CSI Taiwan? (post-mortem investigations)

Discussion Open Forum
1

As my girlfriend’s father ages further and further north of eighty, it occurs to me that somebody is going to have to figure out what to do when he dies. Probably not me, but that got me to wondering.

Having noticed how the authorities here handle lesser burdens, I wonder what they do when somebody actually dies or is killed. Also considering the level of gang activity here, this makes me suspect that the process of investigating deaths, natural or otherwise, may be less than rigorous.

So let me put out a call for any observations, enlightening and/or amusing anecdotes, translations of police / medical procedural manuals, etc. that you may have.

From what I’ve seen of the police, I can’t imagine how they ever catch anybody who doesn’t actually confess. Confronted with a dead body of some sort, do cops here show much interest in how it got that way?

I’m guessing they would rather pass the buck to the autopsy people, unless there is something obvious like a knife sticking out the back. (Perhaps it matters whether this is happening in Taipei or some other place.)

If medical evidence is needed, which is likely, I wonder how competent the medical people are. The hospitals vary a lot, even in the same hospital, if their treatment of the living is anything to go by.

And then there are the d.a.'s or whatever the local equivalent is. What are their lives like, I wonder? Of course some of these people were working during martial law, so they might have worked for the Jedi and the Sith simultaneously, if you see what I mean…

Well, what are your impressions? Anybody had somebody die on you?

2

Season 2 finale on AXN tonight. Claims be to the most gruesome yet.

3

Miami? or Las Vegas?

4

I think what you need to investigate are “reasonably priced funeral arrangements.”

If someone passes away peacefully in their sleep, or even if they pass away sitting in a chair watching some ridiculous Taiwanese TV soap opera, there is usually not the need for an elaborate investigation.

I have heard that most city/county governments have procedures in place to provide “reasonably priced funerals” which in fact comply with all local customs and preferences. This seems important to me … since when the time comes you probably won’t be in the mood to go shopping around for the needed services and comparing prices …

5

Miami? or Las Vegas?[/quote]

axn-asia.com/series/default.asp#final

axn-asia.com/schedule/default.asp

Actually it’s areplay of the season finale CSI Miami Season 11

My AXN is from the Philippines, not from Taiwan.

6

A friend of mine died a couple of years back. He was very healthy but died in his sleep ( I believe it was after some dodgy acupunture for a sore back but that’s just my opinion)

the coroner had his grieving father sign a paper saying it was from natural causes unknown but he was satisfied with the findings. then they had the body cremated. I don’t think it was a conspiracy but just typical incompetence that I’ve found to run rampant here.

The father really regrets what he did but he hd just flown i to pick up his sons body and wanted to end it as soon as posible.
just be carefull and don’t sign anything until you are sure.

7

Remember to hire a stripper for the wake.

8

The most civilized way to kick the bucket is to drop in an ICU in Taiwan. That way nobody suspects foul play and no autopsy is called for usually.

The extent of post-mortem investigation varies proportionally with the wealth and clout of the deceased or surviving kins. Or if the kins can scream loud enough to the media to trigger public concern or official intervention.

As anecdote, in 1984 I saw from a 5th floor window a woman on a scooter knocked over by a coach rounding a left. She was not wearing a helmet in the Good Old Days and had her bean cracked on impact. Blood and brains flowed all over as she lie dead for over an hour on a busy section of ZhongShiao E. Rd.

Finally a windowed van came. Two men picked her up like trash and tossed her into the back.

The bus driver would likely get a fine for careless driving causing manslaughter. But a lawyer would defend that the victim was at fault for being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Post-mortem investigation in that case would be as likely as Marilyn Monroe enrolling in a course of infrared remote sensing.

A post-mortem snoop would only be done if the cops were notified of a death. And you are right in that the cops here care about professional dedication as much as an under-inflated tire on his neighbor’s SanYung motorbike.

FYI, the funeral parlors here typically have a few cops in their backpockets. That way certain deaths such as traffic mortalities, etc. can be conveniently directed to their doors.

Yes. There would be reams of rules on post-mortems in Taiwan. But you know how it is here. Theory is to impress the folks but practice is for the under-paid slaves.

