With his understated, methodical manner and trademark bow-tie, Government Forensic Pathologist Dr John Obafunwa resembles fictional detective Hercule Poirot.

And like Agatha Christie's character Dr. Obafunwa has dedicated much of his life to a form of sleuthing, arriving at murder scenes to give vital clues to detectives.

But deciding whether a death is suspicious is far from obvious, even when the “crime scene” is spattered with blood says Dr. Obafunwa, who is careful not to use examples from his two years in Bermuda.

“I had a situation where there was blood all over the place, smearing of the bedroom and bathroom with blood, the whole scenario looks suspicious but there wasn't any evidence of break-in.

“I discovered there were no other injuries and most of the blood was coming out of the mouth.

“The stomach was full of blood, this person had been vomiting blood, the smearing was due to the fact that he was losing consciousness and was confused.

“It turned out to be a bleeding ulcer.”

Conversely the discovery of an old man with a history of heart attacks and arthritis, found in his home was not the natural death it first appeared.

Scratches around the neck led Dr. Obafunwa to probe further. A dissection of the neck revealed broken bones - a case of strangulation.

Now suspicious, Police found the lock had been broken, indicating a break-in. A murder hunt was launched and two suspects were picked up and they confessed - witnesses said they had overheard the pair plotting to rob the old man.

DNA samples can nail a suspect, even if he manages to leave no trace at the scene - if he is found to have picked up hair or skin from the suspect then the evidence will be just as damning.

Blood trails can be a gold-mine to the trained eye, the distance between drops and their shape can indicate whether the injured person was running or walking. It can reveal how an assailant attacked his victim, where they were standing.

“I can tell whether the blood is going to the right or the left, I can tell by the shape of the blood stain, but you have to interpret that with caution. You can tell if it was squirting.”

Dr. Obafunwa's expert guidance can help pinpoint the time of death and help Police rule out possible suspects.

After three hours or so the blood will start to sink to the bottom of the body, indicating how long the body has been there by the amount of blood that has followed gravity.

Dr. Obafunwa says: “You can see through the blood through the skin.

The colour of blood also gives clues.

“After about six hours rigor mortis begins with stiffening of the smaller joints. After 12 hours it's well established, over several hours it starts to disappear.

“But it's not like you see in the movies where they say this person died at ten minutes past ten. In reality you come up with a time range - within the first 36 hours you can give a time range with a two to six hour interval.

“Beyond 36 hours you might not be able to give more than a 12-hour interval.”

A forensic pathologists must also factor in medications the deceased was taking and outside temperatures, says Dr. Obafunwa who worked in the very different climates of Scotland and the Cayman Islands and was born in Lagos, Nigeria.

After 36 hours decomposition starts and rigor mortis disappears and blisters and bloating sets in says Dr. Obafunwa who says medics must then cast their net wider for clues.

“We look at the type of flies and the presence of maggots. Flies come in waves, forensic entomologists must look at the generation of the flies that come, the flies come in, lay their eggs and they go through the larvae and pupa stage to become adult flies again.

“The forensic entomologist must work out how many generations have been through the body.”

Insects can also reveal tell-tale poisons and drugs in the body. “Whatever is in the body is what they ingest.”

The more the insects migrate from the area, the longer the body has been there and vegetation will also absorb body fluids, giving clues to the time the body has been there.

“If you drag the body from area A to area B you might pick up plants peculiar to area A but the body is in area B.”

Experts can even detect whether an assailant used a Philips screw driver or an ordinary one based on the shape of the wound.

But he says marks left by a weapon can be misleading. He was once challenged in court by another forensic pathologist, employed by a defence counsel defending two prisoners who denied using a broken piece of porcelain from a toilet to kill a prison officer.

His opposite number questioned why the prosecution thought the pointed cudgel could have left a T-shape mark in the victim's neck.

Dr. Obafunwa advised the Prosecution to fetch a piece of plasticine which was offered to the defence to try for themselves - the wedge-shaped weapon left a T-shape and the defence expert was suitably humbled.

But there were no hard feelings, says the affable Dr. Obafunwa. “We became friends after that.”

qTomorrow: Unravelling the mysteries of how people die including “dry” drownings.