The Case of the Murdered Midwife
Part I: The Investigation
It’s your first day shadowing a detective, and already it’s been interesting…if you can
call the murder of a young woman interesting. You’ve been trying to detach yourself by
reading the file, but you have interviews later this morning and you’re nervous. Going
back to the file, you jot down some notes on what you know so far.
Meleea was a 35-year-old nurse midwife with over ten years’ experience delivering
babies both in hospitals, as well as in homes when risk for complications were low. She
was healthy; her only medical condition was an allergy to bee stings. The body was
discovered by her boyfriend when he came over for a planned dinner. The dinner –
spaghetti – was laid out, but no cooking had begun. There was also a plate of cupcakes,
with a bite out of only one of them. The boyfriend said Meleea had not mentioned
feeling unwell when they spoke earlier in the day. She was, however, tired, and
understandably upset about a long birth she had assisted with where a mother had
died in childbirth.
The medical examiner did not have results yet, so you sketch out some questions you
have for the interviewees.
1. Who would you interview, and what would you ask?
I would interview a couple of people. I would interview the boyfriend about
what he saw and where he was before he came to the house. I would also
interview her parents and/or family members and ask how the relationship
was with her boyfriend was. I would also ask the family if they knew of anyone
unhappy with her. I would interview her co-workers and ask how the mother in
labor died and if the husband made any threats or said anything. I would also
ask what her mood was like and if she had any new or unsual stressors in her
life. I would save talking to the husband of if deceased wife until we had test
results and more information.
2. Do you have any hypotheses about what happened to Meleea? Write at least
one or two possibilities.
* most of the times murders are for a few reason, crime of passion is one of
them. So it very well could have been the boyfriend by accident or planned out.
He could have staged the home and pretended like he showed up after. another
possibility would be the husband was so upset after his wife died that he found
a way to find where she lived and killed her.
a. If the boyfriend murdered Meleea, then, it could have been premeditated
because, the crime scene did not show a struggle.
b. If the husband who lost his wife murdered Meleea then, it had to be
premeditated because he would have had to search her out to find out
where she lived.
, Part II: The Medical Examiner’s Report
You now have the medical examiner’s (ME) report. The ME believes she died of
asphyxiation. You read that there were no marks on the body, including bee stings. She
was healthy, but tissue analysis showed some bizarre results. There was tissue death,
but not only that, microscopic analysis showed mitochondrial damage. In addition,
there were high levels of oxygen in all tissues examined.
1. Based on the above, what cellular process might have been interrupted?
Support your answer with the information above and knowledge gained in this
module. Cite sources using APA Style.
a. The cellular process that was interrupted was the Krebs cycle and
electron transport. The mitochondria is the key process of aerobic
cellular respiration. Since the ME found damage to the mitochondria it
would make sense that oxygen levels would be high in other tissues
because they body had no way to remove the oxygen since that is the job
of the mitochondria. Without a correctly working mitochondria working
the body has no way of using ATP since it damaged mitochondria stops
the cycle from continuing and ATP is needed to power all working cells
or they die. (Libretexts, 2020)
1. Are there any conflicting pieces of information in the above? If so, what are
they?
a. The conflicting pieces of information way that her cause of death was
bee stings but looking over the body she had no visual bruises. The ME
report also showed that the body had tissue death but high levels of
oxygen in all of the tissues. The mitochondria also showed damage.
Part III: Analysis of Metabolites
The ME’s report also has a note at the end. She suspects poisoning based on the below
results.
Metabolite Level Compared to Normal
(High, Normal, or Low)
Oxygen High
NADH High
NAD+ Low
Pyruvate Normal
Glucose Normal
Acetyl CoA Normal
ATP Low
ADP High
1. What is the role of each of the above metabolites in cellular respiration?
Part I: The Investigation
It’s your first day shadowing a detective, and already it’s been interesting…if you can
call the murder of a young woman interesting. You’ve been trying to detach yourself by
reading the file, but you have interviews later this morning and you’re nervous. Going
back to the file, you jot down some notes on what you know so far.
Meleea was a 35-year-old nurse midwife with over ten years’ experience delivering
babies both in hospitals, as well as in homes when risk for complications were low. She
was healthy; her only medical condition was an allergy to bee stings. The body was
discovered by her boyfriend when he came over for a planned dinner. The dinner –
spaghetti – was laid out, but no cooking had begun. There was also a plate of cupcakes,
with a bite out of only one of them. The boyfriend said Meleea had not mentioned
feeling unwell when they spoke earlier in the day. She was, however, tired, and
understandably upset about a long birth she had assisted with where a mother had
died in childbirth.
The medical examiner did not have results yet, so you sketch out some questions you
have for the interviewees.
1. Who would you interview, and what would you ask?
I would interview a couple of people. I would interview the boyfriend about
what he saw and where he was before he came to the house. I would also
interview her parents and/or family members and ask how the relationship
was with her boyfriend was. I would also ask the family if they knew of anyone
unhappy with her. I would interview her co-workers and ask how the mother in
labor died and if the husband made any threats or said anything. I would also
ask what her mood was like and if she had any new or unsual stressors in her
life. I would save talking to the husband of if deceased wife until we had test
results and more information.
2. Do you have any hypotheses about what happened to Meleea? Write at least
one or two possibilities.
* most of the times murders are for a few reason, crime of passion is one of
them. So it very well could have been the boyfriend by accident or planned out.
He could have staged the home and pretended like he showed up after. another
possibility would be the husband was so upset after his wife died that he found
a way to find where she lived and killed her.
a. If the boyfriend murdered Meleea, then, it could have been premeditated
because, the crime scene did not show a struggle.
b. If the husband who lost his wife murdered Meleea then, it had to be
premeditated because he would have had to search her out to find out
where she lived.
, Part II: The Medical Examiner’s Report
You now have the medical examiner’s (ME) report. The ME believes she died of
asphyxiation. You read that there were no marks on the body, including bee stings. She
was healthy, but tissue analysis showed some bizarre results. There was tissue death,
but not only that, microscopic analysis showed mitochondrial damage. In addition,
there were high levels of oxygen in all tissues examined.
1. Based on the above, what cellular process might have been interrupted?
Support your answer with the information above and knowledge gained in this
module. Cite sources using APA Style.
a. The cellular process that was interrupted was the Krebs cycle and
electron transport. The mitochondria is the key process of aerobic
cellular respiration. Since the ME found damage to the mitochondria it
would make sense that oxygen levels would be high in other tissues
because they body had no way to remove the oxygen since that is the job
of the mitochondria. Without a correctly working mitochondria working
the body has no way of using ATP since it damaged mitochondria stops
the cycle from continuing and ATP is needed to power all working cells
or they die. (Libretexts, 2020)
1. Are there any conflicting pieces of information in the above? If so, what are
they?
a. The conflicting pieces of information way that her cause of death was
bee stings but looking over the body she had no visual bruises. The ME
report also showed that the body had tissue death but high levels of
oxygen in all of the tissues. The mitochondria also showed damage.
Part III: Analysis of Metabolites
The ME’s report also has a note at the end. She suspects poisoning based on the below
results.
Metabolite Level Compared to Normal
(High, Normal, or Low)
Oxygen High
NADH High
NAD+ Low
Pyruvate Normal
Glucose Normal
Acetyl CoA Normal
ATP Low
ADP High
1. What is the role of each of the above metabolites in cellular respiration?
