For 32 years, forensic pathologist Philippe Boxho has been making the dead speak. After training in general medicine, he decided to turn to forensic medicine. No question for him to hear that he does this profession out of spite. On a daily basis, he is called to crime scenes to examine the bodies, scrutinize the lesions and precisely determine the causes of death. Director of the Forensic Institute at the University of Liège, he has just released his second book entitled Interview with a Corpse, published by Kennes. Philippe Boxho wants to publicize his profession and make his profession understandable to the general public. Encounter.
Le Point: How has the profession of forensic pathology evolved over the years?
You are the last point of contact for the families. How do you help them grieve?
The medical examiner has a fundamental role, he is the only one who can tell families what their loved one died of. All relatives always have the same questions: how did he die? Why ? when did he die? First of all, relatives always want to know if there has been suffering. We are not here to bring them a watered-down truth, we never lie. There is no point in alleviating suffering. If we disguise reality, they will eventually realize the lie and they will no longer have confidence in the judicial process. It would be dramatic.
A particularly significant autopsy?
A young woman shot her father nine times with a gun as he slept. During the autopsy, I found that each of the lesions was atonic, none was bleeding. Which means they were made when he was already dead. Thanks to the autopsy, I was able to determine that, in reality, he had died during the night of a cerebral aneurysm. Her daughter shot her right after, so she is not considered a murderer. To speak of murder, the victim must be alive when she is killed: this is not the case here, so the girl is not condemnable.
I also remember the story of an alcoholic man who had swallowed a small plastic fork from a Belgian chip shop. When you swallow something, there is first an opening in the esophagus and then a narrowing where it meets the aorta. The fork remained wedged at the height of the aorta. As it went, it gradually entered the aorta. He went to the hospital but the plastic fork was not seen on examination. He then returns home, he lived for several days with this fork in his body until the day he was found dead lying in a puddle of very red blood, so it was arterial blood. I then see the piece of fork next to the bloody vomiting. During the autopsy, I discover that it did pass through the esophagus, it entered the aorta, and the aorta finally leaked inwards.
The medical examiner is often a key character in detective films and series. A true-to-life representation?
Absolutely not ! Often forensic pathologists are portrayed with “atypical” features. This is not the case at all, we are all relatively normal. Besides, being a bon vivant is an essential quality in my opinion to be a medical examiner. In addition, it is important to have a well-grounded psychology and to be able to make the difference between work and private life. As I often say, I never come home with a corpse in my head. On a purely medical level, you have to like anatomy and physiopathology, that is to say the functioning of the human body.
It is a profession surrounded by many clichés. In reality, autopsies are also not like what you see on television. The techniques have nothing to do, the autopsy rooms either. Even the sounds of the penetration of certain objects into the bodies have nothing to do. Another disturbing element, the corpses are often very badly represented. The most realistic corpse I’ve seen was in Crimson Rivers, it was exceptionally lifelike.
Interview with a corpse – A forensic scientist makes the dead speak, by Dr Philippe Boxho (Kennes editions, June 2023, 216 p., 19.90 euros).
