Grafton County Series,  Research,  The life of a writer,  True Crime

What is Adipocere or Corpse Wax?

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What is Adipocere?After deciding to use a specific decomposition process in my WIP, I called my consultant at the Grafton County Medical Examiner’s. I hadn’t spoken to her in a while. Our last conversation wound up being so detailed, so informative, that I didn’t need to bother her for SCATHED or SILENT MAYHEM. But in my research for RACKED, Book 4, Grafton County Series, I needed more information about Adipocere — also known as corpse wax or grave wax.

I’ll get to our conversation in a minute. In order to understand my question for the ME, let’s first define Adipocere.

What is Adipocere?

Adipocere is a Latin term, which literally means “fat wax.”

Adipo = Fat

Cere = Wax

Adipocere forms when fat cells are starved of oxygen. Most commonly present on children and women, due to a higher fat content, Adipocere can preserve a corpse for decades, even a century. Male corpses are also at risk, under the right conditions. This process isn’t super rare, but it’s also not something you see every day. My crime writer brain lit up!

Adipocere occurs in DBs (dead bodies) found in a moist, cold environment, such as in wet ground or mud at the bottom of a lake, or even a sealed casket. It can occur with both embalmed and untreated bodies, usually attacking the cheeks, breasts, abdomen, and buttocks. For remains submerged in frigid water for an extended period of time, the body can completely saponify (see below). Even on dry land, corpses found wrapped in plastic — which provides a moist environment in and of itself — can also undergo Adipocere.

In forensic science, using Adipocere formation to estimate time of death is limited because the speed of the process is temperature-dependent. It’s accelerated by warmth and temperature extremes impede it. Hence why I needed the Medical Examiner’s help. It’s also why I included Adipocere in my plot. Not only did it improve my scene but it also gave Niko a fantastic teaching opportunity. 🙂

What is Saponification?What is Adipocere?

Under certain moist and anaerobic bacterial conditions, this process can lead to the entire body turning into Adipocere, known as saponification. Saponification is defined as the conversion of fatty acids into soap through hydrolysis, creating glycerin.

Imagine? We can turn into soap! Although, I wouldn’t recommend chipping off chunks to use in the shower. 😉

What Happens to Bodies in Water?

Moments after death, body decomposition kicks in as bacterial enzymes start to break down the body’s soft tissues and spread throughout the blood vessels. From there, it’s a fairly predictable process of putrefaction, then bloat, purge, advanced decay, and finally, dry remains. However, submersion in water slows down this process and stops the remains from becoming a buffet for flies and other insects like it does on land.

Since there’s a lot we don’t know about underwater body decomposition, scientists recently conducted an experiment by dumping pigs into Canadian waters.

If the victim drowns, the air sacs in the lungs act like a sponge, filling with water. The body initially sinks to the bottom. If someone murdered the victim before tossing the body in water, the sacs in the lungs are able to hold air for up to six hours after death. But if investigators find the corpse within a reasonable timeframe, the pathologist could potentially determine the manner of death.

Manner of death categories:

  • Accidental
  • Natural
  • Homicide
  • Suicide
  • Undetermined

Eventually, though, those air sacs will fill with water, making a “floater’s” manner of death difficult to determine.

The epidermis blisters, the corpse morphing into a putrid greenish-black from being submerged in water for an extended period of time. The skin of the hands and feet swell, bleach, and wrinkle. Think, pruned fingertips from swimming or relaxing in a bathtub for too long, only on a much larger scale.

Bacteria in the gut and chest cavity builds up, producing methane, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen sulfide — otherwise known as gas — which causes the body to float to the surface. Because the torso rises first, the head and limbs drag behind it. Some might remember that I showed this process in CLEAVED.

If the body’s submerged in water during the winter, like my DB who’s trapped in the water shed, Adipocere forms. Then the remains take on a hard, grayish, waxy appearance from the cold temperatures inhibiting bacteria production. This process occurs over weeks or months, depending on the environment, when the fatty tissue beneath the skin begins to saponify. Meaning, turns into soap

So, now that you know what Adipocere is, my conversation with the ME went something like this …

“Hi, it’s Sue Coletta. I was wondering if I could pick your brain again.” I knew she wouldn’t mind, so I got right to the point. “Conservation officers find a corpse in a water shed in December.”

“Okay …” she says, a hesitation to her tone.

“The DB’s covered in Adipocere and—”

She cuts me off. “Whew. I was just thinking, ‘How am I ever gonna explain what Adipocere is?’”

I laughed. Obviously, she didn’t realize who she was speaking to. 😉 Pro tip: Always do your homework before contacting a consultant! “Since Adipocere formed in the cold weather, would the DB stay preserved through the summer months and still be preserved the following December, or do I need to get her out of there sooner?”

As the conversation continued, the ME getting more and more jazzed about the storyline, she then assigned me homework. “I need accuracy in the books I read,” she says, taking my work as seriously as hers. “So, you need to find out the temperature of the water in the summer. Do you have access to that information?”

“It may take me a couple days to find out. I do know the agency who services the water shed, though.” Before calling her, I’d taken photographs of the area, public permits, and limited test results. “With any luck, they recorded the temperature while testing the water. I’ll find out and get back to you.”

What is Adipocere?

Turns out, this became a much larger task than I’d anticipated. On the third day of searching, it became obvious that I needed to leave the house. Sometimes, research requires wearing out the shoe leather to find the answers we seek. Which is no big deal. For LURED, I visited the pawn shop, a local artisan, and the local police station. Specifically, their interview room and jail cell. And today, I’m headed to a reported haunted house that plays a role in the plot. Not in the way one might think, though. 😉 The owner of the abandoned property I’d met at my book signing last month. See why it pays to mingle with readers?

Wish me luck! If the rumors about the haunted house turn out to be real, I may need it.

 

Sue Coletta is an award-winning crime writer and an active member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and International Thriller Writers. Feedspot and Expertido.org named her Murder Blog as “Best 100 Crime Blogs on the Net.” She also blogs on the Kill Zone (Writer's Digest "101 Best Websites for Writers"), Writers Helping Writers, and StoryEmpire. Sue lives with her husband in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire. Her backlist includes psychological thrillers, the Mayhem Series (books 1-3) and Grafton County Series, and true crime/narrative nonfiction. Now, she exclusively writes eco-thrillers, Mayhem Series (books 4-9 and continuing). Sue's appeared on the Emmy award-winning true crime series, Storm of Suspicion, and three episodes of A Time to Kill on Investigation Discovery. When she's not writing, she loves spending time with her murder of crows, who live free but come when called by name. And nature feeds her soul.

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