TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2019//
TI  - Criminal corpse dismemberment in Hamburg, Germany from 1959 to 2016
JO  - Forensic science international
A1  - Wilke-Schalhorst, N.
A1  - Schröder, A. S.
A1  - Puschel, K.
A1  - Edler, C.
SP  - 145
EP  - 150
VL  - 300
IS  - 
N2  - Cases of corpse dismemberment are rare, but occur most frequently in urban agglomerations. A distinction is made between defensive and offensive corpse dismemberment. This systematic review retrospectively assesses the phenomenology of 51 cases of corpse dismemberment (30 defensive and 21 offensive), which occurred in a period of 57 years and were subject to medico-legal autopsies performed at the Departement of Legal Medicine in Hamburg, Germany. The victims' gender ratio was 1.7:1 female to male. In most cases, the perpetrators were middle-aged men from the close social environment, who had no psychiatric primary illnesses, no experience in the medical sector, and had not worked professionally as a butcher. In 80% of the cases it was possible to establish the cause of death; the most frequent cause was injuries sustained through sharp force (15 cases). The cases are discussed within the context of the existing international literature on corpse dismemberment.<br><br>Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0379-0738
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2019.04.038
ID  - ref1
ER  -