A glass fragment for a dagger--never mind your own hand.
A case of homicide is reported where a woman was killed by her boyfriend. He used a dagger-like fragment of a broken window glass to cause 10 atypical stab wounds to the neck and face and several incised wounds in other body regions. The cause of death was exsanguination, mainly from a severed internal jugular vein. The morphology of glass fragment injuries, both in the victim and perpetrator, is discussed and the possibility of homicide in such cases, which commonly represent accidents, is stressed. The use of an unsuited sharp force weapon carrying a high potential for self-injury can be explained by an excited state of mind.
Fracasso
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T
Institute of Legal Medicine, University Hospital, Münster, Germany. Tony.Fracasso@ukmuenster.de
Karger
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B
D000328:Adult; D005151:Facial Injuries / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D049429:Forensic Pathology; D005898:Glass; D006230:Hand Injuries / Q000473:pathology; D006708:Homicide; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D019838:Neck Injuries / Q000473:pathology; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D013052:Spectrometry, X-Ray Emission; D014951:Wounds, Stab / Q000473:pathology*