected from…
A recently deceased 48-year-old male was found supine, in a wooded area (Fig.1). There was a belt around…
When attempting to identify the remains of an unknown decomposed individual, it may be necessary to deflesh the…
Thermal charring (“fourth degree burns”). If an individual dies in a fire that continues to burn after death,…
Patterned lacerations from the claw end of a hammer. Claw hammers have the specific characteristic of having two…
Postmortem feeding from fish and crustaceans found on this body retrieved from the ocean. No further info. Bodies…
Multiple stab wounds into the back consistent with piquerism in a case of sexual homicide. Piquerism (from the…
The June 2024 issue is out With a monthly subscription the Shocker brings you unfiltered views of…
Russia - 2018. A 21-year-old Russian woman has been detained after confessing to dismembering the body of her…
Frontal aspect of a train after collision with a 63-year-old woman who remained standing between the rails in…
Spain. This middle-aged man committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning, he connected the exhaust to a tube that…
Contact wound of the left breast from a double barrel 0.12 gauge shotgun with a muzzle impression from…
Facial dissection. Facial fractures may not be visualized by radiologic imaging techniques. In this case it was important…
A garbage truck driver under the influence of drugs did not see his coworker behind him and reversed…
Circular saw cuts of the neck in a suicide, no further info. Accidental table saw injuries are common…
Cranial burst from a contact gunshot wound to the forehead. No further info. In the head, neck, and…
27-year-old man was playing with a .40 caliber handgun and accidentally shot himself in the head. No further…
Spain. Maxillary fractures caused by shotgun blast suicide with entrance via the oral cavity. No further info. In…
Various insects may take advantage of the nutritional factors a decomposing body has to offer whether through natural…
This individual fell from a height in rough terrain, and the body was cut in half from the…
This individual has greenish putrefaction skin discoloration and purging of putrefactive fluid from mouth and nostrils. During the…
This is the case of a 41-year-old male with a two-year history of depressed mood, for which he…
Associated with putrefaction is the production of gases. These gases, primarily located in the abdomen, cause the body…
Spain. Suicide by hanging with two turns of the ligature and detail of the two furrows and jugular…
The May 2024 issue is out With a monthly subscription the Shocker brings you unfiltered views of…
Germany - February 20, 2008. 32-year-old Matthias Schoormann, AKA Troll, had played guitar in a black metal band…
