Korean J Leg Med.  2019 Feb;43(1):33-36. 10.7580/kjlm.2019.43.1.33.

Extreme Suicide

• Kim DY
• Lee S

• KMID: 2440397
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.7580/kjlm.2019.43.1.33

Abstract

Many people end their lives by committing suicide every year. Most of these people inflict their own death using a method that is considered least painful such as hanging, gun shots, and drug overdose. Some choose to use their surroundings and jump off high buildings. We here present two cases of extremely rare suicide methods compared to the typically observed self-inflicted deaths. In the first case, a woman amputated her foot above the ankle with a kitchen knife, and in the second case, a man used an abrasive saw to cut his neck. Both victims had a psychiatric problem consistent with schizophrenia. Examination of these extraordinary death cases warrants a thorough scene investigation and an autopsy to determine past and present psychiatric illnesses and drug prescriptions.

Keyword

Schizophrenia; Suicide, Amputation

MeSH Terms

Ankle
Autopsy
Drug Overdose
Drug Prescriptions
Female
Foot
Humans
Methods
Neck
Schizophrenia
Suicide*

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 (A) The victim was discovered lying dead in the bathtub. Her foot was cut off above the ankle following several incision wounds. The kitchen knife was found on the side of the bathtub near the faucet. (B) The left foot was cut off above the ankle. The cut wound showed irregular edges. Several superficial incision wounds (hesitation wounds) can be seen.

• 

  Fig. 2 (A) The victim was found lying dead in a pool of blood near a small table on which an abrasive saw had been fixed. A suicide note was found beside the glasses on the right table. (B) The left side of the neck shows a large incision wound with jagged edges and a wide abrasion in the center. The left common carotid artery was severed in the wound cavity.

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