Citation

Pelletti G, Visentin S, Rago C, Cecchetto G, Montisci M. J. Forensic Sci. 2017; 62(5): 1395-1398.

Affiliation

Legal Medicine and Toxicology, University-Hospital of Padova, Via Falloppio, 50, Padova, 35121, Italy.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, American Society for Testing and Materials, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/1556-4029.13440

PMID

28168687

Abstract

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.

© 2017 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Language: en

Keywords

atypical sharp force suicide; bloodstain pattern analysis; death scene investigation; disguised suicide; forensic pathology; forensic science