An elderly couple was found dead at home. The husband’s body was semiprone over the wife’s legs. The supine body of the wife was in obvious early putrefactive decomposition with bloating, marbling, discoloration, and blister formation. The husband’s body did not show evidence of decomposition. As the woman appeared to have died possibly 1 to 2 days prior to the man, it raised the speculation that the husband committed suicide after his wife died.
Fig.1 An elderly couple was found dead at home.
Fig.2 The supine body of the wife was in obvious early putrefactive decomposition.
Fig.3 The husband’s body did not show evidence of decomposition.
Autopsy disclosed that the woman died from a ruptured myocardial infarct with resultant hemopericardium. The husband had a dark fluid in the stomach with associated dark staining of the lower esophagus. The husband’s cause of death was pended for toxicological analysis to rule out an overdose. Toxicology was negative for both decedents. The husband’s cause of death was determined to be hypertensive heart disease with a contributory cause of diabetes mellitus.
Fig.4 The woman died from a ruptured myocardial infarct with resultant hemopericardium.
Fig.5 The husband had a dark fluid in the stomach with associated dark staining of the lower esophagus.
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