Suicide by a circular saw

The case of a suicide of a 32-year-old female using an electric circular saw is herein described. The decedent was suffering from depression and was found dead in her room. Beside her right hand was lying a circular saw, which was not running. The autopsy revealed a large gaping wound measuring 15.5 cm in length on the right side of her neck. The right external carotid artery, the right internal jugular vein, and the right internal carotid artery were cut and the injury reached to the cervical vertebra. Therefore, the cause of death was exsanguination. An individual who commits suicide with an electric saw, such as a chain saw, band saw, and circular saw is rare; in particular females rarely select this method as the means of suicide. However, we herein report the case of a female patient with a psychiatric disease who successfully committed suicide with a circular saw.     

Suicide by band saw

Suicidal injuries caused by power tools have rarely been reported in the literature. The case of a 37-year-old white male schizophrenic patient who sustained a fatal self-inflicted neck injury from a band saw, while engaging in occupational therapy, is presented. Unusual features of this type of injury as noted at postmortem examination were the extent of the wound, the absence of hesitation injuries, and the presence of grease wipe, bone dust, and sawdust within the wound.     

Cadaver dismemberment by chain saw

It is reported about the dismembering of a 57-years-old man by means of a chain saw, allegedly without participation in the very assault. The victim died after heavy violence to this throat and bleeding from stab wounds. Afterwards his trunk was divided horizontally, his thorax, skull and upper arm were sewn into without cutting through. The closer circumstances of the crime and localization of the saw injuries lead to the assumption of a participation in the assault. Technical details of chain saws and typical findings as to injuries are described.     

Unusual suicides of young women with tentative cuts and fatal neck injuries by chain saw and circular saw

Suicides with chain saws and circular saws are extreme exceptions, in particular with regard to females and concerning the neck region. We report two of such rare cases involving young women. A 30-year-old female with a known schizoaffective psychosis killed herself with an electric chain saw. The autopsy revealed a deep saw cut of the neck and shoulder with partial transection of the cervical spine. Several tentative saw cuts were present on the right lower jaw. A 29-year-old woman suffering from depression committed suicide by use of a circular saw. She inflicted herself fatal neck injuries with at least three separate cutting procedures. Our cases were characterized by the following features: female sex, young adulthood, no occupational experience with saws, psychiatric disorders, absence of alcohol or drugs, use of an aggressive method of suicide, focus of saw injuries on the right side of the neck, detection of tentative saw cuts or several trials, identical causes of death (exsanguination and blood aspiration).     

The chain saw: an uncommon means of committing suicide

A suicide committed with a power saw is an uncommonly reported incident: and the use of a chain saw in particular has been extremely rare. We report two cases of suicide that were committed by using chain saws. In each case the victim had a history of depression or of a prior suicide attempt, and applied the chain saw to his neck to kill himself. We summarize the findings of the two death investigations and the world literature pertaining to suicide committed with power saws.     

Suicide by self-removal of a pacemaker

A 70-year-old man extracted his own pacemaker and subclavian port used for delivery of chemotherapy, both implanted 2 weeks earlier. The patient died of septicemia within 6 days. This fatal outcome illustrates the risks of complications associated with severe psychiatric disorders after implantation of prosthetic devices.     

Unusual injuries caused by blows with a sash saw

A 62-year old man was found killed by multiple blows against the face and head; near the victim a hammer with broken grip, a bended saw (weight 142 g), and in the possession of the doer two hatchets. Some straigt, parallel, horizontal wounds in the face with smooth lips and straigt incisions of the maxilla first were interpreted as violations by hatchet. The culprit confessed attacks by hammer and saw, but not by hatchet. Experimental blows with a saw like the used on the leg of a corpse showed an unexpected result: it was possible to produce wounds of the soft-tissues and the bone similar to those by hatchets.     

Suicide by self-immolation

In the Western world, self-incineration is a rare event compared with the Asian countries. The circumstances of death are often unusual, and differentiation from homicide is sometimes possible only after evaluating all the investigation results and findings. In many cases of self-cremation, a fire accelerant is used. In our study material at least 30% of the body surface were burned. Unaffected skin was predominantly found on the back of the body. The cases presented by us are inhomogenous as to the motive and differ from those reported in the literature with regard to gender distribution, scene, motivational situation and psychological constitution.     

Suicide by drowning

A study of suicidal drownings was performed by using the case files of the Office of the Medical Examiner of Metropolitan Dade County in Miami, Florida, U.S.A., during 1980-1984. A total of 70 cases were collected and analyzed as to the age, race, sex, and cause of death of the victim, along with blood alcohol content, the drugs detected at postmortem examination, the geographic location of the terminal incident, the scene circumstances, the presence or absence of a suicide note, and the reason for the suicide. Essentially, one deals with an older white male population, although all age groups can be affected. Members of the population studied frequently died from drowning alone, rather than from additional contributory causes. Most were sober and frequently without drugs detected. Most incidents occurred at home or in a canal, with the victim just "found floating". A note was absent approximately half the time. The reason for the act was depression concerning poor health, death of a loved one, financial problems, chronic pain, or being "tired of life". A discussion ensues about the approach a forensic scientist should have concerning such cases.     

Suicide by pencil

We report an unusual suicide, committed with a common pencil. A 72-year-old male inflicted himself a penetrating thoracic wound while being hospitalized for a hip prosthesis operation. Although the patient was immediately operated, the cardiac injury appeared to be fatal. Cases of suicidal penetrating wounds of the anterior chest wall are rare and they are mostly inflicted by knives, glass fragments, or other sharp instruments. The potential danger of a pencil should be taken into consideration, especially in psychiatric hospitals and imprisonment facilities. We examined the legislation in Italy and Finland concerning the regulation of privacy in special care institutions.     

