Complete decapitation in suicidal hanging - a case report and a review of the literature.

Complete decapitation as a result of a suicidal hanging is rarely observed in forensic practice. The authors report a case of a 38-year-old man hanging from a bridge with a 4.2 m nylon rope. The man, weighing 70 kg, was wearing a 6.5 kg rucksack. The headless body was found lying in the river below the bridge and his head was found the next day in the river 6 m away from the bridge. Autopsy findings recorded a regular and concentric skin abrasion pattern and cervical spine transection between C2 and C3. Radiologic study depicted C2-C3 neck transection and the fracture of the left lamina and the spinous process of the axis. The force applied to the neck and the kinetic energy were calculated.

Work-related fatal injuries in Brescia County (Northern Italy), 1982 to 2015: A forensic analysis.

Work-related deaths represent an important social problem. We report all the occupational fatal injuries recorded by the Brescia Institute of Forensic Medicine from 1982 to 2015. A total of 426 post-mortem examinations due to accidental work injuries were retrospectively analysed according to temporal distribution (year, month and day of the workplace accident); workers' characteristics (sex, age, nationality); type of occupation; cause of death; anatomical region of fatal injuries and timing of death. The accidental occupational events occurred with a mean of 12.5 cases per year. Almost all the workers were male (99%) and Italians (87%), aged between 35 and 49 years old (34.27%). The occupation with more fatalities was construction (36.62%), followed by mechanical industry (19.25%) and agriculture (13.15%). Most of deaths were connected to a mechanical trauma (77.69%) such as falls, machinery-related events, blunt forces or explosions. The predominant site of the lethal wound was the head (33.56%), with a high percentage of death resulting from a traumatic brain injury. In 30.75% of cases death occurred after a short period of hospitalization.

Hanging Deaths: A Retrospective Study Regarding 260 Cases.

Hanging is a form of asphyxia caused by external pressure on the upper airways deriving from a band tightened by the gravitational weight of the body. During a 33-year period from 1983 to 2015, there were 260 hanging deaths examined at the Brescia Institute of Forensic Medicine (Northern Italy), which represented approximately 40% of all the asphyxial deaths recorded during this period. Almost all of the cases were represented by suicidal events, 1 case was a homicide event and there also was a case of sexual asphyxia. Eighty-two percent of the victims were men; 18% were women. There was an increasing tendency in the ages between 20 and 60 years, and the highest number of cases was observed in the 41- to 50-year age group (23% of the cases). The most common place chosen by the victim was the home setting followed by isolated outdoor places. The most common ligature material was a rope. The pathological findings were evaluated in all cases.

Homicide-suicide in Brescia County (Northern Italy): a retrospective study from 1987 to 2012.

From January 1987 to December 2012, 19 homicide-suicide events were registered at the Brescia Institute of Forensic Medicine (Northern Italy), leading to 39 deaths (20 homicide victims and 19 suicide victims). The homicide victims were females in the total of the cases (100%), while perpetrators were exclusively males (100%). Only one event involved foreigners as both victim and perpetrator, all the other cases regarded Italian people. The average age was 37.3 years for the homicide victims and 41.57 years for the offenders. Perpetrators usually used a firearm both for murder (65%) and suicide (84%). In 66% of the cases the homicide-suicide events occurred at home; homicide victims were strictly bound to their perpetrators (husband, boyfriend or ex boyfriend, father) in all the events.

Homicide in Brescia County (Northern Italy): a thirty-year review.

This retrospective study analyses post-mortem examination data of 251 homicide victims recorded by the Brescia Institute of Forensic Medicine between the years 1982 and 2012. The following variables were considered: year, month and day of death; gender, age and nationality of the victim; type of injurious mean; cause of death; homicide-suicides events; multiple murders; scene of death; toxicological data. Victims were usually young (30% was in the 21-30 years class) and males (64%). Although the victims were mostly Italians (73%), from 1990's more and more foreign victims appeared, following the migratory flow that affected Brescia County. The offenders frequently used firearms to kill their victims (41%), in particular for multiple murders. Sharp instruments were used mostly by foreigners. The study also emphasized 20 homicide-suicide events, mostly committed between intimates and family members.