An unusual mechanical asphyxia in a homicide-suicide case by smothering and strangulation

A very unusual homicide of 2 children by smothering and strangulation by means of a rubber adhesive band carried out by the mother who committed suicide by the same manner is presented. Smothering is supposed to be one major cause of death in child homicide. Suicide by smothering is relatively uncommon. Suicidal smothering by winding strips of adhesive tape around the head to cover the nose and mouth is an even rarer method recently described in literature. The circumstances of the crime and the macroscopic and microscopic evidence are discussed to reduce the potential for underdiagnoses or mistakes in such cases in which it may be difficult to establish whether suicide or homicide occurred.     

Determination of the time of death according to rectal thermometry data using computer calculations

A mathematic model of estimation of time of death (TD) in newborns is proposed. This computer method of TD timing by changes of body temperature differs from earlier developed mathematical models by possibility to consider individual anthropometric and thermophysical characteristics of the body. It is more precise, shorter and easy to perform.     

Stomach contents and the time of death. Reexamination of a persistent question

The inspection of the contents of the stomach must be part of every postmortem examination because it may provide qualitative information concerning the nature of the last meal and the presence of abnormal constituents. Using it as a guide to the time of death, however, is theoretically unsound and presents many practical difficulties, although it may have limited applicability in some exceptional instances. Generally, using stomach contents as a guide to time of death involves an unacceptable degree of imprecision and is thus liable to mislead the investigator and the court.     

A newspaper surveillance study of homicide-suicide in the United States

The objective of this study was to identify the number and subtypes of homicide-suicides in the United States by age group and state over a 3-year period from 1997 through 1999. A total of 673 homicide-suicides, including 674 perpetrators and 779 victims, were identified from Internet searches of 191 national newspapers, and they were classified according to a modified Hanzlick-Koponen typology. One quarter of the homicide-suicides were perpetrated by persons 55 years or older, and 77% were spousal/consortial, higher than the 57% observed in the younger age group; 11% of the older homicide-suicides were familial, compared with 16% in the younger age group. Whereas only 3% of older homicide-suicides were infanticide/pedicide, 16% of the younger homicide-suicides involved parents killing their children. Forty-five states, including the District of Columbia, reported a homicide-suicide during the 3-year period, and they occurred most frequently in Florida (163), California (98), Texas (36), and New York (35). Newspaper surveillance is useful to identify where homicide-suicides are occurring most frequently, but they are underestimates of the true prevalence. However, the number of incidents detected is large enough that the cases detected may be a fairly representative sample.     

Experience in using the "Termit-1" device for determining the time of death

The operating principle and utilization of a Termit-1 complex (equipment and software) is described. Expert cases are presented and recommendations are offered.     

Estimation of the time since death

The main principle of the determination of the time since death is the calculation of a measurable date along a time-dependent curve back to the start point. Characteristics of the curve (e.g. the slope) and the start point are influenced by internal and external, antemortem and postmortem conditions. These influencing factors have to be taken into consideration quantitatively in order to improve the precision of death time estimation. It does not make any sense to study the postmortem time course of any analyte without considering influencing factors and giving statistical parameters of the variability. Comparison of different methods requires an investigation of the same postmortem interval. For practical purposes, it must be concluded that the amount of literature on estimating the time since death has a reverse correlation with its importance in practice.     

Determination of season at death using dental cementum increment analysis

Dental cementum anchors teeth into their sockets via the periodontal ligament. In mammals, dental cementum is laid down in alternating opaque and translucent bands representing winter (dormant) and summer (growth) seasons. Each pair of bands represents 1 year of life. Estimates of age at death based on counting pairs of bands are highly accurate. If the timing of the transition between winter and summer bands could be identified in humans, dental cementum increment analysis could be used to specify the season at death. This pilot project attempts to determine when these transitions occur and thus provide forensic anthropologists with a technique that would refine our estimates of postmortem interval. Extracted teeth were obtained from a local oral surgeon, embedded, sectioned, ground, polished, and examined under transmitted polarized light. The outermost increment was identified and measured along with other randomly chosen like bands. A transition from translucent to opaque bands was observed in teeth extracted in early October, while teeth extracted in early April exhibited nascent translucent bands. Further, significant correlations were observed between band thickness and number of days into either season, suggesting that band width increases as either season progresses. In this blind study, extracted teeth were effectively sorted into the spring/summer or fall/winter season 99% of the time.     

Determination of calcium and magnesium in postmortem human vitreous humor as a test to ascertain the cause and time of death

The concentrations of magnesium and total calcium human vitreous humors obtained postmortem was tested. In the groups of heart disease and asphyxia a correlation between the postmortem interval and calcium or magnesium concentrations was found. There was no correlation between postmortem interval and calcium respectively magnesium in the other causes of death. It seems possible that the analysis of vitreous humor may be useful in both diagnosis and determination of postmortem interval in the cases of heart death and asphyxia.     

Simultaneous sudden infant death syndrome: a case report.

