The Forensic Doctor Better Than a Detective

Qin Feng went on to describe the preliminary situation of the on‑site examination: ”After our bureau received the report, we immediately dispatched the on‑duty crime scene team and experienced forensic backbones to rush to the scene and conduct a comprehensive and meticulous examination of the body and the surrounding area.”

”According to the forensic doctor’s preliminary on‑site inspection, no obvious mechanical external injuries were found on the surface of the deceased’s body, especially on the face, hands, wrists, and elbows—parts that are prone to injury in physical conflicts. No signs of abrasions, contusions, or lacerations were discovered.”

”Considering that the incident occurred in May, when the temperature was relatively high, the deceased was wearing a short‑sleeved T‑shirt, with a large area of the upper limbs exposed.”

”If a physical altercation with others had occurred in such a cluttered environment as a construction site, it would usually be very easy for characteristic injuries to form on parts like the hands, wrists, and elbows.”

”However, in this examination, no injuries were found in these key areas.”

”Based on this objective situation, the forensic doctor’s preliminary analysis was that there were no signs of a violent fight at the scene, and the deceased had not suffered obvious external force attacks during his lifetime.”

Next, Qin Feng slid the mouse again and displayed three other photos side by side on the same PPT slide.

These photos clearly showed local details of the corpse, focusing in particular on the upper limbs and arm areas.

”Regarding this body, as I just mentioned, no injuries were found on the deceased’s wrists and elbows.”

He paused briefly, signaling the audience to pay attention to the images. ”According to our general experience, if the deceased still retained consciousness while falling, the human body would usually make instinctive resistance or self‑protection movements, which often result in abrasions or bruises on protruding or friction‑prone areas such as the elbows and wrists.”

”However, as everyone can see, on this deceased’s wrists, elbows, and both forearms, the skin is intact, with no contusions or abrasions.”

”This suggests that at the moment of the fall, the deceased had very likely already lost the ability for autonomous self‑protection, or in other words, his self‑protective consciousness had already been lost.”

After a brief pause, Qin Feng continued to explain: ”This finding is precisely one of the key bases on which we later identified the cause of death as ’sudden cardiac death.’”

”In such situations, the deceased often suffers instantaneous loss of consciousness due to sudden cardiac arrest, and thus is unable to make any buffering or defensive movements.”

After a short pause, he switched to the next part of the content: ”After the incident, we not only conducted a detailed examination of the body, but also carried out a thorough investigation of the surrounding environment at the scene.”

”Although the construction site was equipped with a surveillance system, unfortunately, the location where the deceased fell happened to be behind several large machines—including excavators and bulldozers—forming a blind spot in the surveillance coverage.”

”Therefore, we were unable to restore the specific process of the fall at that moment through video footage.”

Qin Feng’s tone turned more cautious. ”This has also become an important reason why the family has found it difficult to accept our identification conclusion.”

”After all, the inability to visually see the process of death has brought considerable confusion and doubt to the family, both emotionally and cognitively.”

He then continued to elaborate in detail: ”The on‑site photos we see here fully document the distribution of all objects within a 100‑meter radius centered on the deceased. Although the items in the construction area were relatively cluttered, we checked one by one the surrounding construction equipment and tools, including scaffolding, rebar piles, and formwork, and did not find any new scrape marks, drag marks, or signs of damage.”

”In particular, we carefully inspected the excavators and bulldozers parked near the scene, including their window glass, metal shells, and all parts of the vehicle bodies, and found no obvious impact dents or scratches.”

”Taken together, these circumstances basically allow us to rule out the possibility that the deceased had experienced intense physical conflict or violent external assault during his lifetime.”

After a brief pause, he added findings from the on‑site canvassing: ”The incident occurred during the construction site’s rest period. Although some machinery in the background was still operating, with continuous noise, if there had been calls for help, quarrels, or other loud commotion at the scene, they ought to have been heard from the nearby workers’ dormitory.”

”We subsequently conducted visits in the dormitory area, where two workers were drinking indoors at the time and remained relatively clear‑headed.”

”They both clearly stated that they had not heard any abnormal shouts or sounds of dispute during the period when the incident occurred.”

”This collateral evidence further supports the assessment that there was no obvious process of confrontation at the scene.”

