Scuba diver with a knife in his chest: homicide or suicide?
A scuba diver was found dead at the bottom of an undersea cave at 54.1 m water depth, with a knife protruding from his chest. Autopsy confirmed death due to both drowning and a penetrating knife wound. The incident was first considered a homicide and two suspects were arrested. Careful forensic analysis of the profile of the diver's last dive stored in the dive computer, dimensions of the undersea cave, as well as other forensic findings, showed that the case was a suicide, which the diver most probably committed while running out of air, in an attempt to avoid the agony of drowning. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on a suicide during diving.
Petri
Nadan M
NM
Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine Department, Naval Medical Institute, P.P. 196 (HRM), 21000 Split, Croatia. nadan.petri@morh.hr
Definis-Gojanović
Marija
M
Andrić
Dejan
D
D000328:Adult; D004242:Diving; D005554:Forensic Medicine; D006708:Homicide; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013405:Suicide; D013898:Thoracic Injuries / Q000473:pathology; D014951:Wounds, Stab / Q000473:pathology