Skull Cracking: The Forensic Side

When a loved one passes away, the last thing you want to think about is what is going to happen to the body. If the person died from unusual circumstances, it may become a Medical Examiner case. It is also up to the Medical Examiner if the deceased will be a view, meaning they will simply look at the body and take some toxicological samples, or an autopsy. Now autopsies are where I come in.

In our office, the technicians open up the heads for the doctors. This is not the same at all offices, but simply the case at ours. Opening up a head can be tricky so just in case you were wondering here is the step by step.

Now in most cases, these deceased will be having an open casket wake of some sort, so it is important to not change the hair aka cut it. Long hair, especially cornrows or dreadlocks, can make cutting very difficult, so they must be tied up and away from the cutting line.

The cutting line is also known as the " pillow line". This is because when the deceased is placed in a casket, the pillow will cover up any stitching that may be visible, so it is important to not go higher than this line, or you may have some angry funeral directors. The cut begins from right behind the ear across slightly below the top of the head all the way behind the other ear. The shape will look like a horseshoe if it is done correctly.

Once the cut has been made, use your fingers or some instrument to separate the skin from the skull. This can sometimes be difficult because the skin may be very thick or very "clingy" to the skull. Once you are able to get at least the length of your thumbs under the skin from ear to ear, flip the skin over the deceased face. You do not want to pull the skin further than the "bump" at the top of your forehead. This is because you may pull too far and go past the eyebrows or even the eyes. You also do not want to rip the ears during this process. Again, we do not want angry funeral directors here. Pull the bottom half of the skin almost to the neck line.

Cut the temporal muscles ( the muscles on the side of your skull that give you nasty headaches ) along your cutting line. The skull cutting line goes parallel to where the skin folds, making an obtuse angle at either side of the skull. Once that line is defined, cut along that line with a rotating saw. The saw will not cut through muscle very easily, hence having to cut the temporal muscles before hand. Once the skull cap is cut, gently pull back to reveal the brain. You might have to stick your hand in to help separate the brain from the skull cap. And voila! Your head is now open! To close the head simple put the skull cap back on and whipstitch the skin together.