Exhuming bodies

[horselady]

On the news there was an item about a body being exhumed and the police and forensic teams were assembling and waiting to start work at midnight. Anyone know why midnight in particular? I appreciate it should be carried out overnight, but they were very definite it would be midnight.

[Gromit]

Double time and a half starts.

[vehelpfulguy]

Maybe they were told it could start on a particular day, and of course if you do it within the first few minutes of that day it is dark and the press cant stick their noses in and take pictures etc.

[Joe_the_Lion]

I assume the warrant needed for such an exhumation started on a certain day and had to finish on a certain day. Therefore commencing at midnight gives the maximum time for the forensic pathologists etc to do their forensic pathology.

[horselady]

Those answers make perfect sense, (except for Gromits!) lol

[stokeace]

must be spooky..................

[stewey]

Stephen King and John Saul collaborated on the writing of 'Exhumations: Proper Procedures and Techniques' which is the text-book of choice amongst British crime-pathologists.

[cardi88]

apparently there are no laws or traditions concerned but out of respect and safeguard the family's dignity and health and safety and minimal press coverage they are carried out when the cemetry is closed to the public and as it can take hours, the cemetry staff needs to dig up the coffin and a funeral director needs to get a bigger coffin to place the dug up coffin into it for transportation - there would also be forensics there as well.