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.     

The Battle for Algeria

Martin Stone, The Agony of Algeria (Hurst, London, 1997), 273 pp., ISBN 1–85065–177–9 (pb)

Robert Malley, The Call from Algeria: Third Worldism, Revolution and the Turn to Islam (Univerity of California Press, Berkeley and London, 1996), 323 pp., ISBN 0–520–20301–1 (pb)