Corpus delicti
Black's Law Dictionary · Henry Campbell Black, M.A. · 1910
Black's Law Dictionary
The body of a crime. The body (material substance) upon which a crime has been committed, e. g., the corpse of a murdered man, the charred remains of a house burned down. In a derivative sense, the substance or foundation of a crime; the substantial fact that a crime has been committed.
People v. Dick, 37 Cal. 281; White . State, 49 Ala. 347; Goldman v. Co.m., 100 Va-865, 42 S. E. 923; State v. Hand, 1 Marv. (Del.) 545, 41 Atl. 192; State v. Dickson, 78 Mo. 441.