Lightning Strike as Probable Cause of Death and Determining Identity Based on the Examination of Skeletal Remains

In this article , a case of examining an incomplete human skeleton found in a forest is presented. Based on the assessment of posttraumatic lesions in the skull bones, the cause of death of a man who had died 14 years prior to the examination was determined with high probability to be due to a lightning strike. Moreover, the rare pathological lesions within the skeleton, such as a healed fracture of the humerus and rheumatoid malformations within the hand, in reference to preserved medical records, have also allowed to identify the deceased. Most noteworthy points in this case are, however, initially difficult to comprehend, posttraumatic lesions within the bones of the skull such as carbonization and fracture of the vertex. Their origin can be explained by a lightning strike as the most probable cause of death. Thus, the presented case demonstrates probable cause of death and identity can be established many years after death, based on skeletal remains.     

Secondary missile injury from lightning strike

A 48-year-old-woman was struck dead by lightning on October 24, 2010, in Pretoria, South Africa. The cause of death was due to direct lightning strike. Examination showed secondary missile injury on her legs. This secondary missile (shrapnel) injury was caused by the lightning striking the concrete pavement next to her. Small pieces of concrete were located embedded within the shrapnel wounds. This case report represents the first documented case of secondary missile formation (shrapnel injury) due to lightning strike in the literature.     

Analysis of accidental deaths in mountain tourism and sport according to statistics from the Republic of Kabardino-Balkariia

Lethal cases in mountain tourism and sports in the Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria were studied for 1978-1995. A total of 152 accidental deaths were analysed. Most of the victims were males under 30 years of age. The greatest number of the accidents took place on Monday, in July and August. Many amateur visitors from abroad were among the victims. The main cause of death in the mountains of Kabardino-Balkaria for the 18 years studied was multitrauma of the body (69.7%). Hypothermia and obturation asphyxia with snow and compression asphyxia due to snowbreak account for 11.8 and 13.2% deaths, respectively; lightning killed 4%. Combination of high mountain hypoxia with exacerbated chronic somatic disease or hypothermia caused death in 1% victims. The authors propose how to improve forensic-medical expert examination of accidental death and safety in the mountains.     

Damage due to lightning when it strikes the face

A case of death due to lightning is discussed in reference to autopsy findings that revealed damage to the tongue, pharynx, larynx, sclera and oesophagus for the first time. The damage described in the present paper must be considered when there is direct lightning strike on the face.     

Lightning fatalities on the South African Highveld: a retrospective descriptive study for the period 1997 to 2000

A review of the Southern Africa medical literature shows a paucity of published data regarding lightning fatalities. The South African Highveld has a lightning ground flash density of 6 to 9 flashes/km/year, with a high incidence of thunderstorm days per year (some 40-70). The Highveld has a largely urban population, many of whom have low socioeconomic status and poor education, housing, and other infrastructures and hence (possibly) are at greater exposure risk. Thirty-eight victims of lightning-related death were identified from the records of the 6 large medicolegal mortuaries on the South African Highveld, serving a population of approximately 7 million, for the period 1997 to 2000. Analysis of the records revealed that 95% of all victims were black, 79% were male, and the average age was 36 years. Lightning strikes occurred from September through to April (normal summer rainfall period), and the most strikes took place in the late afternoon (3:00 pm to 6:00 pm). All except 1 case occurred outdoors. In the autopsy reports, mention was made of singeing of hair in 68% of cases, and mention of damage to clothing was made in 26% of cases. Cutaneous thermal injuries were noted in 34 of the 38 cases, with apparent electrothermal injuries of the feet noted in 4 cases. Fifty-two percent of victims sustained some form of associated blunt-force injury (including abrasions, contusions, etc). Specific keraunopathologic injuries were described in only 2 of the cases. Twenty-one cases had some form of internal organ injury. This study serves to illustrate the relatively high incidence of lightning strikes in the region and calls for a more systematic and detailed investigative protocol in lightning-related deaths.     

Does a sixth mechanism exist to explain lightning injuries?: investigating a possible new injury mechanism to determine the cause of injuries related to close lightning flashes

Five mechanisms have been described in the literature regarding lightning injury mechanisms. A sixth mechanism is proposed in this article, namely, lightning barotrauma. A simple laboratory experiment was conducted using ordnance gelatin for ballistic studies. Lightning was simulated in a high-voltage laboratory using an 8/20-microsecond current impulse generator and discharged through ballistic gel. Temporary and permanent cavity formations were confirmed. The cavities formed were directly proportional to the currents used. Findings suggest that a sixth mechanism of lightning injury, namely, barotrauma, should be considered.     

