Investigator Barnes has examined the body of a young man who was murdered in his apartment. The body is just beginning to relax from rigor mortis. If the time is now 10:30 am on Friday morning, the condition of the body would indicate what possible time of death?

Between 2 am and 10 am on Monday

Between 10:30 am on Wednesday and 10:30 am on Friday

Between 10:30 pm on Wednesday and 10:30 pm on Thursday

Between 10:30 am on Saturday and 3 pm on Wednesday

Between 10:30 pm on Wednesday and 10:30 pm on Thursday the death has occurred.

Option C.

Explanation:

Rigor mortis is the phenomenon where the dead body becomes stiff and rigid because of some chemical and enzymatic reactions inside the dead body after a few hours of its death. Rigor mortis occurs as the glycogen reserve of the body has ended and the ATP production mechanism has been finished, resulting in non detachment of actin and myosin filaments from each other, resulting in the muscles being stiff as ropes.

Time of rigor mortis depends on the body glycogen reserve, the ambient temperature, and humidity as well. In warmer regions, the rigor mortis sets in quickly as well as depletes away quickly. The reverse occurs in colder region. In our climate, Rigor mortis sets in from the papillary muscles of eyes after about 12 hours of death, as well as dissappear after 12 hours of set in. So about 12 to 24 hours is spent in appearing and disappearing of the rigor mortis.

Here in the said body, the death has occurred between 10:30 pm on Wednesday and 10:30 pm on Thursday.