9

[quote=“Screaming Jesus”]As my girlfriend’s father ages further and further north of eighty, it occurs to me that somebody is going to have to figure out what to do when he dies. Probably not me, but that got me to wondering.

Having noticed how the authorities here handle lesser burdens, I wonder what they do when somebody actually dies or is killed. Also considering the level of gang activity here, this makes me suspect that the process of investigating deaths, natural or otherwise, may be less than rigorous.

So let me put out a call for any observations, enlightening and/or amusing anecdotes, translations of police / medical procedural manuals, etc. that you may have.

From what I’ve seen of the police, I can’t imagine how they ever catch anybody who doesn’t actually confess. Confronted with a dead body of some sort, do cops here show much interest in how it got that way?

I’m guessing they would rather pass the buck to the autopsy people, unless there is something obvious like a knife sticking out the back. (Perhaps it matters whether this is happening in Taipei or some other place.)

If medical evidence is needed, which is likely, I wonder how competent the medical people are. The hospitals vary a lot, even in the same hospital, if their treatment of the living is anything to go by.

And then there are the d.a.'s or whatever the local equivalent is. What are their lives like, I wonder? Of course some of these people were working during martial law, so they might have worked for the Jedi and the Sith simultaneously, if you see what I mean…

Well, what are your impressions? Anybody had somebody die on you?[/quote]

Are you planning on offing your girlfriend’s father?

10

My class at the MOJ just finished a two week unit on comparisons between the California medical examiners system and the Taiwanese one. What triggered this two week excursion into the world of death and death by foul means was the fact that the MOJ is getting tasked with coming up with a new medical examiner system. I will give you the ten second version:

The current system (to the extent the word “system” applies, “current situation” is perhaps more apt) is an utter fucking disaster; riddled with corruption, incompetence and covered up deaths at the two ends of the life spectrum (i.e. deaths by child abuse and deaths as a result of elder abuse). A thick coating of Taiwanese vague/conflicting/rarely enforced regulations along with a varnish of the stinking civil servant mindset complete the system.

The problem is money and face: Taiwanese doctors (as recent events show) are in medicine for two reasons money and face. Accurately, impartially and aggressively determining causes of death does not supply either money or face so Taiwanese doctors are not interested.

So the number of M.E.s is very low and they shuffle most of their work off onto their assistants. (as a historical note, I saw in the Su Chin Ho death penalty case file a great picture of a set of M.E. assistants doing their work; two of the jerk offs had cigarettes hanging out of their mouth

11

Now that’s more like it! Thank you especially dix, Canuck, and Bryan for those observations. About what I suspected, though I would have thought there’d be a difference between Taipei and the boondocks.

As I said, I don’t think I’ll be the one in charge of handling girlfriend’s dad’s funeral, especially since I lack (what was the expression somebody used above?) “local values.” Nor am I in any great hurry to see the fellow die, though his wife does grate on my nerves now and then.

Personally, I’d like to have one of those marching bands perform for mine. I heard one of them playing the theme from “The Love Boat,” so help me. And they wore pink suited skirts. That plus a pyramid of Taiwan Beer would make me a happy ghost.

If memory serves, most U.S. regions require an autopsy (not necessarily from a physician–this part varies a lot) in cases where the deceased was not in the care of a physician. Some places let it slide if it was obviously old age, or if there’s some extenuating circumstance like if he died in an avalanche or accident (making recovery of the body more difficult). I get the impression that the attitude of the family is more important here–if they are satisfied, then so is everybody else. (In the U.S. they’d be the number one suspects!)

12

My wife’s family has been urging me to get life insurance and has even volunteered to pay the premiums. :noway:

13

I find that many people avoid the concept of “life insurance” because it sounds unlucky.

I thought of a couple of related topics, which could shed some light on the death investigation thing.

(1) Of people convicted of murder here, how on earth did they typically get caught? Are the murderers as incompetent as the police?

(2) Are there any noticeable abnormalities in Taiwanese death statistics? For example, Brian alluded to undetected murders especially of children and the elderly. What are their deaths usually ascribed to, then?