Autopsy: A Forensic Manual for Criminal Investigators

The medicolegal autopsy has the purpose of securing medical information needed for the administration of justice. This requires a forensic pathologist to explore areas not ordinarily examined during the routine autopsy that might be conducted on a person that dies while in the care of a physician. The pathologist performing the medicolegal autopsy needs to know the circumstances surrounding the death and any information gathered from the scene of the incident to supplement what is found during the examination of the deceased. If possible, the pathologist or a trained investigator representing the pathologist should be called to the scene of an incident involving violent death or death under suspicious circumstances.