corpus delicti

1. Corpus delicti has been defined as the body, foundation, or substance of a crime. The evidence of a dead body with a gunshot wound on its back would be evidence that murder has been committed.² Corpus delicti has two elements: (a) that a certain result has been established, for example, that a man has died and (b) that some person is criminally responsible for it.³ The prosecution is burdened to prove corpus delicti beyond reasonable doubt either by direct evidence or by circumstantial or presumptive evidence.⁴