Preservation of stab and cut wounds of the skin

The authors compare different methods of fixation of stab and cut wounds of the skin. Fixation in formalin has more disadvantages than advantages despite its vast application. In our opinion fixation in formalin-free solution leads to better results especially with regard to subsequent investigations carried out later on. The best results were found with a modification of the Dietrich-Ratnewski fixing solution. This contains acetic acid, absolute alcohol, glycerin and water in the volume ratios 10: 15: 5: 70.     

Puncture wounds caused by glass mistaken for with stab wounds with a knife

Three cases are presented where fatal puncture wounds caused by broken glass were very similar to stab wounds inflicted by a knife with a single-edged blade. Thus, all three cases caused a murder investigation to be initiated. It could only be determined that these wounds had been caused by glass after a detailed forensic autopsy. In two of the three cases, the only evidence for this was the identification of glass fragments in the wounds. The importance of X-ray examinations is underlined because modern glass in common use is radiopaque. Glass fragments lodged in the wounds can reduce the loss of blood and thus, prolong the capacity to act despite severe injuries.     

Forensic medical characteristics of stab wounds caused by objects differing in the blade sharpness

Based on the results of the present experimental study, morphological and histological criteria for incised skin wounds from objects differing in the blade sharpness were developed.     

Suicide by 120 stab wounds of the chest?

The case history of a suicide due to 120 stab wounds of the chest is presented. The victim was a 41 years old man with a paranoid-hallucinative psychosis. The problem to distinguish homicides and suicides is discussed by the well-known criminalistic and forensic-medical criterias. Induced by this very unusual case the autopsy material with stab wounds was analyzed retrospectively (n = 246, out of about 14,000 autopsies at the Institut of Forensic Medicine in Hamburg). Cases with more than 40 single lesions are normally homicides. However, the pattern of the injuries is more important than the number--especially in doubtful cases.     

Simulation of an attack by self-mutilating cuts and stab wounds

Self-inflicted cut or stab wounds may be used by the injured to make credible a feigned assault. In such cases the alleged traces of the crime are found on the body and the clothing of the informant. Occasionally the very pattern of the injuries points to self-infliction. For example the following findings may be indicative of self-infliction: a greater number of very superficial wounds, wounds parallel or grouped, mostly located on the left side of the body (in right-handers) or symmetry in arrangement, intact clothing or lack of correspondence between wounds and damage of clothing, absence of typical defence and protection injuries. In the light of 4 cases observed from the material at hand, special features of the lesion appearance are shown and possible motives for the deed discussed.     

On some peculiarities of stab wounds

The article deals with the differential diagnosis of stab injuries inflicted upon by cylindrical and conic objects with a round cross-section and with a point-shaped and cross-shaped stings as well as by sharp three-edged objects. An analysis of the obtained data leads to the conclusion on a possibility of carrying out the group identification of the mentioned stab objects according to morphological specific features of injuries.     

Characteristics of stab wounds inflicted by knives with the gear-sharpened blade

The authors present the results of an experimental study designed to estimate the damage to biological and non-biological objects inflicted by the knife blades having the gear-type sharpening. It was shown that a knife with such sharpening leaves edges of the damage of characteristic shape and outline. The results of the study testify to the expediency of further studies on the damaging action of knives considered in the present paper.     

Suicide by skull stab wounds: a case of drug-induced psychosis

Suicide by stabbing to the head and/or driving sharp objects into the skull is of extreme rarity. This article reports the case of a 27-year-old man, who committed suicide by multiple knife stabs and cuts to the head, the torso, one shoulder and the forearms. Autopsy showed a perforating wound of the skull and the 10-cm long broken blade of the knife being still embedded in the right temporal lobe of the brain. The deceased had no history of psychiatric illness but was currently treated by mefloquine, a quinine derivative associated with a high rate of psychiatric adverse effects. Toxicological examination confirmed a recent intake of mefloquine together with chloroquine, another antimalarial drug. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a completed suicide with very strong evidence of mefloquine implication. Discussion focuses upon mefloquine-induced psychiatric disorders and highlights the importance of performing toxicological investigations in cases of unusual suicides.     

