Herman the Shocker
The Shocker brings you unfiltered views of reality and educational content from the world of crime, accidents, and forensics
Please consider donating to keep the website running
Body in stages of black putrefaction. Black putrefaction is the stage where the exposed flesh blackens, and the…
The body of a 35-year-old woman was recovered from the bank of a swamp in the southeastern United…
Spain. A middle-aged woman suffering from major depressive disorder who jumped out of a fourth floor window in…
Identification may sometimes be challenging when the victim has severe injuries. This individual has facial injuries from a…
Adipocere, also known as corpse wax, grave wax or mortuary wax, is a wax-like organic substance formed by…
A woman was found prone on the floor next to her bed with her nightgown displaced upward, exposing…
Inspection of teeth in a skeletonized corpse. The teeth and dental restorations are the strongest elements in the…
The March 2024 issue is out With a monthly subscription the Shocker brings you unfiltered views of…
Russia. A mentally ill man killed his mentally ill mother. According to the son, the mother was possessed…
Distant-range wounds of the right side of the face (from a .357 Magnum revolver). Irregular, cruciform, or stellate…
Adipocere formation occurs by alteration of subcutaneous fat of a corpse into a grey-white lipid mixture. With time,…
Spain. This 55-year-old male was run over by a train with the intention of committing suicide. His family…
This cadaver is being dissected by medical students. A pacemaker can be seen on the chest. The modern…
Toronto, Canada. Body is bloated with increased internal gases heightened during mid-stages of putrifaction. Note the bagging of…
Penetration of the wrist and chest by a wooden component of a bus seat. The victim drove his…
If a body is placed in water containing a large amount of bacteria, such as that from sewage…
2012. The New York Police Department (NYPD) received a call informing them of a possible homicide. The informant…
Spain. Mummification occurs in hot, dry environments. The body dehydrates and bacterial proliferation may be minimal. The skin…
Spain. Homicide carried out by two attackers at the same time; one with a normal knife, and another…
This individual has signs of postmortem (after death) animal scavenging around the mouth, made by a dog that…
The February 2024 issue is out With a monthly subscription the Shocker brings you unfiltered views of…
Germany. A young, initially unidentified female was found dead in public on a snowy winter day. She was…
Advanced decomposition is characterized by an extremely bloated, greasy, and darkened body. This is the decomposed body of…
This individual committed suicide by gunshot wound of the forehead. A large stellate contact entrance wound of the…
Although putrefaction is a mainly anaerobic bacterial reduction process, decomposition is dominated by aerobic microbiological processes that may…
Maggots are the larval form of flies. Flies lay their eggs in small and sometimes large bulky clusters…
This individual has an extensive destruction of the head, no further info about this case. Head trauma from…
The individual in this photograph has postmortem changes associated with small fish that feed on soft tissue like…
Larger carnivore activity is common in rural and suburban areas. In many cases, there may be activity from…
Almaty, Kazakhstan - 29 May 2013. A young couple committed suicide together by jumping off a 12-story building.…
Extensive traces of scavenging next to the body after it had been enclosed at home for an extended…
Arterial patterns on wall and floor in conjunction with large accumulation of blood from victim with malfunctioning arterial…
The body of a man was seen floating in a lake near the shore. Once the body was…
This 28-year-old man committed suicide by cutting his throat, he was feeling depressed after a breakup with his…
A postmortem face peel-down examination showing injury of and around the left eye with bleeding (hemorrhage). When injury…
Contact (entrance) gunshot wounds to the head often show large stellate defects, due to the explosive blast of…
Turkey. A 54-year-old male was found murdered in prison by his cellmate. Examination of the scene and the…
New York. This individual was murdered by his male partner. Note the increased level of violence and “overkill”-type…
This woman was found dead in bed, fully dressed. The upper front of her shirt was heavily blood-stained…
The January 2024 issue is out With a monthly subscription the Shocker brings you unfiltered views of…
Mexico. A 42-year-old man was murdered and left out in the field. Animal scavenging had occurred to his…
This image is an example of how clothing can slow down the decomposition process. Note that the skin…
USA. A woman’s roommate found her beaten to death on a mattress located on the floor of their…
When deaths are violent, suspicious, sudden, and unexpected, a Medical Examiner performs a post-mortem examination. Medical examiners specialize…
Mummification occurs in hot, dry environments. The body dehydrates and bacterial proliferation may be minimal. The skin becomes…
Germany. Suicidal cut of the throat by a chainsaw. No further info. Suicides involving the use of chainsaws…
Maggots cause most of the body's decomposition because the maggot will do the majority of the eating. Maggots…
USA. A 35-year-old male was found dead in the basement room where he slept, which also served as…
A 47-year-old female was found lying unclothed on the kitchen floor at her home address. There was extensive…
