Sharp force fatalities: suicide, homicide or accident? A series of 21 cases

Multiple severe stab wounds to chest with cuts to the ribs. Suicide or homicide?

“…11,12 In a great majority of suicide cases due to stabbing, the stabbed areas are more commonly unclothed. 2,5,9 In the above case the T-shirt was cut 29 times. However, this is not typical of suicide but doesn't exclude it, as according to literature such findings are not unique and can be found in up to 39% of suicides by self-stabbing.…”

“…1,5,7,8 According to the published reports, the findings indicative of suicide include unclothed wound site and the presence of tentative cuts or pricks in the skin, usually on the wrists or near the target wound. 9,10 Of interest is also Karlsson's report pointing out the transverse arrangement of self-inflicted wounds, associated with the anatomical position of the wrist during selfstabbing, and the rarity of injuries in the rib area. 11,12 Still, there are occasional reports of suicide in patients with mental disorders, usually in the initial phase of schizophrenia bearing the traits of aggressive self-destruction.…”

Suicidal and homicidal sharp force injury: a 5-year retrospective comparative study of hesitation marks and defense wounds

“…In the forensic literature, several studies have already examined sharp force suicides and homicides [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]. However, there are very few systematic comparative studies of hesitation marks and defense wounds [21][22][23].…”

Establishment of the medico-legal cause of death in two atypical cases of gas embolism in hospital: Importance of the scene

“…12 The two cases presented, that were similar in terms of MCOD, underline this: whereas all the listed elements converged to an autolysis in case 1, the MLCOD was considered as undetermined in case 2.…”

“…Atypical injuries or scenes of death require careful forensic investigation, 12 and should always be considered as highly suspect in a medical setting. There can be no doubt that at discovery of the cases reported here would be easily recognized as suspicious.…”