He then shifted the topic to the forensic examination: ”After completing the on‑site investigation, in order to thoroughly clarify the cause of death, we immediately commissioned the forensic identification center of the medical university to carry out a systematic judicial autopsy and pathological examination, so as to gain a deeper understanding of the deceased’s health condition.”

”The investigation found that as early as a year ago, during his hospitalization for acute appendicitis, the medical record had already noted that his heart showed signs of mild coronary blockage.”

”In the comprehensive examination by the forensic identification center of the medical university this time, it was further clearly confirmed that a distinct atherosclerotic plaque had formed in his coronary arteries, with significantly thickened vessel walls and a degree of luminal narrowing that met the pathological criteria for grade‑III sclerosis.”

Raising the report in his hand, he summarized: ”This ’Forensic Autopsy Pathology Report’ issued by the Forensic Identification Center of Guangling Medical University concludes that the deceased died of sudden cardiac death caused by severe sclerosis of the coronary arteries of the heart. The cause of death is clearly determined and fits the characteristics of sudden death due to natural disease.”

Qin Feng then continued with a detailed introduction: ”We first consolidated all information including the determination of the cause of death, the results of the on‑site investigation, and what we had obtained from preliminary interviews, and after repeated assessments and discussions by the special task force, we reached a preliminary conclusion: Li Yong died of sudden cardiac death caused by a sudden onset of heart disease.”

”We informed the family of this conclusion in accordance with procedure, but the family strongly refused to accept it.”

”They insisted that Li Yong had been ’worked to death’ on the construction site, that it fell within the scope of a work‑related injury, and demanded that the construction side make full compensation according to the standards for work‑injury compensation.”

”This is precisely the core reason why the family has since persisted in petitioning and repeatedly lodging complaints.”

”During this period, we took the initiative many times to communicate with the family, tried to explain the medical appraisal basis and the relevant laws and regulations, and even specially invited the chief forensic examiner from the medical university to appear in court, to elaborate in professional terms on the causes and characteristics of sudden death, in an effort to dispel the family’s doubts.”

”However, these efforts had very limited effect. The family remained resolute in their attitude, regarding financial compensation as their sole demand. They even asserted in subsequent litigation that they suspected Li Yong had been ’killed by someone,’ and solemnly stated that they wanted to track down the so‑called ’real culprit.’”

”From our perspective, this is essentially still an attempt to secure higher compensation by exerting pressure.”

Qin Feng raised his head and said, ”Cases of this kind are indeed very difficult to handle. They not only involve a large amount of mediation and explanation work, but also occupy grassroots police forces and social resources over a long period.”

”We have specially invited the experts from the provincial department today in the hope that, with your broader perspective and richer experience, you can help us broaden our thinking in handling this case.”

”I believe that complex cases like this, which involve medical identification, the emotions of the family, and disputes over compensation, are by no means easy to handle even on a province‑wide scale.”

”I sincerely ask all of you to share without reservation some practical handling methods and coordination experience, to help us push this matter to a thorough resolution, and allow this case, which has long consumed the energy of all parties, to be brought to a close.”

Having finished speaking, Qin Feng turned his gaze to Mr. Chen.

Mr. Chen nodded slightly and then took over: ”Just now, Captain Qin Feng has already given a fairly clear introduction of the basic situation of the case. I will simply add two points.”

”Judging from the existing evidence, the facts are relatively clear: there are no external injuries on the body of the deceased, no signs of fighting at the scene, and no suspicious personnel movements have been found. But in our case handling—especially in the absence of direct surveillance footage—our conclusions should not be expressed in absolute terms.”

”Although all current indications support classifying this as an accidental event of sudden cardiac death, we still hope that the expert group from the provincial department can help us check from two angles: first, to review whether our existing conclusions are solid, whether our reasoning is rigorous, and whether there are any omissions in our investigative direction.”

”Second, regarding the follow‑up work on this case—especially how to properly handle the appeasement of the family, resolve the ongoing petitions, and achieve a true sense of ’case closed and matters settled,’ thereby restoring stability to local social order—we would like some guidance and suggestions.”

After Mr. Chen finished speaking, the conference room fell silent.

Everyone’s gaze turned, almost in unison, to the four members of the expert group from the provincial department, waiting for their response...