The first reported case of simultaneous sudden infant death syndrome (SSIDS) in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, occurred on February 27, 1998. Two-month-old black fraternal twin girls were both found dead in their crib at the same time. After an in-depth death scene investigation, police investigation, toxicologic analysis, and complete autopsies, a specific cause of death could not be identified. The deaths of the two girls were therefore ruled simultaneous sudden infant death syndrome.     

一起分娩死亡引起医疗纠纷的思考

案情患者黄某,女,38岁。因第二次妊娠于2003年5月18日上午9时30分步行入院待产。患者告诉医生孕2产1,曾做过心脏与卵巢肿瘤手术,医生听了胎心,摸了胎位后建议患者先试产,必要时行剖宫产,患者表示同意,于是住了院。当天上午10时30分,护士给患者吃了蓖麻油炒蛋进行催生,准备试产,之后又抽了血,并要求患者下午2时30分以后不再进食,下午3时30分左右,患者告诉医生和护士腹痛,随后疼痛时间延长。下午4时20分护士把患者送往待产室,医生听了胎心音,认为需做剖宫产,患者及家属同意并签字。下午6时15分至7时5分进行了剖宫术,手术顺利,剖出一活男婴,晚7…     

一起分娩死亡引起医疗纠纷的思考

患者黄某，女，38岁。因第二次妊娠于2003年5月18日上午9时30分步行人院待产。患者告诉医生孕2产1，曾做过心脏与卵巢肿瘤手术．医生听了胎心，摸了胎位后建议患者先试产，必要时行剖宫产，患者表示同意，于是住了院。当天上午10时30分，护士给患者吃了蓖麻油炒蛋进行催生．准备试产，之后又抽了血，并要求患者下午2时30分以后不再进食，下午3时30分左右．患者告诉医生和护士腹痛．随后疼痛时间延长。下午4时20分护士把患者送往待产室，医生听了胎心音，认为需做剖宫产．     

胃内容推断死亡时间的误差(附2例报告)

尽管有许多推断死亡时间的方法,但运用胃内容消化和排空情况推断死亡时间简单易行,具有相当重要的实践意义.在法医学教科书中,运用胃内容消化和排空情况推断死亡时间已有论述.一般说来,食后不久即死亡者, 胃内容移向十二指肠,约在食后2～3h;胃、十二指肠均已空虚,则死亡可能发生在食后6h以上[1].但在实际检案中,有时我们感到运用胃内容消化和排空情况推断餐后死亡时间,与书中提供的时间相差较大.现对本地区两例凶杀案件根据教科书介绍的胃内容推断死亡时间方法造成错误推断,谈谈我们的体会.     

Evaluation of the placenta in a stillborn fetus to estimate the time of death

The authors present a case of a presumably unknown pregnancy, in which the newborn was found dead in the bathroom. The child was considered stillborn and the death due to natural causes. The literature on estimation of the time of fetal death is reviewed. It has been reported that certain placental histological changes are useful in predicting the time of death in stillborn fetuses, but little has been published about their potential role. Furthermore, parameters evaluated by literature in examining the placenta for determining time of fetal demise in cases of stillbirth are not uniform in the few studies that have been published. We emphasize that any attempt to estimate the time of fetal death without an adequate knowledge of placental morphological changes is futile and forensically unjustifiable, and that a comprehensive placental, external, and histological examination of the fetus is still the method of choice to gain a reliable forensic answer.     

Determination of death mechanisms in forensic-medical examination of a corpse

Applied aspects of multivalued and modal logics served the basis for the proposed algorithm of tanatological analysis of autopsy material including formalization of semiquantitative data on changes in vital organs with further conversion of the estimated tanatogenetic coefficients in the form of probability suggestions leading to the conclusion about the kind and speed of tanatogenesis. The method is illustrated by cases from expert practice.     

Delimitation of the time of death by immunohistochemical detection of calcitonin.

To improve the possibilities of delimitating the time of death after longer laytime it was examined if this is possible by immunohistochemical detection of calcitonin. The results show that in our examination material the c-cells of the thyroid glands of up to 4-day-old corpses produce a positive immunoreaction towards calcitonin in all cases whereas none of the corpses older than 13 days show such a reaction. This means that in the case of a negative immunoreaction the time of death can be assumed to lie >4 days before the autopsy. The fact that a negative immunoreaction occurred consistently after 13 days leads to the conclusion that when calcitonin has been stained in a specimen, the death of the respective person must lie a maximum of 12 days earlier, whereby these time-limits may change in considerably different surrounding conditions.     

Schizophrenia and sudden death: a medical examiner case study.

This study reviews the causes of sudden death of 66 schizophrenic patients who presented to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) for the State of Maryland over a 3-year period from 1994 through 1996. We identified an increased incidence of suicide compared with the general population of OCME cases. This observation is consistent with reports by other investigators. The majority of the deaths were the result of natural diseases, mostly atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Accidents, suicides, and 1 homicide were also present in this group.