An Unusual Hanging Case Mistaken as Homicidal Strangulation in the Scene of a Fire

Hyo Jung Ahn; Aegyung Kim; Byungseon Moon; Hongil Ha

doi:10.7580/kjlm.2014.38.2.73

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Ahn, Kim, Moon, and Ha: An Unusual Hanging Case Mistaken as Homicidal Strangulation in the Scene of a Fire

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Korean J Leg Med 2014;38(2):73-77.

Published online: 17 January 2014

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7580/kjlm.2014.38.2.73

An Unusual Hanging Case Mistaken as Homicidal Strangulation in the Scene of a Fire

Hyo Jung Ahn¹, Aegyung Kim², Byungseon Moon³, Hongil Ha³

¹Department of Pathology, Busan Paik Hospital, Inje University, Busan, Korea

²Busan Metropolitan Police Agency, Busan, Korea

³Division of Forensic Medicine, Busan Institute, National Forensic Service, Yangsan-si, Kyoungsangnam, Korea

책임저자 : 하홍일 (626-742) 경상남도 양산시 물금읍 금오 로 50, 국립과학수사연구원 부산과학수사 연구소 법의학과 전화 : +82-55-380-4050 FAX : +82-55-380-4060 E-mail : sanchee@korea.kr

Received 29 April 2014 Revised 13 May 2014 Accepted 13 May 2014

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.

Abstract

Here, we report an autopsy case of an unusual hanging that was misinterpreted as a case of homicidal strangulation, as th body was found on the scene of a house fire. A 29-year-old unmarried woman hanged herself from the gas pipe using a bath towel. Subsequently, the pipe broke and a fire broke out after an explosion. However, as the initial postmortem investigation revealed the absence of cherry-pink lividity and as a burnt bath towel was found around her neck, this case was misunderstood as a case of arson after homicidal strangulation. The cause and manner of death in this case were finally determined based on the autopsy findings of ligature marks that are typically noted in cases of hanging and the presence of a burnt electric lock and a broden gas pipe that were noted at the suicide scene.

Keywords: Key Words, Fire Scene, Hanging, Suicide, Ligature mark

REFERENCES

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Fig. 1.

The neck showed a “half of U”shaped ligature mark (a and b). A burnt bath towel was found around the neck (c).

Fig. 2.

The floor plan of Room 403. The victim was found sitting between the foot of the bed and the sliding door of the kitchen. The gas pipe ran horizontally on the inside wall of the kitchen above the sliding door.

Fig. 3.

The detailed plan of the gas pipe on the kitchen (a and b). There was a broken part at a joint (“A”) between the gas pipe and the control valve (c).

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