Pattern of lethal trauma among swimmers colliding with a personal watercraft.

Personal watercrafts (otherwise known as Jet Skis or wave runners) possess powerful propelling engines that enable them to reach high velocities. In overcrowded sea shores, especially due to a diversity of human errors (inexperience, underage operator, alcohol-related errors and lack of training), these vessels might cause severe damage to the operator himself, to swimmers in the whereabouts but to the environment as well. We present three fatal victims that were struck and overrun by personal watercrafts used for recreational purposes. One of them had a deep skull trauma resulting from being hit by the hull of the vessel. The other two cases had an impressive and particular pattern of tissue trauma, with deep parallel cutting wounds due to the contact with the propeller helix. All cases were treated as accidental drowning, because even when rescue operations were immediate, the loss of conscience following the severe blunt trauma inside the water left few chances, if any, to survival.

An unusual lethal gunshot wound to the head.

Atypical gunshot wounds present a challenge for the forensic expert, and sometimes differentiating these from a blunt trauma can be difficult. A careful crime scene investigation can be helpful in finding additional evidence and clarifying the nature of the injuries. We describe a case of an unusual craniocerebral injury that was initially interpreted as a blow from a wooden object. The appearance of the wound lacked the classical characteristics of entrance and exit bullet wounds, but the investigation showed it was due to the ricocheting of a destabilized bullet. Potentially lethal, craniocerebral gunshot injuries are a common occurrence in developing countries even in non-conflict areas, with very bad outcomes even when treated aggressively in specialized neurosurgical facilities. The authors briefly discuss similar cases and opinions in the relevant literature, emphasizing the importance of a rational approach during the reconstruction of the crime scene.

Osteological proofs of torture and cruelty: forensic findings form a secret cemetery in Tirana, Albania.

Two decades after the fall of the communism in Albania, documenting the human rights violations and proving torture and cruelties suffered from ex-politically persecuted and dissidents of the regime, is still a societal priority. Due to several reasons, the judicial way toward redressing the historical injustices has been slowed down. This is mainly because of the lack of proper documentation of torture, mass executions and extrajudicial ill-treatment. Several governmental and civil society organizations have tried to define the issue, but perpetrators have rarely, if ever, been brought to court. Secret cemeteries and mass graves have recently been found in different zones of Albania, and victims exhumed; thus proofs of torture and ill-treatments are being made widely known, potentially creating the necessary legal conditions for punishing the perpetrators and for identifying victims. In the present paper, authors describe osteological forensic findings from Linza secret cemetery in Tirana, where several ante mortem fractures prove the severe and cruel ill-treatment the victims suffered before the execution that was usually by bullet shot in the posterior region of the skull.

Fatal basilar thrombosis possibly related to minor cervical trauma: a case report.

Background. Basilar thrombosis is a potentially fatal event, whose traumatic etiology has been repeatedly stated. Methods. We performed the autopsy and the microscopic examination of the brain stem structures from an individual, whose sudden death raised logical suspicions regarding the causative factor. Results. The brain was swollen and clearly hyperemic; a massive basilar thrombus with complete occlusion of the median segment of the basilar artery was macroscopically seen. The brainstem showed an infarcted zone in the pons, with secondary hemorrhagic changes, mainly in the form of multiple petechial hemorrhages. Pontine arteries showed extensive alterations, mainly in the form of severed endothelium, which suggested a thrombotic-traumatic mechanism as the main etiological factor. Conclusions. Minor injuries, such as slight whiplashes, abrupt neck movements, neck trauma related to the slowing down of the vehicles, and critical neck positioning, can all of them explain a thrombotic event in the basilar artery, leading to a fatal occurrence. Other risk factors may obviously concur, but their importance seems unclear.