South Korea. Translated from Korean. The deceased is an unemployed 66-year-old man. After his divorce, he lived alone…
Distant range stellate entrance wound on the lip. Distant gunshot wounds of the head may have a stellate…
Rockland County, NY, US. In March 1985 some young boys found a charred and mutilated corpse in a…
Brazil. A woman committed suicide by throwing herself under a moving truck. Suicide by truck, also known as…
This victim died after jumping from the third floor of a building landing on his face. Severe disruption…
In March 2012 a charred corpse was found near the Shkotovo-Artem highway in Russia. The corpse was discovered…
This individual was killed and cut in half when hit by a train, no further info. Railroad deaths…
The December 2023 issue is out With a monthly subscription the Shocker brings you unfiltered views of…
Distant range stellate entrance wound on the forehead. Distant gunshot wounds of the head may have a stellate…
A woman was found prone on the floor just inside the front door of her house. A puddle…
India. This body was found in a pond, no further info. Associated with putrefaction is the production of…
Russia. This individual committed suicide by intraoral shotgun wound. In the head, neck, and limbs, shotgun exit wounds…
USA. A motorcyclist changed lanes on the freeway to avoid stopped traffic ahead of him. As he started…
Spain. No info. Suffocation by plastic bag is not common. The finding of a body at the scene…
These are short, linear, angulated, incised injuries caused by the characteristic cubed fragments of shattered tempered glass. Tempered…
Gunshot wound on the neck, no further info. A gunshot wound (GSW) is a penetrating injury caused by…
Italy. A 73-year-old woman was found dead in her own home by the police. The police intervened because…
Cook County. The plastic bag prevents the physiologic breathing by rapid oxygen consumption and mechanical obstruction of the…
This individual has a contact-range gunshot wound on the head. The head has been shaved around the wound.…
Fatal lacerations from hammer on the head. No further info. Claw hammers have the specific characteristic of having…
Chicago, Illinois. The victim was a 34-year-old white female, who lived alone in an apartment on the north…
An example of a body demonstrating relatively advanced decomposition, with bloating, skin discoloration, and abundant purge fluid. The…
The November 2023 issue is out With a monthly subscription the Shocker brings you unfiltered views of…
Nassau County, New York. Skeletal remains of a body found outdoors. No further info. Skeletonization is the state…
This individual committed suicide with a gun. He has massive head trauma and cranial rupture. The head is…
Lehigh Acres, Florida, US, 2002. A 63-year-old woman lived with her 34-year-old son in a residential neighborhood in…
Italy. A 53-year-old female psychiatrist was fatally stabbed in her office in a Mental Health Center by a…
This individual died and his body was scavenged by animals, no further info. The phenomenon of postmortem animal…
The Rettendon murders (also known as the Range Rover murders or Essex boys murders) occurred on 6 December…
Germany. This individual was murdered and the body then dumped in a river. A stab wound was noted…
Spain. The trauma to the scalp was inflicted with a blunt object (glass ashtray). The wounds could be…
Brazil. Rapid skeletonization of remains may occur in bodies of water in tropical areas due to water temperature…
February, 2015 - Nakhon Pathom, Thailand. A 45-year-old worker died in a gruesome accident at a plastic window…
The October 2023 issue is out With a monthly subscription the Shocker brings you unfiltered views of…
Massive head trauma severely limiting visual identification. No further info. At close range, the shotgun is the most…
Exit gunshot wounds are usually irregular in shape and relatively large – and may be confused with contact…
Bulgaria. The victim is a 37-years-old male. The cadaver was found in the apartment where he lived. It…
On Halloween, 2006, 18-year-old Nikki Catsouras crashed her father’s Porsche 911 Carrera, driving at more than 100 miles…
Homicidal cut throat. No further info. Cut throats can be homicidal, suicidal or accidental. Homicidal cut-throats are a…
This individual was killed when he was run over by a vehicle. One characteristic of traffic accidents is…
This woman’s face was eaten by the family dog postmortem, which increased putrefactive changes to the internal components…
Facial injuries sustained when a letter bomb exploded as it was being opened. No further info. It is…
The figure shows three radiating petals from the entrance wound under the jaw of a victim of suicide…
This individual died after getting hit by a train, no further info. Railroad deaths in the US totaled…
A 42-year-old man was found with his head, torso, and most of his upper and lower extremities completely…
This individual has been stabbed multiple times in the chest and abdomen, the body has been washed at…
A war crimes investigation in Serbia and Republika Srpska of a beheaded Serb by a Bosnian Al-Qaeda terrorist…
Bronx, New York City. This is the victim of a rape–homicide that occurred in an unoccupied apartment within…
Spain. Open secondary skull fracture at exit of a shotgun blast. No further info. Head injuries from shotguns…
Avulsion laceration produced from a shearing-type force, with a resultant ‘flap’ of torn & undermined tissue. Raccoon eyes…
Tangential gunshot wound of the left cheek from a 9 mm bullet. If a bullet is deformed or…