Misinterpretation of fetal high voltage and lightning accidents

From medicolegal practice it is known that in deaths caused by low voltage, electric marks may be absent or inconspicuous so that they may remain undetected during the scene examination. That this may happen even in fatal high-voltage accidents is demonstrated by 4 examples from our own autopsy material. The cases reported shared the following features: The decedents were found outdoors under a high-voltage line with a several metres long conductive object being in the immediate vicinity of the body; no extensive burns as those seen after the impact of an electric arc; inconspicuous electric marks on the hands; clearly visible electrothermal skin lesions limited to body regions covered by clothing (especially soles of the feet). Another case report demonstrates that even fatal lightning accidents are not always recognized correctly.     

Aspects of childhood in rural Greece: Children in a mountain village (ca. 1900–1940)

This essay examines childhood in a mountain village in central mainland Greece during the early 20th century and the interwar period. It gives an overview of an analytical case study conducted by the author within the context of the project “Historical Archives of Greek Youth” at the Greek National Research Center. The article draws on various sources, although principally on oral evidence. After a brief survey of the general and local socioeconomic context, it looks at children's lives and socialization inside and outside the household, focusing on family economy and interfamilial relationships within the context of home, school, community, and play, and tracing the relations of these domains to family and household. It points to the existence of childhoods rather than childhood, defined by gender and the specific socioeconomic position of the family. It argues that rural mountain society in Greece did not see its future in agriculture and examines the extent to which school education of boys functioned as a means of family urbanization and social mobility. Children alternated between traditional social structures and urban living patterns.     

Death Due to Decapitation in Two Motorcyclists: A Description of a Unique Case and a Brief Review of the Literature

Deaths due to decapitation, especially related to traffic accidents, are rarely found in forensic practice. The present case involves a man and a woman who died from decapitation due to an unusual mechanism while they were riding on a motorbike down a mountain road. The autopsy, which was completed as a physics study, allowed the accident to be reconstructed as follows: A plastic cable that had detached from a timber‐transporting machine whipped the road and hit the two motorcyclists. The impact resulted in the complete severing of both riders’ heads. Involving different scientists in this accident investigation was crucial to understanding the dynamics of the accident. In fact, in addition to scene inspection and autopsy, a physics study was carried out on the cable and the clamp involved, which led to an explanation for the abrupt movement of the cable and, thus, to a thorough reconstruction of the accident.     

法律体系的新成员——案例指导制度

案例指导制度是我们国家司法制度新近确立的一个组成部分。作为新生事物,它与我们现存的法律体系、法律制度是否兼容,这是值得探讨的。在大陆法系国家,案例制度一开始也受到了排斥,但後来还是逐步引进并确立了案例制度。我认为,对于中国而言,正在讨论建立的案例指导制度,与立法、司法、执法,包括法律职业、法律教育也应该是兼容的,而不是排斥的。     

Backspatter on the firearm and hand in experimental close-range gunshots to the head

The deposition of backspatter on the firearm or person shooting can greatly assist the reconstruction of shooting incidents. Backspatter was investigated in experimental transverse gunshots (9-mm Luger) to the heads of calves (n = 9) from shooting distances of 0 to 10 cm. The firearms were examined with a magnifying glass; the surgical gloves and the right sleeve worn by the person shooting were examined with a stereomicroscope. On the firearms, backspatter of blood was found in five of the nine cases, and one or both gloves showed bloodspatter deposits in six and the right sleeves in four cases. Most droplets were 1 to 3 mm and circular or elongated. In addition, a fine spray of tiny blood deposits was present on the firearm and textiles in four cases. The distribution of the droplets on the firearms varied: the areas included regions shielded by prominent parts, and the droplets were predominantly located on the extensor side of the fingers and the radial aspect of the hands and sleeves. Backspatter of tiny bone fragments was recovered from the firearm and sleeve in only one case, but tissue (bone, fat, muscle, skin) was present on the ground in front of the entrance wound in seven cases. A careful investigation, including appropriate lightning and magnification, is necessary for reliable statements concerning the absence of backspatter or the extent of backspatter present.     

Suicidal Nitrogen Inhalation by use of Scuba Full‐Face Diving Mask

A 29‐year‐old man was found dead lying on the bed in a hotel room in a famous Slovak mountain resort. He had a full‐face diving mask on his face, connected through a diving breath regulator to a valve of an industrial (nondiving) high‐pressure tank containing pure 100% nitrogen. The breath regulator (open‐circuit type) used allowed inhalation of nitrogen without addition of open air, and the full‐face diving mask assured aspiration of the gas even during the time of unconsciousness. At autopsy, we found the typical signs of suffocation. Toxicological analysis revealed 94.7% content of nitrogen in alveolar air. Following the completion of the police investigation, the manner of death was classified as a suicide. Within the medico‐legal literature, there has been only one similar case of suicidal nitrogen inhalation described (1).     

