Writing Assignment 2 Death Investigations

Death Investigations
Name
Institution
Death Investigations
Differentiating between the manners of death, namely; homicide, suicide, accident or natural death depends mostly on the intent of the action that led to the death of an individual. A homicide occurs when the death was inflicted by another person intentionally. As noted by Lynch and Duval (2011), homicide may occur without criminal intent, such as in self-defense, and can be termed as a justifiable or excusable homicide. When a homicide occurs with criminal intent, it is termed as a felonious homicide. Lynch and Duval (2011) also indicate that homicide can be termed as sexual if the intent is based on a sexual component. The suicide occurs when the action resulting in death was self-inflicted and intentional with the aim of causing harm or death (Lynch & Duval, 2011). There must be enough evidence indicating that the individual was not assisted by anyone while inflicting their death. The accidental death occurred when the cause of death was unintentional and unforeseen (Lynch & Duval, 2011). It can occur as a result of the carelessness of the victim or another person. A natural death occurs as a result of the aging process or diseases (Lynch and Duval, 2011). In most cases, natural death is investigated if the death was unattended, or the attending physician fails to sign the death certificate. This is done to ensure that it was natural since it can also be a cover-up of death with intent.
Both natural and accidental deaths are unintentional whereas suicide and homicide are usually intentional. Also, the cause of death can be similar in suicide, homicide, or accidental deaths, such as through gunshots or blunt force trauma. All deaths, as noted by Lynch and Duval (2011), should be handled with a certain degree of suspicion. This will help eliminate any indication of foul play or intent, and ensure that the investigators do not miss out on anything that can be helpful in determining the manner of death.
In a death case involving asphyxia in a motor vehicle, the manner of death of the victim was declared as an accidental death. One factor that resulted in this classification was based on interviews with witnesses who revealed that the man lost control of his car, which was on very high speed (Bucholtz, 2015). This eliminated suicide because the man lost control unintentionally. Further, the man was the driver, and there were no other occupants in the car, thus eliminating homicide. After examining the scene, it was revealed that he died of asphyxia since his head was compressed to his chest by the car’s roof.
While investigating a death, the investigators must bring on board various specialists. This is to ensure that any unnatural or suspicious deaths are well investigated to establish the manner of death and ensure any suggestion of foul play is eliminated (Fish, Miller, Braswell, & Wallace, 2014). This is different from other crimes such as assault where the intent is mostly known. Further, since the victim cannot talk unlike in other crimes w...