The forensic analysis of homemade explosive suicides: Case report and systematic review of the literature

Abstract

The illegal construction of explosive devices for recreational purposes has become increasingly widespread in recent years. This phenomenon is spurred on by numerous websites that explain how to build a self-made device. The correlation between the use of firearms and suicide is known in the literature, but the use of explosive devices and self-harm is little studied. Unfortunately, the risk associated with the manufacture of homemade explosives is poorly known. For this purpose, we describe a rare suicide carried out by a man suffering from depressive disorder with psychotic and delusional features. The forensic investigations at the scene showed that the man had designed a homemade device, and disseminated numerous suicide notes in his home, transcribed in the previous weeks in which he revealed his suicidal motivation. Crime scene investigation showed on the body and on the road in front of the explosion point: multiple fragments of glass (zone 1), a lighter with blood stains (zone 2), and shreds of clothing scattered along the road (zone 3). Autopsy revealed that the cause of death was extensive blunt injury to head and trunk due to barotrauma due to the explosion of a homemade device. The case is compared with data from a systematic review of the forensic literature on suicides involving explosives. The study proposes the analysis of planimetric areas in these crime scene investigations and active surveillance in these subjects.

Forensic characteristics of injuries from thermo-baric explosive device

“…As it turns out from the literature, the use of explosive devices is a fairly common negative form of impact on the health and life of people, ranging from suicides [26,29], to accidents [18,20] and terrorist attacks [8,12]. They are most common in military conflicts [1,25].…”