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Unusual (self-)injuries in a case of hanging

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Abstract

A 41-year-old man was found by his wife in an atypical hanging situation in their apartment. As there was a known previous psychiatric illness and a history of suicide attempts, the investigative authorities assumed this case was a suicide. However, the autopsy revealed numerous findings that are unusual for a suicidal atypical hanging, including numerous cuts on the face, the arms and the penis. According to his wife, the deceased suffered from Asperger's syndrome with auto-aggressive behavior. He had allegedly injured himself with household scissors in the days before his death and had hit himself numerous times in the face the night before his death. His wife also revealed that she would injure him with scissors at his request. Even though the observed injury pattern in this case contradicted a self-infliction, the information given by the wife about the chronology of the occurrence of injuries could be reconciled with the findings of the immunohistochemical estimation of wound age. The circumstances that led to the hanging remained unresolved.

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This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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  1. Institute of Legal Medicine, University Hospital Bonn, Stiftsplatz 12, 53111, Bonn, Germany

    Inga Duval, Elke Doberentz & Burkhard Madea

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  1. Inga Duval
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Correspondence to Inga Duval.

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Duval, I., Doberentz, E. & Madea, B. Unusual (self-)injuries in a case of hanging. Forensic Sci Med Pathol 17, 354–361 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12024-020-00346-w

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