Just a couple of points on this. To be picky, it's not actually carbon monoxide in the blood - it's carboxyhaemoglobin. That is the carbon monoxide that is bound to the haemoglobin, and that is why the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood is reduced. Carboxyhaemoglobin can survive in proper blood sample storage tubes for up to a couple of years, but I'm not so sure how long it would last in a body that has been exposed to the elements (as opposed to being in a mortuary refrigerator).
The damage to brain cells etc from hypoxia and other effects of CO poisoning is mainly at the microscopic level - we're not talking about brain damage visible to the naked eye in most cases. Would be very obvious under the microscope, but much more so in chronic toxicity that has been going on for some time (eg the person with the CO-emitting leaky exhaust pipe) as opposed to acute poisoning (eg suicide by the old exhaust-hosepipe-car method).
The main telltale sign of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning at an autopsy is the bright cherry red colour, particularly of the livor mortis - the staining of the lower parts of the body in the position of death by the blood under the effect of gravity. It is usually dusky, bluish-purple in colour. But in CO toxicity, it is bright cherry red - bit like a porcelain painted doll. Have seen it several times. Of course, we don't know if Allison's body had any signs of livor mortis, given that she'd been in several positions since death, from the back of the vehicle, then wherever she was placed, and finally tumbled and spun around in the flood surge. That can really muck things up in terms of signs like livor mortis.
Re the fractured hyoid bone, much loved by CSI and detective novels: yes, a brute-force strangulation WILL often do that, but not by any means always. If someone knows what they're doing, and compresses the trachea well below the hyoid (eg someone with army training, for example) then that will cause bruising of the trachea but no fracture of the hyoid. A small point, admittedly, as the strangulation will still be obvious, but the hyoid will be intact. And of course, there is carotid compression, which can be applied from in front or behind, and again would be known by people with training (army, police, etc). That wouldn't fracture the hyoid either. If anyone here has ever watched UFC on the television (Ultimate Fighting Championship), you may have seen choke holds applied which render the opponent unconscious - and they don't get fractured hyoids. I'm well aware of several methods of doing that.
However, I'm not sure why this has come up in the discussions here, as we have no evidence that Allison was either strangled or forcibly administered carbon monoxide.... we still have no idea of the cause of death.
And yes, I've asked my contact at the Forensic and Scientific Services, but he won't tell me... of course
Just a couple of points on this. To be picky, it's not actually carbon monoxide in the blood - it's carboxyhaemoglobin. That is the carbon monoxide that is bound to the haemoglobin, and that is why the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood is reduced. Carboxyhaemoglobin can survive in proper blood sample storage tubes for up to a couple of years, but I'm not so sure how long it would last in a body that has been exposed to the elements (as opposed to being in a mortuary refrigerator).
The damage to brain cells etc from hypoxia and other effects of CO poisoning is mainly at the microscopic level - we're not talking about brain damage visible to the naked eye in most cases. Would be very obvious under the microscope, but much more so in chronic toxicity that has been going on for some time (eg the person with the CO-emitting leaky exhaust pipe) as opposed to acute poisoning (eg suicide by the old exhaust-hosepipe-car method).
The main telltale sign of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning at an autopsy is the bright cherry red colour, particularly of the livor mortis - the staining of the lower parts of the body in the position of death by the blood under the effect of gravity. It is usually dusky, bluish-purple in colour. But in CO toxicity, it is bright cherry red - bit like a porcelain painted doll. Have seen it several times. Of course, we don't know if Allison's body had any signs of livor mortis, given that she'd been in several positions since death, from the back of the vehicle, then wherever she was placed, and finally tumbled and spun around in the flood surge. That can really muck things up in terms of signs like livor mortis.
Re the fractured hyoid bone, much loved by CSI and detective novels: yes, a brute-force strangulation WILL often do that, but not by any means always. If someone knows what they're doing, and compresses the trachea well below the hyoid (eg someone with army training, for example) then that will cause bruising of the trachea but no fracture of the hyoid. A small point, admittedly, as the strangulation will still be obvious, but the hyoid will be intact. And of course, there is carotid compression, which can be applied from in front or behind, and again would be known by people with training (army, police, etc). That wouldn't fracture the hyoid either. If anyone here has ever watched UFC on the television (Ultimate Fighting Championship), you may have seen choke holds applied which render the opponent unconscious - and they don't get fractured hyoids. I'm well aware of several methods of doing that.
However, I'm not sure why this has come up in the discussions here, as we have no evidence that Allison was either strangled or forcibly administered carbon monoxide.... we still have no idea of the cause of death.
And yes, I've asked my contact at the Forensic and Scientific Services, but he won't tell me... of course
ROTFLMAO
Love it
