| Physical penetration of a bodily orifice (anus, genitals, mouth). Doesn't need to be by the perpetrator's body - forcible penetration with an inanimate object (such as a NYPD nightstick or plunger, to recall a case about five years ago) is also considered rape here in the US.
I don't believe there is anything in the statute requiring the victim to be alive. Indeed, it might even be difficult to prove whether copulation occured pre- or post-mortem.
Either way, this man's crime certainly fits the moral definition of rape - an assault including a sexual element intended to gratify the offender while simultaneously aggravating the existing assault to a level most reasonable people would consider heinous. |
