[Remarkable findings in the criminal dismemberment of a corpse]

The objects of examination were two legs and two arms that were recovered at different times from waters traveled on by motor ships. The right leg was exarticulated at the hip joint, as was the right arm at the shoulder joint. Identification was complicated since both thumbs were exarticulated at the basal joints; the fingers II to V, respectively, were partially amputated. Identity (57-year-old vocational school teacher) could be established nevertheless by a number of anatomic findings (such as Dupuytren's contracture, coxitis, hallux rigidus), the blood group "O" was tatooed on the inner side of the left upper arm. The results of the laboratory examinations were only of limited use due to advanced decomposition (beginning formation of adipocere). Special attention should be given to the fact that on the same part of the corpse there were signs of defensive corpse dismemberment and injuries from a ship's propeller as well. Under no circumstances can an examination of the bones, after thorough maceration, be dispensed with; X-ray examinations are also imperative in cases of this nature.