Calculating time since death in a mock crime case comparing a new computational method (ExLAC) with the ADH method

•We analyzed larvae of Calliphora vicina to calculate PMI in a mock crime case.•We applied two methods: the method of accumulated degree hours (ADH) and a new model (ExLAC).•ExLAC performs slightly better than the ADH method, using the same reference data.•ExLAC calculates a statistical measure for the goodness of the estimated PMI.•We show that reference data not locally sampled must not be used for estimating PMI.

We compared the results of calculating a minimum post-mortem interval (PMImin) in a mock crime case using two different methods: accumulated degree hours (ADH method) and a newly developed computational model called ExLAC. For the ADH method we further applied five reference datasets for the development time of Calliphora vicina (Diptera: Calliphoridae) from 5 different countries and our results confirmed the following: (1) Reference data for blowfly development that has not been sampled using a local blowfly colony should not, in most circumstances, be used in estimating a PMI in real cases; and (2) The new method ExLAC might be a potential alternative to the ADH method.