Differentiation between self-inflicted and homicidal stab wounds to the neck

39 autopsy cases with throat incision examined in the Bonn Institute of Legal Medicine in the years 1990 through 1998 were evaluated with respect to the query whether the morphological criteria generally established for the differentiation between homicide and suicide are also suitable for the assessment in this special localization. Integrative consideration of localization, direction of incision, hesitative resp. tentative injuries, defence injuries, concomitant injuries and capability to act allowed for a discrimination on grounds of legal medical findings in 84 per cent of the cases.     

Homicide by stab to the neck with subsequent attempted suicide by cut to the neck

A 37-year-old Turkish woman was fatally injured by her 65-year-old Turkish husband with a stab to the cervical region. After her death he inflicted a deep cut to his own neck, which he survived thanks to immediate medical assistance. To the authors' knowledge this combination of a homicidal stab to the neck and a suicidal cut to the neck has not been described before. Kosher butchering, which is common in the couple's traditional cultural environment, is discussed as possible reason for the choice of the neck as site for applying sharp violence. It may have induced the perpetrator to choose this anatomical region.     

Roentgen imaging of stab wounds in parenchymatous organs

Stab wounds were made in parenchymatous organs (e.g. liver, spleen, kidneys, lungs) using a variety of instruments. The shape of the resulting canal was investigated by X-ray analysis after introduction of an X-ray contrast medium. The best contrast was obtained using a contrast medium containing barium. The shape of the canal gave a direct representation of the outline of the instrument used. The width of the canal was however, always several millimeters smaller than the corresponding blade of the instrument. The position of the blade back in single-edged blades could be demonstrated with stronger contrast.     

Unusual suicide caused by a stab wound in the neck

A case is reported of a man with a deep nape stabwound completely severing the medulla of the spine. A strangely formed bottle neck fragment is the assumed weapon. Further investigations allow a scene reconstruktion, police inquiries throw light on a previous acute psychotic disorder of the suicide.     

Injuries and fatalities caused by gas-/warning weapons

Detailed report of 5 cases of violation with gas or warning firearms, 3 of them lethal. In one case a modified weapon (elongated barrel) and steel bullets were used, resulting in shot of the head with retained missile and lethal bleeding. In the other cases, regular weapons (8 or 9 mm cartridges) were used for contact shots; violation occurred only by the effect of powder gases. One of these cases was a suizide (lethal temporal gunshot), in the other cases shots by another person: a) shot against the arm with large soft-tissue damage (survived); b) and c) shot against the neck with exceeding rupture of the soft tissues, minimal damage of the neck arteries and in one cases bilateral tears of the hypopharynx. In this case a delayed death after primarily well operated injury occurred after 12 days by bleeding into the airways from ruptured external carotid artery.     

Two cases of stab and slash wounds in the vitally important body regions

Two cases of severe injuries to the head and the neck are reported. Both patients recovered after the traumas.     

Virtual casting of stab wounds in cartilage using micro-computed tomography

In homicidal stabbings using a serrated knife, stab wounds involving costal cartilage leave striations on the cut surface of the cartilage from the serration points on the blade edge. Class characteristics of the serrated blade can be determined from the striation marks, and individualizing characteristics may be seen also. The traditional method for recording the striation marks involves the pernickety technique of casting with dental impression material. We assessed the potential utility of micro-computed tomography scanning of the stab track as a technique for nondestructive recording of striation patterns and virtual casting of them. Stab tracks in porcine cartilage, produced with a coarsely serrated blade, were scanned with a bench-top micro-computed tomography scanner. The typical irregularly regular striation pattern could be demonstrated, and the images manipulated, using proprietary software to produce a virtual cast. Whether the technology will have sufficient resolution to image not only class characteristic tool marks but also the much finer individualizing tool marks remains to be evaluated, but the technology shows considerable promise.