Korean J Leg Med KJLM Korean Journal of Legal Medicine 2383-5702 2383-5710 The Korean Society for Legal Medicine 10.7580/kjlm.2020.44.1.41 Case Report Unusual Suicide with Chainsaw: An Autopsy Case Report https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8547-0295 Jung Yonghan 1 Jang Seonjung 1 Park Hyejin 1 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8939-9526 Lee Sookyoung 2 Forensic Medicine Division, National Forensic Service Busan Institute, Yangsan, Korea. Medical Examiner's Office, National Forensic Service, Wonju, Korea. Correspondence to Yonghan Jung. Forensic Medicine Division, National Forensic Service Busan Institute, 50 Geumo-ro, Mulgeum-eup, Yangsan 50612, Korea. Tel: +82-55-380-4061, Fax: +82-55-380-4059, next0608@daum.net 02 2020 29 02 2020 44 1 41 44 30 01 2020 11 02 2020 25 02 2020 © Copyright 2020 by the Korean Society for Legal Medicine 2020 The Korean Society for Legal Medicine This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

In autopsy practice, we encounter case of suicide or murder using various methods or tools. Damage caused by tools such as a knife or hammer is commonly encountered, but a case of damage using a chainsaw is not commonly encountered. We present an autopsy case of a suicide due to neck injury using a chainsaw. A 56-year-old man was found dead with a neck injury and a chainsaw below him. Soft tissue of the neck, thyroid cartilage, trachea, carotid vessels, cervical vertebrae, and cervical spinal cord were found to be cleaved, and a cogwheel-shaped pattern was observed in the injured area.

 Forensic pathology Chainsaw Suicide Autopsy Neck injuries National Forensic Service Clinical Research Acknowledgments

This study was supported by National Forensic Service Clinical Research Fund.

Yong-Han Jung, a contributing editor of the Korean Journal of Legal Medicine, was not involved in the editorial evaluation or decision to publish this article. The authors have no conflict of interest to be declared.

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