title: Planned complex suicide. An unusual suicide by hanging and gunshot.
abstract: We report a case of planned complex suicide (PCS) by a young man who had previously tried to commit suicide twice. He was found dead hanging by his neck, with a shot in his head. The investigation of the scene, the method employed, and previous attempts at suicide altogether pointed toward a suicidal etiology. The main difference between PCS and those cases defined in the medicolegal literature as combined suicides lies in the complex mechanism used by the victim as a protection against a failure in one of the mechanisms.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Blanco-Pampín
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Suárez-Peñaranda
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rico-Boquete
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Concheiro-Carro
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002423:Cause of Death; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005389:Firearms; D005554:Forensic Medicine; D006470:Hemorrhage / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019838:Neck Injuries; D013405:Suicide; D014948:Wounds, Gunshot / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology