Atlas of Forensic Medicine

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Parkour Fatality


The decedent was a previously physically healthy 23-year-old male inpatient at a psychiatricand rehabilitation facility. According to eyewitnesses,after performing a wall-hop (forwardrunning momentum is transferred to verticalmomentum by planting a foot on the wall) andspinning around to grab an overhead ledge, helost his grip and fell two meters onto the concretefloor of an outdoor pavilion structure (Images 1and 2). The occipital aspect of his head struckthe concrete. He was brought to the hospital andadmitted for closed head injuries, including subduralhematoma treated by decompressive craniectomy.Despite these efforts, the injuries nonethelessproved fatal six days after the incident,when brain death was pronounced.

Is he parkour for us? Well, thank him very much

 

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Asphyxia mixed.

 

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Suicide by black-powder rifle.

 

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Accidental hanging during autoerotic game using a leather belt around the neck.

 

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Accidental hanging during autoerotic game using a leather belt around the neck.

Such a fascinating way to die

 

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Mixed Forensic Cases from Ohio, United States

 

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Beautiful stitches after the autopsy.

 

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Child Sarvation and Neglect


Fatal starvation is a rare cause of death in industrialised countries. In such cases, investigation of death isnever an easy task for forensic pathologists who need to couple autopsy findings with full investigationof the crime scene and family record to establish if death results from deliberate neglect, maltreatmentand withholding of food. The present article describes two cases of death caused by child neglect. Thefirst case involved a 16-month-old female who died from starvation with dehydration as a contributingfactor. In the second case a 7-year-old girl died from ultimate aspiration of stomach contents that hadbeen vomited during the child’s last meal because of the fecal concretions blocking the intestinalpassage. In both cases macroscopic and histological findings revealed severe chronic malnutrition; crimescene investigations confirmed stories of child maltreatment and neglect.

 

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Positional Asphyxia inside a Tyre



Accidental death from postural or positional asphyxia takes place when the abnormal position of thevictim’s body compromises the process of respiration. Diagnosis is largely made by circumstantialevidence supported by absence of any other significant pathology or trauma explaining death. This casereport is about a 50-year-old male who had been drinking the previous night and was found dead in themorning inside a tire repair shop. His jack-knifed body had been encompassed, buttocks-down, withinthe hollow core made by 3 big tires stacked on top of each other. The author was called to the scene ofdeath and had hands-on encounter with the body in-situ where scene photographs were taken. Apartfrom a blood alcohol of 290 mg/100 ml, marked congestion of the face, petechial hemorrhages on theconjunctivae and lung edema and congestion, autopsy findings were unremarkable. Abrasions onshoulders, lateral aspects of arms and posterior aspects of lower legs indicated friction with internal rimsof tires while slipping down. There were no other injuries or pathology to account for his death. Deathwas determined to be due to accidental postural asphyxia secondary to intoxication by alcohol.

 

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Weekend Mix: Forensic Autopsy of Sharp Force Injuries​

 

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Skull opening technique.

 

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Autopsy techniques in India.

 

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The next photograph is of an athletic young man who committed suicide by stabbing himself more than 33 times. This occurred in his house in July 2000 in Camden, NJ. He also had hesitation cuts on his neck. Notice that these are localized in the left chest and that approximately 31-32 of those stab wounds are horizontal with only about 3-4 being vertical.

 

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Near Decapitation in Suicidal Vehicle-assisted Ligature Strangulation​

Vehicle-assisted ligature strangulation is an extremely rare suicide method. We present a case of a 43-year-old man who secured one end of a nylon rope to a tree and the other end around his neck, then got inside his vehicle and stepped on the gas, leading to an incomplete decapitation. A sharply demarcated encircling ligature mark was found upon external examination, along with a deep laceration in the anterior region of the neck. The severance plane passed between the third and fourth cervical vertebrae, with diffuse haemorrhagic infiltration of the cervical muscles.

The lung histological examination described a large amount of red blood cells and pulmonary oedema.

 

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Explosive-induced trauma of the jaw and mouth, with gaping lacerations and tears.

 

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Autoerotic death.



The body of 69-year-old man was found death at his home address. The body was lying face down with exposed genitalia which were tightly bandaged by rubber bands and shoe laces. The man was dressed in kiss-patterned boxers. A lubricated vibrator densely covered with silicone lubricant was found in the close vicinity of the body. Additionally, there was plenty of various pornographic material found at the scene. At autopsy, a lubricant-like substance was found within upper airways, predominantly covering the larynx and the trachea.

 

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A dead body was found lying on the ground on a carpet ina family house. Clothing suggested young, tall and slim-figured woman. A plastic bag wrapped around the head of the deceased with 2 cm wide pink duct tape made it impossible to do further identification. Tape, identical to the material used to sew woman underwear, was wrapped around the neck three times and its loose end – 170 cm long – was laid out next to the body. Deceased was wearing tights, short blouse and a woman’s two-piece suit. Another pair of tights were also put on both upper limbs. After pulling off some layers of clothing, forensic pathologist present at the scene discovered that it was a body of a young man wearing four panties and three bras. Removing the plastic bag from the head showed five panties stretched over his head. Leg parts of the tights were wrapped around head and his half-open mouth and vertically over the top of the head and under his chin. In the mouth area, they were wet from saliva foam and vomit. Once all objects were removed from the head, the deceased was identified as the 18-year-old son of the house owners. Autopsy showed that only one testicle was present in his scrotum, the other one was surgically removed when he was 13 years old. The deceased was a somatically well-developed young man. Toxicology did not confirm any presence of alcohol or other forensically important substances. On panties worn by the deceased, ejaculate was confirmed both microscopically and biochemically. The way the duct tape and tights were wrapped around his throat excluded another person´s involvement. The cause of death was affirmed as asphyxiation by external airway obstruction by a plastic bag.

 

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A 90-year-old German man died of protracted bleeding to death from a superficial leg vein above the patella that had been minimally opened with a razor blade and then manipulated. A pre-existing varicosis was a contributing factor.

 

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38-year-old died from anaphylactic shock while in police custody.

 

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Homosexual lust muder.

These photos depict the result of a homosexual lust murder in which the participants allegedly agreed to a “suicide pact.” However, one of the individuals never intended to commit suicide. Instead he acted out a perverse sexual fantasy with his “lovers” body and removed body parts, which he took with him.