Unusual cases of suicidal electrocution using a homemade device

2021 ◽  
pp. 002581722110248
Author(s):  
Med Amin Mesrati ◽  
Yosra Mahjoub ◽  
Marwa Boussaïd ◽  
Hiba Limem ◽  
Nouha Abdejlil ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Case Presentation ◽  
Death Scene ◽  
Left Hand ◽  
Death Scene Investigation ◽  
Scene Investigation ◽  
The Common ◽  
Methods Of Suicide ◽  
Microscopic Findings ◽  
Bare Copper

Background The common methods of suicide are hanging and poisoning. Suicidal electrocution using a homemade device is very rare. Victims usually possess knowledge of electrical circuits. Here, we report two cases of suicide by electrocution using a homemade device. Case presentation: Case 1: A retired electrical technician was found unresponsive in his bedroom, with two bare copper wires; one encircling the index finger of the left hand, and the other placed in the mouth. The other ends of the wires were connected to a wall plug supplying 220 V current. Forensic autopsy and microscopic findings attributed death to suicidal electrocution. Case 2: A 51-year-old-man was found dead in the bathroom with bare copper wires encircling both wrists and connected to a wall plug carrying 220 V current. Death scene investigation, necropsy, histological tests and toxicological screening indicated suicide by electrocution.

scholarly journals The Significance of Death-Scene Investigation in Determining Cause and Circumstances of Medico-Legal Death

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (38) ◽  
pp. 53-62
Author(s):  
Corina Crișan
Keyword(s):  
Accurate Determination ◽  
Massive Hemoptysis ◽  
Death Scene ◽  
First Case ◽  
Death Scene Investigation ◽  
Traumatic Lesions ◽  
Scene Investigation ◽  
Mechanical Asphyxia

Abstract The article presents two cases of the Arad Medico-Legal Department illustrating just a part of the role of the forensic pathologist at the death scene but there are sufficient to fully justify the importance of this investigation as no example can comprise the complexity of problems and the particularity of each case, nor a statistic can be made. Both cases were found dead at home and forensically autopsied, but the two of them were distinct in terms of forensic pathologist's request death scene participation. In the first case, the autopsy did not find traumatic lesions, but revealed that the death was due to massive hemoptysis caused by cavernous tuberculosis with subsequent exsanguination, microscopically confirmed. The death was nonviolent. In the second case, the autopsy revealed findings of mechanical asphyxia due to neck compression, both macroscopically and microscopically. The death was violent. In both cases the forensic expert participation is required at the death-scene. In the first case it allowed the correct interpretation of the traces of blood found on site, and in the second case, an onsite research would have properly helped for restoring the death‟s occurrence. The scene investigation and autopsy provide, together, the basis for an accurate determination of cause and circumstances of death.

SIDS and Sleeping Position

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 91 (2) ◽  
pp. 511-512
Author(s):  
DANIEL C. SHANNON ◽  
CARL E. HUNT
Keyword(s):  
Clinical History ◽  
Scientific Data ◽  
Statistical Association ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Sleeping Position ◽  
Death Scene ◽  
Death Scene Investigation ◽  
Prone Sleeping ◽  
Scene Investigation ◽  
Definition Of

In Reply.— Guntheroth and Spiers,1 displeased with our commentary in Pediatrics,2 have raised many issues. However, the key question is whether the scientific data incriminating the prone position as a contributor to SIDS warrant a recommendation to change sleeping position at this time. Based on our critical review of the literature, we conclude that this recommendation was premature and unwarranted. Accepting the current definition of SIDS as the sudden death of an infant that remains unexplained even after a thorough postmortem examination, death scene investigation, and review of the clinical history, one can decide which of the 15 published studies in which a statistical association is described between prone sleeping and SIDS is acceptable.

Preserved ligature mark in postmortem decapitation

2019 ◽  
Vol 87 (2) ◽  
pp. 94-96
Author(s):  
Tanuj Kanchan ◽  
Alok Atreya ◽  
Kewal Krishan
Keyword(s):  
Unusual Case ◽  
Circumstantial Evidence ◽  
Manner Of Death ◽  
Death Scene ◽  
Death Scene Investigation ◽  
Scene Investigation

Examination of skeletonised remains for the cause and manner of death is a highly challenging task for forensic experts. We report an unusual case of postmortem decapitation following hanging with the presence of a well-preserved ligature mark in the partially skeletonised body. Careful death scene investigation, interpretation of circumstantial evidence and meticulous autopsy provided information on the cause and manner of death.

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