An unusual case of railway suicide

A rare case of suicide in which the victim had been lying along the railway track in a supine position and with extended extremities is described. The wheels of a train caused longitudinal hemisection with complete evisceration. Epidemiological data on train suicides are given and the relationship between this method of suicide and mental illnesses and consumption of alcohol are discussed.     

Characteristics of gunshot wounds in the skull.

The analysis of trauma to the skeleton is an important aspect of forensic case work, but most pathology references devote limited attention to this topic. This paper describes various aspects of gunshot wounds, including entrance and exit patterns, angle and path, range of fire and velocity, and caliber of the bullet, based on observations of a series of known cases. Skeletal remains of 21 victims of gunshot wounds were studied. In most cases, there was documentation of the investigation, autopsy, and victim's identity. Each case was analyzed in terms of wound location, shape, size and exit/entry surface area ratio, beveling, and direction of shooting Skull entry wounds were most often round or oval. Unusual shapes were observed in bones like the mandible and mastoid process, but were also found to be triangular, nearly rectangular or irregular. Tunneling was observed in the mastoid process. The expected internal beveling was obvious in all but one skull. External beveling of an entry wound was only observed in one case (parietal bone). Exit wounds were roughly round, oval, square, and rectangular and were always more irregular than entry wounds. External beveling of exit wounds was observed in most vault bones, but there was none in the orbit, maxilla, greater wing of the sphenoid, temporal, or left occipital bone. Tangential gunshot wounds were seen in a mastoid process, zygomatic process, mandibular ramus and condyle, and occipital condyle. Most of the exit to entry surface area ratios (cm2) varied from 1.4 to 2.0. In four cases the ratio indicated that entrances were larger than exists. In conclusion, understanding of gunshot wound characteristics is an important matter to interpret distance, velocity, direction and sometimes caliber size. Assessment of this nature of gunshot wounds helps reconstruct events surrounding the death.     

The morphological characteristics of chronic subdural hematomas

Preparations of chronic subdural hematomas (CSH) obtained during surgery from 29 patients aged 19-50 years are studied. Histological sections were stained with hematoxylin-eosin after van Gieson. Morphological criteria of CSH variants are defined, permitting forensic medical experts to make well-based conclusions on the nature (traumatic or not) of CSH (two types of capsules) and the time when it occurred.     

Establishing the cause of death in finding a corpse on a flight of stairs

A total of 793 forensic medical conclusions concerning corpses found in vestibules are analyzed. The circumstances of death were unknown in the majority of cases. Causes other than injuries were responsible for the majority (72.4%) of deaths: coronary diseases, hanging, alcohol intoxication, or general hypothermia. Strikes with blunt objects and falling on the staircase or floor rank second among causes of death. Injuries caused by falling from staircase and cases with this cause suspected were responsible for 9.6% deaths. Murders with acute objects and guns were recorded in 6% cases. For facilitating differential diagnosis, a list of signs and injuries occurring as a result of falling from staircase and main causes of death in such injuries, made with consideration for the place where the corpses are found, is offered.     

Nigeria

Conclusion Organized crime activities flourish in Nigeria because law enforcement is weak or nonexistent at all levels. The police were corrupt even before organized crime emerged in its present form in Nigeria. Since “corruption is necessary for the successful operation of organized crime,”⁹⁴ the structure and operation of the Nigerian police, together with the activities of corrupt heads of state and corrupt politicians, made Nigeria fertile ground for organized crime. When those who make the laws and those who enforce the law are shamelessly corrupt, then the entire society is cor-rupted. These leaders are supposed to be the role models of the younger generations in Nigeria. Instead, they represent what Gresham Sykes and David Matza have termed the “appeal to higher loyalty”—a technique for rationalization of wrongs by under-privileged elements of Nigerian society who willingly engage in criminal activity.     

The university and the human sciences

The current malaise affecting the university in general and the human sciences in particular has a deeper origin than is usually recognized. It has to do with the gap between science and culture, between the scientific way of dealing with things and the ordinary-lifeway of dealing with them. The more the university is seen as the bastion of science, the less those sciences, which traditionally deal with human affairs as seen from the ordinary, common sense point of view, are taken seriously. It is particularly the Geisteswissenschaften which are de facto depreciated. The usual reaction is an attempt to ever more professionalism and methodological rigidity also in these sciences. This leads to disastrous consequences both for the Geisteswissenschaften and for the university as a whole. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.