A STIFF drink before you meet your maker might confuse police investigating your death, experiments on pigs suggest.
Finding out when someone died can be difficult if the body has lain undiscovered for some time. Forensic scientists often use maggots found on a corpse as a guide, as different fly species lay their eggs at different stages of a body’s decomposition.
But that relies on knowing how long the maggots take to develop. Temperature and the presence of illicit drugs in the flesh make a difference. Now Kimberly Tabor at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg and colleagues have found alcohol does…
