title: An unusual case of murder-suicide: The importance of studying knots.
abstract: An atypical murder-suicide that involved a married couple over 80 years of age was investigated at the Institute of Legal Medicine of the University of Chieti-Pescara and is presented and discussed here. The whole story allows us to confront the difficulties involved in the discovery of a dead body in water when the circumstantial evidence does not allow any unique interpretation of the facts. The atypical and misleading element appeared to be how the body of the man was tied, with the interpretation inclined towards a homicidal manner of death. It was only by combining the contributions of each of the findings that emerged during the course of the autopsy with the circumstantial evidence from the site inspection that it was possible to reach resolution of this case, which was then identified as a murder-suicide.
authors.affiliation: Section of Legal Medicine, Department of Medicine and Aging Sciences, 'G. d'Annunzio' University of Chieti-Pescara, Via dei Vestini, 31, 66100 Chieti, Italy. Electronic address: cridov@yahoo.it.
authors.forename: Cristian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: D'Ovidio
authors.affiliation: Section of Legal Medicine, Department of Medicine and Aging Sciences, 'G. d'Annunzio' University of Chieti-Pescara, Via dei Vestini, 31, 66100 Chieti, Italy. Electronic address: enrica.rosato85@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Enrica
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rosato
authors.affiliation: Section of Legal Medicine, Department of Medicine and Aging Sciences, 'G. d'Annunzio' University of Chieti-Pescara, Via dei Vestini, 31, 66100 Chieti, Italy. Electronic address: carneval@unich.it.
authors.forename: Aldo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Carnevale
mesh_terms: D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004332:Drowning / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D005554:Forensic Medicine; D006708:Homicide; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D020204:Skull Fracture, Depressed / Q000473:pathology; D020206:Subarachnoid Hemorrhage, Traumatic / Q000473:pathology; D013405:Suicide
keywords: Asphyxia; Bondage; Drowning; Forensic investigation; Murder-suicide