Alteration of the Death Scene After Self‐stabbing: A Case of Sharp Force Suicide Disguised by the Victim as a Homicide?. Issue 5 (7th February 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Pelletti, Guido; Visentin, Sindi; Rago, Claudio; Cecchetto, Giovanni; Montisci, Massimo
• Is Part Of: Journal of forensic sciences. Volume 62:Issue 5(2017)
• Page Start: 1395
• Page End: 1398
• Publication Date: 2017-02-07
• Subjects: forensic science -- forensic pathology -- disguised suicide -- atypical sharp force suicide -- death scene investigation -- bloodstain pattern analysis; Medical jurisprudence -- Periodicals; Forensic sciences -- Periodicals; Forensic Medicine -- Periodicals; Gerechtelijke geneeskunde; Gerechtelijke chemie; Gerechtelijke psychiatrie; 363.2505
• DOI: 10.1111/1556-4029.13440
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0022-1198

Abstract

Abstract: This paper reports a case of a 72‐year‐old woman who was found dead in her bedroom with a 4 cm vertical stab wound in the abdomen. A bloodstained knife was found in the top drawer of her bedside table. The clothes worn by the victim showed no damage. A bloodstained vest and a sweater with frontal incisions were found far from the victim, in the bathroom and in the bedroom respectively. Several bloodstains were found in every room of the apartment. The evidence found during the forensic examination and, in particular, the Bloodstain Pattern Analysis, led the investigators to determine the manner of death, being consistent with a suicide with a long‐lasting physical activity after self‐stabbing. This report describes an unusual case of "disguised suicide, " in which the victim tried to cover‐up the suicide by changing her clothes and concealing the weapon, in the last minutes of her life.