[Homicide by stab to the neck with subsequent attempted suicide by cut to the neck]. / Tötung durch Halsstich mit anschliessender versuchter Selbsttötung durch Halsschnitt.

A 37-year-old Turkish woman was fatally injured by her 65-year-old Turkish husband with a stab to the cervical region. After her death he inflicted a deep cut to his own neck, which he survived thanks to immediate medical assistance. To the authors' knowledge this combination of a homicidal stab to the neck and a suicidal cut to the neck has not been described before. Kosher butchering, which is common in the couple's traditional cultural environment, is discussed as possible reason for the choice of the neck as site for applying sharp violence. It may have induced the perpetrator to choose this anatomical region.

Bone finds: a challenge to forensic science.

The study presented here is based on 176 forensic dental reports compiled between 1993 and 2001. The bulk of the research took place in 1997, when major construction at Potsdamer Platz and Lehrter Bahnhof in central Berlin required the excavation of considerable quantities of earth. As building proceeded here, at 'Europe's biggest construction site', it revealed not only a large number of long bones, but also a great many skulls and skull fragments. In five instances, complete skeletons were unearthed. Many of the bones ultimately proved to be of animal origin. The police were not instructed to open a single criminal investigation. Identifying and piecing together the material in this context makes tremendous demands of forensic osteology. Establishing the nature of these finds beyond reasonable doubt, and putting a name and date to them, calls for interdisciplinary co-operation between experts in odontology, anthropology, anatomy, radiology and veterinary medicine, not to mention historians.

The injury pattern to children involved in lethal traffic accidents in Berlin.

A statistical investigation of causes of death of children in Berlin, as well as in the rest of Germany shows, that 'accidents' are the most frequent causes of death in children. Nearly 50% of all child fatalities (0-15 years old) are due to traffic accidents. The reports of 30 children (19 boys, 11 girls) that were investigated in one of the three Institutes of Legal Medicine in Berlin over a period of 5 years were studied. In nearly 40% of all cases the children were pedestrians, in ten cases they died as passengers in cars, five children were bicyclists and in one case the child was a skateboarder. In 60% of all cases the principal injuries were severe injuries of the skull and brain; skull and brain trauma was the most frequent cause of death. In the group pedestrians (n=11), the cause of death in ten cases was the severe head-injury. Over 60% of all injured children died at the scene or in the first 24h after the accident, none of the children survived more than 30 days.

[Bioterrorism--also a challenge for forensic medicine?]. / Bioterrorismus--auch eine Herausforderung an die Rechtsmedizin?

In view of current events the question is discussed to what extent the risk of bioterrorism may be an issue relevant for forensic medicine also in Germany, although at present there seems to be no concrete threat. The cases which became known so far were either false alarms or foolish pranks (copycats), which have to be, and are indeed, prosecuted by the state (section 126 German Criminal Code). Reference is also made to the measures of disinfection recommended by the Robert Koch Institute.