A Case of Suicidal Suffocation Simulating Homicide

Abstract

This case concerns an unusual suicidal plastic bag suffocation. An elderly white man was found dead and partially disrobed in his apartment lying supine on a sofa with a plastic bag closed by a rope over the head and the upper and lower extremities tightly tied with two other ropes, the end of both arranged into slipknots (self-rescue mechanism). Police investigations found no pornography in the apartment, and circumstantial data alleged no psychiatric disorders or suicidal intentions. The autopsy excluded signs of struggle and sexual intercourse as well as any type of injury or physical illness. Chemical analyses on the peripheral blood excluded acute drugs and/or alcohol intoxication. A differential diagnosis of the manner of death was performed, including scenarios of accidental autoerotic asphyxiation, homicide during either sexual activity or ritualistic, elderly suicide. The collected data most strongly supported the hypothesis of a suicidal asphyxiation simulating homicide to devolve a life insurance to the victim's sons because of economic difficulties.

One Hundred and One Cases of Plastic Bag Suffocation in the Milan Area Between 1993 and 2013—Correlations, Circumstances, Pathological and Forensic Evidences and Literature Review

“…Suicide caused by PBS was evident in 0.46% of the autopsies performed and 2.8% of the suicides that occurred in the timeframe considered. Unlike other studies reporting suicides mainly in old people, mostly females suffering from terminal chronic diseases , and in younger people abusing psychotropic substances , the average victim in our study was an adult male, clearly showing mental illness (generally depressed) or suffering from chronic or terminal pathologies that played a fundamental role in leading to the final act. The typical subject, according to our study, committed suicide in his bedroom, while still wearing his clothes.…”

Distinguishing between homicide and suicide knots and ligatures: A comparative analysis of case and survey data

“…Polson and other authors have described several neck ligature tying methods used in homicides and suicides [1–4,13–20,74–93]. With homicides, multiple neck wraps may be secured with a Half Hitch or no knots at all may be employed [16,18].…”

“…Occasionally, both homicide and suicide cases can involve subterfuge. Homicides may be staged as suicides to divert guilt, while suicides can be disguised as homicides to implicate someone else [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][75][76][77][78][79]. Suicide may be performed in a variety of unique ways for reasons known only to the decedents [78][79][80][81][82][83][84][85][86][87][88][89][90][91][92][93].…”

A particularly complex case of matricide by means of plastic bag suffocation: Case report

“…Correctly classifying deaths by PBS is much more difficult than classifying other types of violent mechanical suffocations, both in terms of diagnosing the exact cause of death and in terms of distinguishing, medically and legally, between suicide, homicide – including simulated homicide 8 – and an accident. This is due to the shortage of macro- and microscopic findings which normally emerge on the dissection table and from a histopathological examination of the viscera.…”