Suicide by drowning: a 20-year review

Drowning as a method of suicide is known to occur, but has primarily been described in environments with readily available access to water, such as coastal regions. In this study, we describe and analyze a series of suicidal drownings occurring in a noncoastal area of Texas. Between 1977 and 1996, 52 cases of suicidal drowning were investigated at the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences in Dallas, Texas. Such deaths accounted for only 0.85% of all suicides and 4% of all drowning deaths. In contrast. suicidal drownings reportedly account for 2.8 to 8.9% of all suicides in regions with easy access to water. As with other studies of suicidal drowning, the victims are usually sober white males over the age of 40 years. Our results also confirm that certain individuals who commit suicide by drowning use weights to facilitate the process. A detailed analysis of the cases is provided. as is a synopsis of several questions that may aid in determining the manner of death in suicidal drowning cases.     

Suicide by gabapentin overdose

Gabapentin is an antiepileptic drug that is prescribed for both FDA-approved and multiple off-label conditions, and has a relatively safe side-effect profile. Rare cases of overdose-related adverse effects have been reported in the literature. Described herein are the circumstances and autopsy findings of a 62-year-old woman with a history of depression, whose death was caused by intentional ingestion of excess gabapentin. The postmortem peripheral blood gabapentin concentration as determined by high-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectroscopy was 88 μg/mL. Previously reported cases of individuals surviving gabapentin overdoses are discussed and compared with this case. Based on a review of the available literature, this appears to be the first published report of a death due solely to gabapentin toxicity.     

Suicide by pipe bomb: a case report.

While lying down, a 23-year-old man detonated an improvised explosive device placed behind his head. The posterior neck and shoulders were singed, and much of the brain was avulsed. Death was due to laceration and partial avulsion of the cerebrum, midbrain, and brain stem. The injuries had a directional nature. Facts derived from the scene investigation and gross dissection, including nature, distribution, and extent of the wounds, in conjunction with preceding medical and social history, allowed for a reasonable reconstruction of the circumstances.     

Suicide by firearms: a 15-year experience.

A retrospective review of 1704 cases of suicide involving firearms investigated by the Bexar County Medical Examiner's office between 1984 and 1998 was performed. The age distribution was similar in male and female victims, and the type of weapon was not associated with age. Approximately 78% of the victims used a handgun (87% of female and 76% of male victims). In 4.0% of head wound cases, the site of the entrance wound was the back of the head. Thus, this report refutes the common belief that all gunshot wounds to the back of the head represent homicides. In 1.9% of the cases, the wounds were inflicted at intermediate range. With handguns, the right temple was the most common site, but with rifles and shotguns, the most common site was the mouth.     

Suicide by multiple blunt head traumatisation using a stone

Apart from collisions with road or rail vehicles and falls from height, self inflicted blunt force is a rare suicide method and mainly seen in psychiatric patients. The paper presents a rare case of suicide by active blunt force. A 68-year-old man committed suicide by repeatedly hitting his head with a stone. He sustained a craniocerebral trauma and finally died from hypothermia due to the low outdoor temperature. According to the relatives, the man was not diagnosed with a mental disorder or suicidal tendencies. Uncommon manners of self-harm are challenging for those involved in the investigation, and a differentiation between suicide, accident and homicide can only be made in synopsis of all findings.     

Suicide by hara-kiri: a series of four cases.

The authors describe four cases of suicide by hara-kiri. This very painful form of suicide consists of self-inflicting a wound in the abdomen using a sharp instrument. It was first reported in 988 A.D. in the East but has now become rare in both the East and West. These four cases occurred over a 40-year period in the Trieste and Bari medicolegal area. In two of our cases the victims were afflicted with mental illness, whereas the other two suffered from depression. In cases of death by hara-kiri, it is important to establish a differential diagnosis between suicide and homicide; the presence of trial wounds (inflicted by the victim as a form of practice to overcome any hesitation before stabbing the abdomen with the cutting weapon) can prove very helpful.     

Suicide by inhalation of carbon monoxide in a residential fire

Fire deaths are usually accidental, but atypical cases of homicide or suicide have been described. In suicide by fire, the only method reported by several authors consists of self-immolation. We present here the unusual case of an adult female who committed suicide by waiting in the living room after setting fire to her bedroom. The autopsy revealed smoke inhalation and the toxicological analysis revealed carboxyhemoglobin levels of 67%. Very few cases of suicide by fire not of the self-immolation type have been reported, and all have been anecdotal. A review of the literature is presented and a new term, "suicide by inhalation of carbon monoxide in a fire," is proposed for such cases.     

Suicide by a locomotive with unusual transport of suicide victims

Two suicides are described in which the victims were transported for 400 m and 16 km (!) hanging from the locomotive's hook coupling. According to the Deutsche Bahn AG, it would be possible for a body caught on a coupling to be dragged for almost 600 km without being discovered. Upon discovery of such a body, the police must search long stretches of the railroad tracks.     

Suicide by self-inflicted stab wound of the chest

A case is presented in which a 44-year-old man stabbed himself in the heart with a kitchen knife, then changed his bloody clothes, and ate lunch with his aunt, who did not notice the event. After 2 h he died of cardiac tamponade.