Herman the Shocker
The Shocker brings you unfiltered views of reality and educational content from the world of crime, accidents, and forensics

This individual is showing decomposition changes. Decomposition, or putrefaction, is a combination of two processes: autolysis and bacterial…

This individual committed suicide by hanging. When the body was found it was in an advanced state of…

Turkey. On October 4, 2024, Istanbul was shaken by a horrific incident where 19-year-old Semih Çelik brutally murdered…

This individual committed suicide by hanging. Postmortem animal activity can be seen on the ear and chin of…

This individual was a victim of an explosion, with severe destruction in the thorax and abdomen due to…

The October 2024 issue is out With a monthly subscription the Shocker brings you unfiltered views of…

Colombia. This individual was fatally struck multiple times in the face with a metal pipe, the lesions clearly…

The phenomenon of postmortem animal interference with human bodies or their remains is a substantial part of the…

This individual committed suicide with a shotgun blast to the head. The head is the most common location…

This individual was found lying on his left side with a mild to moderate degree of putrefaction. note…

India. On the 22nd of May 2010, a Boeing 737-800 aircraft crashed at the Mangalore International Airport killing…

Toronto, Canada. Body found in water in an early stage of putrefaction with extensive wrinkling of feet and…

Postmortem scavenging is common among wild and domestic rodents; they are well known to alter or destroy the…

Italy. A 19-year-old woman suffering from anorexia and depression (not pharmacologically treated) had experienced further exacerbation of her…

Irregular, stellate appearance with a central defect surrounded by radiating lacerations. In contact gunshot wounds with bony tissue…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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. This individual fell from height and suffered multiple fatal fractures in the extremities; as well as skull…

Putrefaction is the most absolute sign of death. Externally, the first sign of putrefaction (decomposition) is a greenish…

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…

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.…

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…

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…