Alteration of the Death Scene After Self-stabbing: A Case of Sharp Force Suicide Disguised by the Victim as a Homicide?
This paper reports a case of a 72-year-old woman who was found dead in her bedroom with a 4 cm vertical stab wound in the abdomen. A bloodstained knife was found in the top drawer of her bedside table. The clothes worn by the victim showed no damage. A bloodstained vest and a sweater with frontal incisions were found far from the victim, in the bathroom and in the bedroom respectively. Several bloodstains were found in every room of the apartment. The evidence found during the forensic examination and, in particular, the Bloodstain Pattern Analysis, led the investigators to determine the manner of death, being consistent with a suicide with a long-lasting physical activity after self-stabbing. This report describes an unusual case of "disguised suicide," in which the victim tried to cover-up the suicide by changing her clothes and concealing the weapon, in the last minutes of her life.
Legal Medicine and Toxicology, University-Hospital of Padova, Via Falloppio, 50, Padova, 35121, Italy.
Guido
G
Pelletti
Legal Medicine and Toxicology, University-Hospital of Padova, Via Falloppio, 50, Padova, 35121, Italy.
Sindi
S
Visentin
Legal Medicine and Toxicology, University-Hospital of Padova, Via Falloppio, 50, Padova, 35121, Italy.
Claudio
C
Rago
Legal Medicine and Toxicology, University-Hospital of Padova, Via Falloppio, 50, Padova, 35121, Italy.
Giovanni
G
Cecchetto
Legal Medicine and Toxicology, University-Hospital of Padova, Via Falloppio, 50, Padova, 35121, Italy.
Massimo
M
Montisci
D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008124:Locomotion; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology*; D014951:Wounds, Stab / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology*
atypical sharp force suicide; bloodstain pattern analysis; death scene investigation; disguised suicide; forensic pathology; forensic science