Does anyone else here think that the subzero temperature and decomposition therein (and in snow) had anything to do with the lack of tissue damage below the epidermis?
Everyone knows that there were superficial epidermal wounds yes but the terrible internal skeletal damage (on the Ravine 4 and even the skull of Nikolay - bc there was some hemorrhaging in the tissues of Rustem's head) sustained without damage to the tissue covering these bones on nearly EVERY body is very mysterious. Surely it has something to do with what is common amongst them: that they died in the cold snow? Perhaps the freezing of the tissues after a quick death would prevent blood leaking into those tissues or the tissue itself froze upon death, somehow preventing any damage?
The other thing I'm thinking has to do with a really bad joke about using insulation (a phone book) to absorb the force of um....violent methods of interrogation or beating someone up, to minimize the appearance of damage on the victim.
Do you think this could have anything to do with lack of tissue damage?? The only insulation I can think of though is layers of clothing to absorb the impact of a hit. I don't think this applies to the broken ribs of the 2 in the ravine, but could possibly apply instead to the skull fractures.
I think something of immense force and energy (like a blast) is the only thing that can account for the rib (skeletal) damage, but am unsure as to what type of energy could do that and not damage the tissue covering the bone. Also unsure if perhaps snow acted as an insulator, absorbing some of the force??
ALSO unsure if a quick death in frigid temperatures and decomposing in snow is maybe the answer to lack of tissue damage.
P.S. Was looking at the skull fracture on Nikolay's head again and it DOES look circular. Like he was hit in the head with something. The coroner said he couldn't have been hit with a rock or whatever because of the lack of underlying tissue damage. However he was wearing a fur hat (insulation)??
Looking at the rib fractures and analysing them from a materials and mechanics perspective IMO the most likely cause of these fractures was a fall from about 5 metres onto relatively flat ground. I have estimated the forces involved to be between 2 and 2.5 tonnes delivered very rapidly. In other words a fast impact. Human beings can't deliver this level of force. Also if you look at the rib fractures, they formed along clean lines and both Semyon and Luda have fllaid chests with two fracture lines acros one set of ribs. To me this indicates that the ribs were rapidly over stressed such that the breaking stress was achieve in more than one position on the ribs. If the force had been applied slowly,then only one point on the ribs is likely to break as the first break relieves the stress on the second point.
Also if you look at Lyuda's other injuries, crushed nose, damage to soft tissues of face and large bruise on femur it seems like she fell flat on her front, while Semyon landed more on his right side. Semyon also has a large laceration exposing his skull on the right side of his head. Thibo's skull is a bit more difficult, but could have Been cause by a fall too. One of the interesting questions that I think about is if they did all fall why? I can't see why they would all fall unless they cognitive abilities had been affected. All of them were well padded with clothes which would also spread out the forces.
The cold may explain the lack of any obvious tissue damage. Its a possibility. The histology report says that there is no cellular reaction which I find puzzling. The cellular reaction is the normal response of cells that have been damaged and where the blood supply (oxygen) supply to the cells is cut off. A lack of cellular reaction would suggest that the damage may have occurred after they had already died, or it may suggest that there was already a Significant lack of oxygen in the blood when the damage occurred. A lack of oxygen in the blood would also lead to poor cognitive function and possibly unconsciousness.
Just a thought on whether the injuries were caused by a blast. A blast is capable of causing those injuries yes. But If they we're standing up when they were hit by this blast it would also be capable of propelling them upto 50 metres horizontally and that should have caused further significant secondary injuries which don't seem to be present. The blast would have hit them causing the crushing injuries but would also accelerate them. They would then need to decelerate by either bumping along the ground or hitting something more solid. For a fall the initial acceleration doesn't result in any injuries. It is only the deceleration that results in the one set of injuries.
Regards
Star man
Topic: Lack of tissue damage (Read 36334 times)
