QMy novel is a contemporary mystery set in a tiny coal mining community in south central Ohio. My murder victim is an adult male whose body was recently found in an abandoned underground drift (coal) mine fifteen years after he was stabbed to death with a pickax. A drift mine is relatively close to the ground as opposed to an underground shaft mine. He was wearing his work clothes and boots and hard hat at the time of the murder. My bad guy covered up the murder by detonating a small explosion, making it look like a natural rock slide had occurred, effectively entombing the body. Over the years subsidence created a little opening to the mine, and the body was discovered.
What condition would the body be in? Could identification be made other than through a metal tag/ID chain he had on his person as well as his lunch box and name-embroidered coveralls? If the pickax is found near the body, will it be obvious that it was the murder weapon? What wounds might remain fifteen years later on the skeleton, assuming it’s relatively preserved? Is it likely that the medical examiner will declare the death a murder? An accident?
Anna Slade
Austin, TX
AAfter fifteen years they would most likely find only skeletal remains. All the tissues of the body would have long since decomposed. I should point out the skeleton would not be intact since the ligaments and tendons that hold the bones together would also have decayed. It would simply be a pile of bones.
Identification could be made using dental records if any were available, his wallet and the materials inside it, his lunch pail, his clothing, or any jewelry or leather products he wore. Any metal and perhaps any leather products would still be intact, but clothing might or might not be. The ME might also be able to extract DNA from the bones or the teeth, and this might provide the ID.
Since no tissues remain there would be no visible wounds. However, the ME still has the bones to work with. His best piece of evidence would be finding a puncture wound into an intact skull that exactly matched the dimensions of the ax blade. If so, he could state with fairly good confidence that this was the murder weapon. Of course, the skull might not be intact because it could have shattered during the explosion and cave-in. Also, he might see chips and scrapes and channels cut into other bones that he could then match to the ax blade. Not as good as the skull but still suggestive.
Even if these things are seen, he still might not be able to determine that the bony damage came from the pickax and not from the explosion and the falling rocks. Since falling rocks can produce chips and scrapes and cuts and fractures to bones, he would have to consider the possibility that the rocks caused the injuries rather than the ax. Again, finding a skull injury that exactly matched the dimensions of the ax blade or pick would be the most compelling evidence for murder.
The ME might also find dried blood on the ax, and if so, he might be able to obtain usable DNA. If this matched the victim’s DNA, it would strongly suggest homicide.