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

This individual was found dead in water. Postmortem activity by eels were discovered on the body. Such injuries…

USA. This 18-year-old man died in a motor vehicle crash with rollover and ejection. No further info. Rollover…

This individual died after shooting himself under the chin with a hunting rifle. No further info. Head injuries…

~1990s - A 48-year-old landlord’s wife suffering from chronic depression committed suicide with a band saw by amputation…

A 25-year-old woman had moved in with her 34-year-old boyfriend 3 weeks earlier. The brother of the boyfriend…

In this intraoral shotgun wound, note the tissue tears extending from the sides of the mouth. These tears…

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

Many times it is difficult to make a physical identification of the victim’s bloated body recovered from the…

Iceland. A 28-year-old man was reported missing by his mother. He had a medical history of depression, for…

I have sadly no information about this one. Found in teaching material from the Office of the Armed…

Colombia - November 2003. Six police officers died in a road explosion by guerrilla group FARC. According to…

USA. Self-inflicted injuries on a prison inmate who hanged himself after writing "Satan is coming take me home"…

Spain. Mummified body of a woman preserving her facial features, weighing 13 kilos. Mummification occurs in hot, dry…

Occasionally, the fragile orbital roofs and ethmoid bone are so severely fractured as to allow pulpified brain tissue…

Decomposition of the gastrointestinal tract results in a dark, foul-smelling liquid called "purge fluid" that is forced out…

Spain. This middle-aged man decided to end his life using a shotgun. No further info. Head injuries from…

Spain. This individual committed suicide by hanging, with possible change of mind and attempt to remove the ligature,…

The individual in the images received the injuries postmortem by a domestic dog, cause of death unknown. No…

Maggots cause most of the body's decomposition because the maggot will do the majority of the eating. Maggots…

This decomposed man was found in the prone position, having collapsed to the ground face first near his…

Post-mortem decomposition showing varying degrees of putrefactive changes in the face, trunk and extremities. The image shows the…

Maggots are the larval form of flies. Flies lay their eggs in small and sometimes large bulky clusters…

A middle-aged female pedestrian died after accidentally stepping in front of a moving bus. The cause of death…

Autopsy facial dissection is a procedure that involves the careful dissection and examination of the facial structures of…

Spain. Mummified body with cobwebs in the oral cavity. No further info. Mummification occurs in hot, dry environments.…

This middle-aged male individual was located in a burnt-out car with a knife protruding from his neck. This…

Suicide by shotgun: entrance wound in the mouth and facial major lesions. It has been clearly established that…

March 2016 - Belo Horizonte, Brazil. A 37-year-old man was found dead by his father at his residence…

A 29-year-old man was fishing when his canoe turned over and his body submerged. The body was recovered…

Spain. This is probably a case of autoerotic activity or masochism, where the victim appears to have hanged…

Spain. This individual killed himself with a shotgun. He had just killed his father, who had terminal cancer.…

Cologne, Germany. The body of a 66-year-old man was found by his wife wrapped up in plastic garbage…

Nassau County, New York. This individual has a stellate-shaped contact wound to the head, stippling, and soot deposit.…

Nassau County, New York. This badly burned body had been dumped at an outside location where animals fed…

Cadaver decomposition island is the area of concentrated decomposition fluid surrounding decomposing remains. Associated with active decomposition is…

Between 1989 and 1996 three women were sexually assaulted, strangled, and killed in Yonkers, New York, by an…

The individual in the images received the injuries postmortem by a domestic dog, cause of death unknown. No…

This individual suffered a fatal head crushing injury from a moving train, no further info. Railroad deaths in…

This individual suffered a fatal head crushing injury, no further info. A crushing brain injury causes damage to…

Knox County, Tennessee, USA. Police were called to a home residence in connection with an unresponsive man. His…

Associated with putrefaction is the production of gases. These gases, primarily located in the abdomen, cause the body…

Slovakia. A newly widowed 79-year-old man was found dead in front of the garage of his family home,…

The first type of insect to arrive at a dead body is usually a blowfly (Calliphoridae), attracted by…

Decomposition, or putrefaction, is a combination of two processes: autolysis and bacterial action. Autolysis is the breakdown of…

Mexico City, Mexico - February 9, 2020, a woman was brutally murdered by her partner who skinned and…

Moderate to marked putrefaction. Identification may sometimes be challenging with advancing decomposition. This individual had a tattoo on…

Spain. Destruction of the facial skeleton due to shotgun blast. No further info. Shotguns differ from rifles and…

This individual has a contact-range gunshot wound on the forehead. No further info. In contact gunshot wounds with…

Pasadena, Texas, 1975. The nude body of 22-year-old Deborah Elizabeth Hester was found strangled in her apartment. She…

Larimer County, Loveland, Colorado, USA. The decedent and one employee were trimming trees on private residential property. The…

Australia - This middle-aged male individual was assaulted in his home. When the individual was located his ankles…

This individual suffered a fatal head crushing injury, no further info. A crushing brain injury causes damage to…

October 1998 - Bellingham, Washington, US. 20-year-old Keri Lynn was visiting relatives in Bellingham, Washington, and she had…

Decomposition of the entire body, including discoloration, skin slippage, bloating, mummification of lower arms, legs, and thighs, and…

Note the bulging eyes, lips and face with protrusion of the tongue on this decomposing individual, all related…

This individual has a shotgun shot wound. A large central defect is surrounded by smaller shotgun shot wounds…

C.a. 1995. This individual died during autoerotic activity, it is possible the individual was inhaling some chemical inside…

Australia. This male individual died from sharp-force injuries to the chest and left wrist in the setting of…

This body was recovered after fourteen days in a well-heated residence. The necks of the teeth display ‘pink’…

Naberezhnye Chelny, Tatarstan, Russia - November 2020. A 65-year-old worker died at the KAMAZ PJSC factory when he…

February 14th 2000 - Mendig, Germany. Following routine maintenance, a Sikorsky CH-53G military helicopter was returned to service.…

Contact wound of the right temple with evisceration of the brain. Note soot at the entrance site. In…

Chicago, Illinois. The victim of a lust murder, who had been stabbed multiple times in the chest with…

Dumped body (Illinois State Police case Highway 64). Animal scavenging on face and left arm. This victim was…

This individual died and was attacked postmortem by a cat, no further info. Postmortem animal depredation is a…

This victim fell off a tractor and sustained severe chop injuries when he was overrun by the chopping…

Spain. Middle facial injury with cranial rupture caused by shotgun blast. No further info. Despite the extreme amount…

Pontiac, Michigan, US. On Tuesday, July 11, 1995, the nude and battered body of Margaret Midkiff, a 43-year-old,…

Germany. A 45-year-old woman committed suicide by hanging herself in her bathroom. The string was attached to the…

Indian River County, Florida, US. On July 26, 1983, David Alan Gore and his cousin, Fred Waterfield, were…

Homewood, Alabama, US. On March 9, 1990, Homewood Police responded to a report of a murder from the…