Citation

Straka L, Novomesky F, Gavel A, Mlynar J, Hejna P. J. Forensic Sci. 2013; 58(5): 1384-1387.

Affiliation

Institute of Forensic Medicine and Medicolegal Expertises, Jessenius Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, University Hospital, Kollarova 2, 036 01, Martin, Slovak Republic.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, American Society for Testing and Materials, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/1556-4029.12239

PMID

23899346

Abstract

A 29-year-old man was found dead lying on the bed in a hotel room in a famous Slovak mountain resort. He had a full-face diving mask on his face, connected through a diving breath regulator to a valve of an industrial (nondiving) high-pressure tank containing pure 100% nitrogen. The breath regulator (open-circuit type) used allowed inhalation of nitrogen without addition of open air, and the full-face diving mask assured aspiration of the gas even during the time of unconsciousness. At autopsy, we found the typical signs of suffocation. Toxicological analysis revealed 94.7% content of nitrogen in alveolar air. Following the completion of the police investigation, the manner of death was classified as a suicide. Within the medico-legal literature, there has been only one similar case of suicidal nitrogen inhalation described (1).

Language: en