The Accelerating Effects of Burning on Carrion Decomposition

In some homicide cases, the victim's body is burned. There is little data that suggests that burned organic tissue decomposes at a faster rate than unburned tissue. This experiment used chickens to test if the burning of tissue had a faster decomposing affect than unburned tissue. Decomposition rate was examined through how many insects were on the carcasses in different amounts of sunlight. It was determined that a burned carcass, where there is some sunlight, decomposes faster than an unburned carcass. This information could be used to determine the time of death of a victim that was burned after death.