Table 1.

Results of the first forensic autopsy of Mário Guilherme Augusto de Sampaio.

Forensic autopsy	Results
External habit
	• Livor mortis in the dorsal region of the trunk and upper and lower limbs • Reddish spots on the dorsal region, compatible with rubefacient agents applied antemortem • Bloody foam coming out through the nose and mouth
Internal habit
Cranial cavity	• Extensive and generalised meningeal, arterial, and venous congestion extending to the inner surface of skull • Numerous miliary haemorrhagic foci appearing along the vessels • The opening of the upper longitudinal sinus resulted in an outflow of a large quantity of partly coagulated black blood • The section of the brain exhibited the same intense vascular congestion, extending to the medulla oblongata • Examination of the spine was not performed due to the absence of adequate instrumentation
Thoracic cavity	• Absence of abnormalities in the anterior mediastinum • Normal pericardial fluid without bleeding, abnormal pigmentation, bruising or milky plaques • Perfectly normal external surface of the heart correlating to the age of the victim • Opening of the cardiac cavities in situ showed the following: i) Right ventricle with black fluid blood, normal internal surface and preserved integrity of the tricuspid valve; ii) Right auricle filled with black and partly coagulated blood. The large clot on the auriculoventricular orifice was soft, elastic, and reddish yellow in colour. Nothing abnormal on the walls of the auricle or in the holes of the vena cava; iii) Left ventricle was filled with black fluid blood and stopped in diastole. Perfect integrity of the mitral and aortic valves was noted. This perfect integrity of the valves was later confirmed by the water test. The inner surface of the ventricle and auricle were perfectly normal • After excluding the absence of bilateral pleural effusion, the heart, the lungs and trachea, were removed en bloc • The lungs were perfectly permeable and normal, but heavily congested • In the trachea, larynx and thick bronchi, abundant bloody foam was noted
Abdominal cavity	• Absence of abnormal adhesions between the different organs • Gastric and duodenal contents, urine, brain, cerebellum, stomach, intestine, liver, and pancreas were collected for toxicological and histological examination. The viscera were preserved in ethanol • Bladder contained approximately 170 mL of urine • The inner surface of the stomach was covered by a viscous liquid of yellow colour, slightly greenish and adherent • On the surface of the longitudinal folds of the stomach and duodenum, a vascular congestion was perfectly clear, similar to that of the brain meninges • Slate-coloured liver both on its surface and in the different cuts • In the spleen and kidneys, nothing was noticed that was worthy of special mention