Why an Atheist Thinks the Shroud of Turin is the Real Deal

Misconceptions About Post Mortem Blood Flow

Most, if not all of the blood on the shroud flowed or oozed out after death. That surprises many people because of a common misconception that dead bodies do not bleed because the heart has stopped pumping.  Fred Zugibe who was the Chief Medical Examiner of Rockland County, New York for more than thirty years, has written a widely used textbook in a specialized field of diagnostic pathology and who if a frequent media consultant in forensic science writes:

In our daily experiences in the medical examiner's office, we observe bleeding or oozing from lacerations, bullet wounds, stab wounds, traumatic injuries, and the like, even the next day when moving the body around in the autopsy room. In addition to the fluidity of the blood caused by the thrombolysins and altered clotting factors, there is an absence of the normal contractions of tiny blood vessels that play a prominent role in bleeding control in the living state.

There is a distinctive wound in the man’s side and when the blood flowed from this wound, it flowed around the side of the body and formed a puddle near the man’s lower back.  Mingled with these large blood are stains from a clear bodily fluid, perhaps pericardial fluid or fluid from the pleural sac or pleural cavity.  This suggests that the man received a stabbing wound in the vicinity of the heart and the image of that wound clearly supports this.