Planned Complex Occupation-related Suicide by Captive-bolt Gunshot and Hanging

Abstract

Planned complex suicides are committed by using two or more previously planned methods simultaneously to make sure that death will occur even if one method fails. Herein, we presented a case of occupation-related planned complex suicide, committed by captive-bolt gunshot and hanging. A 29-year-old man, who worked as a butcher, was found dead in the stable, hanging by the neck with a captive-bolt gun embedded in the forehead region of his head. The hanging was complete. Along the bolt canal were bone fragments, and at the end of the path was the punched-out fragment of the skin and soft tissue. There were no fractures of the hyoid bone and laryngeal cartilages, and a superficial hemorrhage was present in the right sternocleidomastoid muscle. Our case underlines the utility of forensic autopsy and death scene investigation in reconstructing the mechanism of death, as well as the dynamics of the event. © 2010 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.