Attached
Introduction
Every one prefers a painless death, therefore,
stabbing is not a preferred means of suicide. When
multiple stabs on neck with several of them
potentially fatal, it suggests homicide. It will be
further complicated when such body is found inside
a well.
Case report
A 26 year old married male was found floating face
down in a well. There were no features of struggle
at the scene. A table knife was also found inside the
well. According to police, he was an accused of
assaulting his wife. Acceding to an eyewitness, the
deceased had jumped in to a well (figure 1).
He had no previous attempts of suicide. At the
autopsy, both conjunctivae were pale and there
were more than 25 stab injuries on the front aspect
of the neck (Figure 2). Most of them were
superficial and parallel. Four injuries were deep
and with bilateral internal jugular vein injuries.
Both carotid arteries were spared. All organs were
pale and there were flame shaped haemorrhages in
left ventricle. There were no macroscopic or
microscopic evidence suggestive of drowning.
There were no defense injuries or injuries that
cause incapacitation. Toxicological analysis was
unremarkable. The cause of death was
haemorrhagic shock due to stab injuries to the
neck.
P P 5
Discussion
In the presence of two potential modes of deaths,
namely neck stabs and drowning, it is important to
ascertain the real cause of death.
Though the body was recovered from a well, there
were no macroscopic or microscopic evidence of
drowning. Further, it was evident
2: stabs on the neck
that four stabs were deep and had penetrated major
vessels of the neck resulting massive haemorrhage
leading to hemorrhagic shock with pale organs and
flame haemorrhages in the heart. Therefore, the
cause of deaths was ascertained as haemorrhagic
shock due to multiple stabs to neck.
The suicidal stab injuries are accompanied with
hesitant stabs or cuts and are multiple, parallel and
superficial. The weapon was found at the scene.
The possibility of recent depression cannot be
excluded due to the presence of strong evidence of
marital problems and alleged wife battering. In
addition, the presence of two suicidal methods;
concomitant neck injuries and attempted suicide by
drowning have turned out to be an important
indication of suicide.
Conclusion
When ascertaining the manner, the possibility of
multiple parallel stabs in homicides should also be
considered. However, combination of two methods
of suicides is a strong evidence as to the manner of
death.
