Unplanned Complex Suicide—A Consideration of Multiple Methods

Ateriya, Navneet; Kanchan, Tanuj; Shekhawat, Raghvendra Singh; Setia, Puneet; Saraf, Ashish

doi:10.1111/1556-4029.13609

Cited by 17 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Polson and other authors have described several neck ligature tying methods used in homicides and suicides [1–4,13–20,74–93]. With homicides, multiple neck wraps may be secured with a Half Hitch or no knots at all may be employed [16,18].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Distinguishing between homicide and suicide knots and ligatures: A comparative analysis of case and survey data

Chisnall

2020

Journal of Forensic Sciences

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Distinguishing between homicides and suicides can be challenging when knots and ligatures are involved. This is particularly true for cases involving decedents who have been bound. If subtle telltales are ignored, foul play may be assumed. In contrast, the discovery of a hanged decedent may lead to a conclusion of suicide. That determination could be premature in the absence of relevant evidence and a thorough analysis of the knots and ligatures. As several authors note, the analysis of equivocal cases must include all collateral evidence, not only the scene evidence but family and decedent history, the overall context, and the death scene circumstances [1-6]. can tying performed by an assailant be distinguished from knots and ligatures tied by decedents on their own bodies? To answer these questions, survey and case data were analyzed and compared to discern any useful differences. These observations were incorporated into a proposed checklist of contrasting characteristics, which will be outlined near the end. 2 | BACKG ROUND AND R ATIONALE In the United Kingdom during the late 1970 s, Underwood investigated an unusual case in which three children were discovered

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Homicides may be staged as suicides to divert guilt, while suicides can be disguised as homicides to implicate someone else [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][75][76][77][78][79]. Suicide may be performed in a variety of unique ways for reasons known only to the decedents [78][79][80][81][82][83][84][85][86][87][88][89][90][91][92][93].…”

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confidence: 99%

Distinguishing between homicide and suicide knots and ligatures: A comparative analysis of case and survey data

Chisnall

2020

Journal of Forensic Sciences

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“…Usually, the attempted or completed suicidal act involved a single method; however, there were situations where multiple methods were used simultaneously by the decedents to commit suicide. The term “complex suicide” refers to a suicidal incident where the individual uses more than one method (Ateriya et al, 2018; Blanco-Pampin et al, 1997; Cingolani & Tsakri, 2000; Eroglu et al, 2017; Padosch et al, 2003; Taff et al, 1998; Turk et al, 2004; Viel et al, 2009).…”

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confidence: 99%

Complex Suicide: A Case Series

Sonwani

Ateriya

Verma

et al. 2022

Journal of Forensic Nursing

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Suicide is a common manner of death typically carried out via a specific mechanism. When a suicidal act is committed using more than one method, it is called a complex suicide. A complex suicide can be divided into planned and unplanned. We present three cases of complex suicide in which multiple methods were used and a previous history of self-harm was present. This case series highlights the significance of a detailed medicolegal death investigation, including interviews with relatives and other witnesses, and a thorough forensic autopsy/toxicological analysis to ascertain the cause and manner of death.

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“…When two or more lethal means are applied simultaneously, in order to prevent one of the methods from failing, suicide is considered to be planned. When several lethal means are applied successively, notably when the initial method failed or was too slow or too painful, the complex suicide is termed unplanned [5,6]. Lastly, complicated suicide, an exceptional situation defined as accidental death following the failure of the first operational method applied, must be differentiated from the two previous situations [7,8].…”

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confidence: 99%

Planned complex suicide involving combined drug intoxication and femoral catheterization

Pélissier-Alicot

Deveaux

Sastre

et al. 2021

Journal of Forensic Sciences

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Complex planned suicide is characterized by the simultaneous use of two or more methods to ensure that death occurs even if one method fails. The authors present an original combination of two self-killing methods. A 42-year-old cardiologist, with a major depressive syndrome and several suicide attempts, as well as cocaine addiction, was found dead at his home with a femoral catheter inserted in the right femoral artery. The autopsy concluded that death was due to major hemorrhagic process in a context of suicide. Toxicological analyses, performed in peripheral blood by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry and by liquid chromatography-diode array detection, revealed the presence of ethanol (0.13 g/L), cocaine, and metabolites (cocaine: 432 µg/L, benzoylecgonine: 3286 µg/L, ecgonine methyl ester: 1195 µg/L, cocaethylene: 41 µg/L), a potentially lethal concentration of citalopram (1.03 mg/L), toxic concentrations of hydroxyzine (0.11 mg/L), bromazepam (2.06 mg/L), and lidocaine (7.30 mg/L). At the end of these analyses, the death was reclassified as planned complex suicide combining drug intoxication and catheterization of the femoral artery. The authors discuss the main aspects of this case and stress the importance of meticulous analysis of all available evidence: witness reports, victim's medical history and occupation, findings of at-the-scene examination, autopsy, and toxicological analyses, in order to exclude homicide and to understand the sequence of events that led to death.

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Unplanned Complex Suicide—A Consideration of Multiple Methods

Cited by 17 publications

References 5 publications

Distinguishing between homicide and suicide knots and ligatures: A comparative analysis of case and survey data

Distinguishing between homicide and suicide knots and ligatures: A comparative analysis of case and survey data

Complex Suicide: A Case Series

Planned complex suicide involving combined drug intoxication and femoral catheterization

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