Homicidal hanging in a dyadic death

Homicide by hanging is rare. In this case report, a young man stabbed his wife, hanged his son, and then hanged himself. He was assumed to be mentally ill, consistent with some other studies of family murder-suicide.     

Homicidal asphyxia

Homicides due to asphyxia are relatively uncommon. To better understand the presentation of such cases, the files of the Bexar County Medical Examiner's Office were reviewed from January 1, 1985, through December 31, 1998, for all such homicides. A total of 133 cases were found. The largest category was ligature strangulation with 48 deaths (21 male, 27 female). Petechiae were present in the conjunctivae and/or sclerae in 86% of the cases; fractures of the hyoid and/or thyroid cartilage were present in 12.5%. There were a total of 41 deaths from manual strangulation (27 female, 14 male). Petechiae were present in 89% of the cases. In cases of manual strangulation, fractures of the hyoid, thyroid, or cricoid cartilage were found in all the male victims and slightly more than one half of the female victims. Twenty-six cases of suffocation were found; 20 of the victims were < or =2 years of age. Only 1 of these children had petechiae and/or scleral hemorrhage. Five deaths were due to choking. Three of the deaths involved adults who were gagged; 2 deaths involved infants with foreign material pushed into the mouth. Other categories of asphyxia were as follows: 9 deaths due to more than one form of asphyxia; 1 death due to hanging, and 3 deaths due to drowning. Rape was the motive in 66% of the female victims of ligature strangulation and 52% of those due to manual strangulation.     

Homicidal behavior in schizophrenics

This paper emphasizes that homicidal behavior may be part of the clinical manifestation of schizophrenia. The failure to hospitalize potentially violent schizophrenics contributes to the incidence of psychotic homicide. The tendency to diagnose homicidal schizophrenics as personality disorders combined with legal changes brought about a shift of this population from the mental health system to the criminal justice system.     

Homicidal cerebral artery aneurysm rupture

When a normally natural mechanism of death is induced by physical injury or intense emotional stress, it is appropriate to rule the manner of death as something other than natural. When the case-specific circumstances are such that the death occurs as a result of the criminal activity of another person, it is acceptable to rule such deaths as homicides. Presented herein is a case of homicidal cerebral artery aneurysm rupture occuring in an intoxicated, 46-year-old man who was punched in the face by another individual. The details of the case are presented, followed by a discussion of the controversies that exist when dealing with such cases. Guidelines for investigating similar deaths are presented, with emphasis on the timing of the trauma in relation to onset of symptoms due to aneurysm rupture.     

Homicidal asphyxia by pepper aspiration

As punishment for lying, the foster mother of a five-year-old white male poured pepper into his throat. He immediately became dyspneic, then apneic, and was pronounced dead about 1 h later. At autopsy, the main stem and several smaller bronchi were occluded with pepper. Mechanisms of asphyxia by pepper include mechanical obstruction of the tracheobronchial tree and mucosal edema caused by the irritant effect of volatile oils in pepper. This rare circumstance represents the second reported fatal case of pepper aspiration and the third reported case overall.     

Homicidal commotio cordis in two children

This paper's objective is to describe two cases of fatal commotio cordis resulting from the deliberate striking of children's chests by adults with their fists. These deaths involve two male children, ages 3 years and 14 months. The clinical histories, events in the households prior to the deaths, behaviors of the children, autopsy findings, and investigation results are all similar. In both cases, fatal blows were delivered to the anterior chest with a closed fist. Both children collapsed immediately, unable to be resuscitated. Confessions were obtained in both cases by investigators soon after the children's deaths. Autopsies showed chest contusions in only one child, presumably due to knuckle impact. The cardiac rhythms noted by paramedics were ventricular fibrillation and asystole. Due to the lack of physical findings, an immediate and thorough investigation is critical. An accurate history of events preceding death must be obtained.     