Death by lightning

Deaths from lightning injuries are infrequent, amounting to 0.2-0.8 per million people per year, and are associated with climatologic conditions. The victims are mostly young, active people who are struck during various outdoor activities during the summer months. Even though many people can be struck by the same bolt of lightning, multiple casualties are uncommon. Among the fatalities, various types of skin burns are regularly present, often at an entry site on or near the head, and at an inferiorly located exit site. These skin injuries often consist of superficial burns and singed hair; deep burns and charring are uncommon. Arborescent skin marks seem to occur less frequently. Internal findings at autopsy are nonspecific.     

An example of the use of forensic palynology in assessing an alibi

A man was found shot in the back on Mount Holdsworth in the Tararua Ranges north of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. Police investigations pinpointed one individual who had been seen in the area, knew, and had the means and motive to kill the victim. His alibi was that an eyewitness was mistaken as he never had been in the area and the jacket he was reported to have been wearing had been purchased in The Netherlands and brought to Wellington, where it never had left the city. Furthermore the distinctive board shorts that he was reported to have been wearing had been purchased in a small coastal New Zealand town after the victim had been murdered. Pollen of Nothofagus menziesii, a mountain plant, on the clothing suggested that the alibi was untrue and that the clothing had been in mountains in the vicinity of Mount Holdsworth or a similar mountain scene where Nothofagus menziesii was growing.     

字符编码在电子数据司法鉴定中的应用

本文分析了字符的常用编码方法以及如何对各种不同编码方式进行转码和解码，提出了基于字符编码的关键字查询方法，并结合电子数据司法鉴定工作中遇到的实际案例，描述如何通过该方法实现关键字的快速查询。     

Fatal Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome due to Ewingella americana infection

A fatal case of Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome resulting from infection in a previously healthy 74-year-old woman is reported. The patient died suddenly within 14 hours after presentation. The diagnosis of Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome as the cause of death was established post mortem based on autopsy findings, microscopic examination, measurement of serum procalcitonin concentration (113 ng/ml), and outcome of postmortem bacteriologic cultures that grew in heart and spleen blood samples. Since the introduction of as a new group in the family in 1983, more recent case studies have established its clinical significance and pathogenic potential to cause severe, life-threatening bacteremia and sepsis. is a rare pathogen that should be added to the list of unusual bacteria causing Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome.     

A Unique Fatal Moose Attack Mimicking Homicide

Fatalities caused by animal attacks are rare, but have the potential to mimic homicide. We present a case in which a moose attacked and killed a woman who was walking her dog in a forest. Autopsy showed widespread blunt trauma with a large laceration on one leg in which blades of grass were embedded. Flail chest was the cause of death. The case was initially conceived as homicide by means of a riding lawn mower. A review of the case by moose experts and analyses of biological trace material that proved to originate from moose, established the true source of injury. The dog probably provoked a moose, which, in response, stomped and gored the victim to death. The injuries resembled those previously reported from attacks by cattle and water buffalo. Fatal moose attacks constitute an extremely rare threat in boreal areas, but can be considered in traumatic deaths of unknown cause.     

案件事实的形成及其法律判断

作为法律判断根据的案件事实区别于客观事实和规范事实,案件事实是在客观事实基础上依据规范的事实要件构筑的。案件事实及其判断既为法律规范所规定,又为社会生活实际所制约,兼有主客观共居的属性。案件审理中的事实认定与法律判断,不是两个可以简单分开的阶段或过程。案件事实和可得适用的法律的发现及其判断,几乎是同步进行并相互制约的。     

Controversial Suicide Case Using a Submachine Gun with a Sound Suppressor—The Need of Team Work of Forensic Chemistry and Firearm Examiners

Evidence materials in a presumed suicide case were studied by a firearm examiner and a forensic chemist. The victim's body with double gunshot wounding in his forehead, a machine gun in the sustained fire mode with a silencer, and four cartridge cases were found. Examinations of the evidence, the case file studies, and experiments dedicated to the case were carried out. Relationships between the placement of cartridge cases and the gun were established using a fast camera. The distributions of gunshot residues on the evidence materials and within the comparative gunshot patterns were studied by means of optical and electron microscopy, X‐ray microanalysis, and infrared spectroscopy. The shooting distance was assessed to be 30 cm or more, whereas the greatest distance that could have been achieved by the victim himself was about 11–13 cm. The obtained results supported the version of homicide rather than suicide.     

Documents on the internet as prior art

This case concerns the situation where the potentially noveltydestroying disclosure was found on the internet. The Board hadto consider what must be established for such a disclosure toform part of the state of the art. The Board decided to applythe same criteria and standard of proof as for prior use, orprior oral disclosure.