Homicide by ligature strangulation in Finland: offence and offender characteristics

In Finland, homicide by ligature strangulation is a rare event. The purpose of this study was to investigate recent homicide cases by ligature strangulation and to analyse offence and offender characteristics. All forensic psychiatric evaluation statements of offenders accused of ligature strangulation homicides during the 7-year period 1996--2002 (n=19) were reviewed retrospectively. Thirty-five percent of the victims were females. In four cases, the victim was the offender's intimate partner; in one case, it was the stepson; in one case, a father and in the rest of the cases (n=13), an acquaintance. None of the cases involved planning, sadism or sexual elements. In 89% of the cases, the offender was either intoxicated or on drugs at the time of the offence and in 94% of the cases, the victim was found at the scene of the killing. Of the offenders, 63% had crime history, and approximately half of the offenders had experienced parental alcohol abuse, domestic violence or previous trauma. Most of the offenders were unemployed at the time of the offence. In all, 89% were diagnosed as having personality disorder and two were schizophrenic.     

STR analysis of artificially degraded DNA-results of a collaborative European exercise

Degradation of human DNA extracted from forensic stains is, in most cases, the result of a natural process due to the exposure of the stain samples to the environment. Experiences with degraded DNA from casework samples show that every sample may exhibit different properties in this respect, and that it is difficult to systematically assess the performance of routinely used typing systems for the analysis of degraded DNA samples. Using a batch of artificially degraded DNA with an average fragment size of approx. 200 bp a collaborative exercise was carried out among 38 forensic laboratories from 17 European countries. The results were assessed according to correct allele detection, peak height and balance as well as the occurrence of artefacts. A number of common problems were identified based on these results such as strong peak imbalance in heterozygous genotypes for the larger short tandem repeat (STR) fragments after increased PCR cycle numbers, artefact signals and allelic drop-out. Based on the observations, strategies are discussed to overcome these problems. The strategies include careful balancing of the amount of template DNA and the PCR cycle numbers, the reaction volume and the amount of Taq polymerase. Furthermore, a careful evaluation of the results of the fragment analysis and of automated allele calling is necessary to identify the correct alleles and avoid artefacts.     

Trauma symptoms and life skill needs of domestic violence victims

This study identified the trauma symptoms and life skill needs of 84 domestic violence victims from three domestic violence programs. Women completed two self-report tools: Trauma Symptom Inventory (TSI) and Occupational Self Assessment (OSA). Staff members participated in focus groups regarding their perceptions of the women's needs. Women scored within the clinical range on the Defensive Avoidance (39.8%), Intrusive Experiences (30.1%), and Tension Reduction Behavior (24.1%) clinical scales of the TSI. On the OSA, the groups' priorities differed although all demonstrated a desire to function more independently. Their mental health functioning and prioritization of needs differed based on their level of involvement with the service delivery system. Staff members believe women lack skills in the areas of money management, seeking and obtaining employment, locating permanent housing, independently completing self-care and home management activities, managing stress, and parenting. The findings indicate that both mental health and life skills needs must be addressed.     

Sudden death associated with a multifocal type II hemangioendothelioma of the liver in a 3-month-old infant

Sudden unexpected death in an infant caused by or associated with neoplasm is rare. We describe a case of a sudden death in an apparently healthy 3-month-old female, in which the autopsy revealed a multiple type II infantile hepatic hemangioendothelioma (IHE). This uncommon tumor has, untreated, a relatively high mortality rate, mainly due cardiac failure resulting from massive arteriovenous shunts, but the association with sudden infant death is very rare.