An Unusual Case of Incaprettamento

Abstract

Incaprettamento is a ritual strangulation that represents a method of homicide typical of the Italian Mafia. While the victim is in the prone position, he/she is bound by one end of a rope, creating a slipknot around the throat, while the other end is used to tie the limbs behind the back. Forensic investigations reveal that in most cases, the binding of the extremities and the positioning of the victim are carried out after death due to others means and are intended to hold somebody in contempt and to punish betrayers. When the victim is tied while alive, the death is caused by self-strangulation because it is impossible to maintain the legs in this forced position. Here, we describe in detail a case with a lot of similarities to incaprettamento, although we define it as atypical because of the unusual methods of the actual binding and the circumstances in which death occurred. In fact, the investigation of the crime scene, the external and internal findings, and the histologic examination result show that this is a crime of passion.

Asphyxia using a piece of a sarong at a psychiatric unit: a case of self-strangulation

“…Z piśmiennictwa wynika, że samozadzierzgnięcie nie jest niemożliwe i bywa mylone z zabójstwem [4,15]. Do przypadkowego zadzierzgnięcia może dojść podczas czynności seksualnych [16,17] lub u dzieci [18][19][20], a niekiedy także u dorosłych [21][22][23][24][25][26]. Określenie sposobu śmierci w takich przypadkach jest złożonym zadaniem [5].…”

The homicide of a transgender by an ante-mortem “incaprettamento”. A case report

“…The incaprettamento is a rare variation of strangulation [1] consisting in the ligature of wrists and ankles with the legs of the victim, positioned behind the back; the wire itself is then also enclosed to the victim's neck. When the muscle of the lower limbs does not support anymore the unnatural position, they relax: thus, the noose around the neck tightens and the victim strangulates himself [5].…”

“…The literature [1] and the recent classification of asphyxias performed in 2010 [7] compare the "incaprettamento" (for some aspects and for the death mechanism) to the postural asphyxia of some subjects (for example: handcuffed subjects that are put in a prone position, or seated in the posterior seats of Police car [8], or some patients that are particularly violent [9][10] and that are undergoing restraints procedures) that are found dead in a position which interferes with the normal respiratory function. This condition, which is wellknown in forensic pathology, happens for the obstacle to the expanding movement of the thoracic cage and of the diaphragm, resulting in an alveolar hypoventilation and in a cardiac hyperexcitability (due to the respiratory acidosis), with subsequent cathecolamines release, respiratory failure and death.…”

“…(peculiarly used by the Italian mafia organization) is the so-called "incaprettamento" [1]. It is a cruel torture technique that is full of meanings, because it is performed to express disgust to the victims, which are considered shameful or guilty of not complying the rules of loyalty and silence of the criminal organization [2].…”

“…At the present days, the "incaprettamento" is not exclusively used for the shameful subjects: indeed sometimes it is preferred to other killing technique (or it is performed after the victims death) as it permits easily to transport the cadaver [5], often in the car trunk, and then to leave it [4] or to burn it [6] in secluded areas. The operative technique is constituted by the ligature of wrists and ankles, with the inferior limbs positioned behind the back and tied with the same wire to the neck by a noose: in this way, at every movement or attempt to get free, the victim tightens increasingly the rope and finally he strangulate himself [4]; this type of death occurs rarely, in a small percentage [1], and indeed at the autopsy it is very important to establish if the death took place after or before the "incaprettamento" (respectively, ante-mortem and post-mortem "incaprettamento").…”