Analysing forensic entomology data using additive mixed effects modelling

Abstract

Forensic pathologists and entomologists estimate the minimum post-mortem interval since a long time by describing the stage of succession and development of the necrophagous fauna (Amendt et al. 2004). From very simple calculations at the beginning, (Bergeret, see also Smith 1986) the discipline has evolved into a more mathematical one (e.g. Marchenko 2001; Grassberger and Reiter 2001, 2002) and tries to implement concepts like probabilities and confidence intervals (Lamotte and Wells 2000; Donovan et al. 2006; Tarone and Foran 2008, see also Villet et al. this book Chapter7). As pointed out by Tarone and Foran (2008) and Van Laerhoven (2008), the latter is one of the major tenets of the Daubert Standard (Daubert et al. v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals (509 U.S. 579 (1993)).