Homicidal alcoholic intoxation versus manual neck compression

A case of homicide involving a 49-year-old man is reported. In the course of a booze-up he was forced to excessive consumption of alcohol and was pushed back into a sofa by repeated grasping his neck which finally left him dead. The postmortem examination revealed a small abrasion in the right mandibular region, a contusion of the subcutaneous tissue above the left clavicle, a haemorrhage in the deep muscles of the neck at the right side of the cervical spine, a fatty tissue haemorrhage between the left cornus of hyoid and thyroid cartilage as well as petechiae of the eyelids and conjunctivae. The blood alcohol concentration amounted to 4.00@1000, the urine alcohol concentration to 5.26@1000. Thus, a manual strangulation of the neck versus a lethal alcohol intoxication had to be taken into consideration as cause of death. The morphological findings of the postmortem examination and the pathophysiological concepts of the underlying mechanisms of death in manual strangulation versus lethal alcohol intoxication are discussed with regard to their significance for the juridical assessment.     

Homicidal intoxications by lye- and parachlorcresol-containing disinfectants

In a nursing section for 54 senile, demented inpatients for the period of 3 months, a casual worker committed homicide in 11 cases and attempted homicide in 16 cases by peroral application of lye- and parachlorcresol-containing disinfectants. Autopsies had been performed in nearly all of the fatal cases without detection of the true causes of death. The fatal intoxications could be verified through reexamination of the lung slides and through gas chromatography/mass spectrometry of the formalin-fixed tissue specimens.     

Homicidal manual strangulation and multiple stun-gun injuries.

Stun guns are electric shock devices that are used by a number of law enforcement agencies to subdue violent offenders, but sometimes are discharged into human bodies as offensive weapons. We autopsied a 22-year-old woman who was strangled and had many stun-gun injuries on her head, chest, abdomen, arms, and legs. The stun-gun injuries consisted of many pairs of round erythemas with or without central paleness, some of which were accompanied by circumferential abrasions. To determine whether the electric shocks were administered before or after her death, we studied stun-gun injuries on pigs before and after death and found that the shocks after death did not mark the animal skin. Based on this experiment, all of the stun-gun injuries on the victim's body were concluded to have been inflicted before her death.     

胃肠外途径投毒的法医学鉴定

本文报告１３例胃肠外途径投毒的法医学鉴定，其中升汞２例（Ｉ．Ｖ．），水银１例（Ｉ．Ｖ．），氰化钾２例（Ｉ．Ｍ．和乳房下注射各１）、氰化钠１例（Ｉ．Ｖ．）、一氧化碳２例（吸入）、铬酸酐１例（阴道内塞入）、敌敌畏１例（心包腔内注射）、矮壮素１例（Ｉ．Ｍ．）、氯丙嗪１例（Ｉ．Ｖ．）和溴氰菊酯１例（Ｉ．Ｖ．）。说明经胃肠外途径引起的投毒案例并不罕见，且毒物种类增多，这在法医病理和毒理工作中应引起注意和警惕。     

519例他杀刺创的回顾性研究

本文对５１９例他杀刺创致死的案例进行了回顾性研究．结果显示死者的年龄在１６至３０岁较为突出；１—２处刺创的死者与多于１０处者在杀人动机、现场位置、罪犯与死者关系、致死手段以及血液乙醇检出率等方面存在差异；死于急性失血性休克的５１３例中，４６７例（９０％）检见左心室内膜下出血斑．     

Unusual hanging deaths

Four unrelated hanging deaths involving young white males, all in enlisted status in the United States military, are presented. Taken in a military context, one scene served as a suicide note equivalent with the unmistakable message of extreme defiance toward military regulations. In two cases, the elaborate attire of the decedents could have lead to the misclassification of the manner of death if investigative information had not been considered. Extensive background investigation and review of medical records in the fourth case disclosed that the victim had an eight- to ten-year history of compressing his neck to cause unconsciousness. He left an extensive suicide note in which he concluded that "hanging would be good." Each case has certain unique features, as a group, the cases all demonstrate a continuum from obvious suicide to cases where the manner of death is, at first, equivocal.     

Decapitation by hanging

This case report describes the most infrequently observed decapitation by the rope in the event of a suicidal hanging. Knowing the length of the drop, it was possible to estimate the loading of the neck of about 13 500 N. This value appears to applicable to indicate the upper limit of tolerance of the neck.     

Unusual hanging deaths

We describe the circumstances and medical findings of four unusual hanging deaths. In brief, the unusual features are tracheostomy, delayed death, self-mutilation combined with severe neck injury caused by lengthy drop, and homicidal hanging in a young girl.     

