Autopsy as a form of evisceration: Implications for decomposition rate, pattern, and estimation of postmortem interval.

Evisceration following penetrating trauma or animal scavenging has the potential to affect the probative value of biological evidence and postmortem interval estimation. Autopsy presents an opportunity for controlled assessment of the rate of decomposition following evisceration. A balanced sample of twenty-six human cadavers was used to assess intergroup rate and trajectory of decomposition at the Forensic Investigation Research Station in Whitewater, Colorado.