Death Investigation: Manner, Cause, and Mechanism of Death - A Lesson from The Professor

Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan

CrimeOnline and iHeartPodcasts

True Crime

4.8 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 3 June 2025

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Joseph Scott Morgan spends hours talking about crime scenes and forensics in the media and in the classroom. Today he explains everything from a "Natural Death" to "Russian Roulette". The key is to determine "How the Cause Came About".
Natural Deaths: Death as a result of a normal biological process. Accidental Deaths: Death that results from misadventure without assignment of blame to another by the certifier of death. Undetermined Deaths: The causative factors surrounding the death cannot be established. Homicidal Deaths: A death that is at the hand of another. Suicidal Deaths: Death at one's own hand

Transcribe Highlights

00:02.88 Introduction

00:56.30 More than just a "death investigator"

05:00.66 Teaching Forensics while covering crime

10:05.12 Cases thrown out due "dry labbing"

15:00.79 Determinations of how someone died

20:02.38 Manner of Death explained

24:59.02 Medical Legal ruling of Manner of death in Russian Roulette

30:03.94 The term "Cause of Death"

35:04.21 Death at ones own hand

Conclusion of Lesson One

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is an I-Heart podcast.
0:05.5	Quantit Facts with Joseph Scott Morgan.
0:09.7	Most folks out there know me as a death investigator.
0:13.4	As a matter of fact, if you ever see me pop up on any of these television platforms or even on a podcast somewhere, they'll say death investigator,
0:22.7	Joseph Scott Morgan.
0:24.7	But you know, there's actually a bit more to me, other than that, from a professional
0:28.7	standpoint.
0:31.4	At this point in my life, I have spent as much time now in academia as I did as a death investigator.
0:41.8	So you can call me a death investigator if you want, but I'm also a professor.
0:48.4	And right now I teach at Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, Alabama.
0:53.5	I've been here for just over a decade.
0:56.7	The one thing that motivated me to start this podcast, Bodybags,
1:02.8	is there's a need for people to receive an education in forensics,
1:09.6	at least at a baseline. And considering that, I know that I have
1:17.3	been infinitely blessed with the circumstances in my life and with the opportunities I've had.
1:26.7	So with that spirit in mind, this is going to mark the first in an ongoing series of, let's
1:36.4	just say it, an introduction to forensic science.
1:41.6	And I want to offer this up to all of our listeners as kind of a peek behind the curtain.
1:47.6	And maybe, just maybe, you'll come away with more of an understanding of my world and the world
1:55.3	of forensic science. I'm Joseph Scott Morgan and this is Bodybacks.
2:06.9	Dave, to start off, I have to say, I got to confess a bit of, hmm, I want to make a confession here.
2:16.5	When I started off as a young man, I was, let's see, how can I say it?
	...

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