Apparent partial hanging

A careful analysis of circumstances and investigations of death scene are required before commenting on the manner of death in a case of hanging. Hanging may result from either complete or incomplete suspension of the body. Two cases of hanging are reported where discrimination in eyewitness's account and death scene investigation report was evident regarding type of hanging (complete/partial). The use of term apparent partial hanging is proposed in such cases. Body position in hanging is one of the numerous factors that determine the strength of the neck compression by the ligature and thus should be considered in the evaluation of dying process and pathomorphologic feature of hanging. The cases also put a probable explanation to the higher incidence of partial hangings in different studies. We believe that incidence of true partial hangings may be much lower than that reported in the literature.     

Homicidal poisoning. A dying modality of lethal violence?

Review of the experience of the Cuyahoga County (Cleveland, Ohio and its suburbs) Coroner's Office with homicidal poisonings over the past 3 1/2 decades reveals that this modality of felony homicides constitutes but a tiny fraction of the total case load and small percentages of overall homicides and drug- and chemical-caused deaths of all types. These findings are representative of selected medicolegal establishments across the country, as well as in the United States as a whole. Precise definition of the several types of felonious homicidal poisonings is suggested in the interest of clarity and accuracy of statistical data.     

Homicidal and suicidal ligature strangulation--a comparison of the post-mortem findings

Suicides by ligature strangulation are rare events. In Berlin (3.5 million inhabitants; ca. 500 suicides per year) approximately one case per year occurs. Here, we present the main findings of 19 cases investigated between 1978 and 1998, compared to 47 cases of homicidal ligature strangulation. Two of the 19 suicidal victims had single fractures of the upper thyroid horns and one victim a fracture of a lower thyroid horn; other types of laryngohyoid injuries were not observed. In the homicidal series, the laryngohyoid structures were unaffected in 26 cases (12 of these victims were children or adolescents), single thyroid horn fractures were present in three cases and more significant injuries in 18 cases. Macroscopic bleedings of the laryngeal muscles were found in 12 victims of the homicidal group and in none of the suicidal. Bleedings in the neck muscles seldom occurred in suicides. According to these findings, the laryngohyoid injuries can be helpful in the differentiation of suicide from homicide, if more than a single thyroid horn fracture or a laryngeal soft tissue trauma is present.     

Homicidal ethylene glycol intoxication: a report of a case

We report a case of a 75-year-old hypertensive, diabetic man who presented to the emergency room with symptoms and signs of nausea, acute intoxication, significant alteration in mental status with rapid neurologic deterioration, and blunt impact injuries sustained during a recent altercation with a 36-year-old female companion-caretaker. He denied a history of ethanol abuse or other recent toxic ingestion and had not been diagnosed with or treated for depression. Hospital laboratory tests revealed a metabolic acidosis and a negative urine toxicology screen. He was diagnosed with toxic encephalopathy with metabolic acidosis secondary to metformin. Despite treatments including hemodialysis, he expired after approximately 28 hours of hospitalization. A postmortem anatomic examination revealed recent blunt-impact injuries and cardiac and renal pathology. A subsequent histologic examination revealed the presence of calcium oxalate crystals in the kidneys and brain, in addition to cardiac and renal pathology. Comprehensive forensic toxicologic testing was performed on antemortem and postmortem samples and revealed lethal levels of ethylene glycol. The cause of death was as a result of acute intoxication by ethylene glycol with another condition of multiple blunt impacts to the head, trunk, and extremities. The manner of death was ruled as homicide. A trial by jury, involving the female companion-caretaker, resulted in her conviction, and she was sentenced to 23 years to life in prison. In this report, we present an unusual case of homicidal ethylene glycol intoxication in which legal proceedings have occurred.     

Homicidal Events Among Mexican American Street Gangs: A Situational Analysis

This article examines the complexity of street gang homicides and focuses on situational factors that lead to gang members' susceptibility to this violent behavior within the context of a disadvantaged minority community. This study is based on an analysis of 28 homicides involving Mexican American gang members. The absence of immigrant youth involvement in these types of violent crimes is discussed. Findings demonstrate how locally embedded social processes associated with specific gang types, ecology, drugs, circumstances, and motives unfold into homicidal events. These findings may contribute to the development of street-based social programs focused on gang mediation, dispute resolution, and crisis intervention.