Forensic science international
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Comparative Study
Homicide-suicide and other violent deaths: an international comparison.
Homicides followed by the suicide of the perpetrator constitute a serious form of interpersonal violence. Until now no study has directly compared homicide-suicides to other violent deaths from multiple countries, allowing for a better understanding of the nature of these violent acts. Using country-specific data, this study describes and compares the incidence and patterns of homicide-suicide as well as the relationship between homicide-suicide, homicide, suicide and domestic homicide in the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United States. ⋯ Although homicide-suicides display many similarities across the different countries, differences exist regarding age and the use of firearms in the offence. This study indicates that homicides followed by suicides differ from both homicides and suicides in similar ways internationally. Cross-national differences in the availability of firearms may explain the international variation of homicide-suicide rates and patterns.
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Several factors may play a role in the development of fractures of the neck structures in hanging. It has been repetitively demonstrated that the incidence of fractures increases with age. The role of other variables is less clear, different studies presenting contradictory results on the role of gender, the type of suspension, or the type of ligature. However, most of these studies evaluated these factors independently of the age of the victims. Considering that age is probably the most important factor in the development of neck structure fractures, all other contributing factors should be studied in relation to age. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the role of contributing factors to the development of neck structure fractures, taking age categories into account. ⋯ Several variables contribute to the development of neck structure fractures in hanging. Age is probably the most important one. Other contributing factors are gender, height, weight, BMI and the type of suspension.
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The authors have published elsewhere a quantitative method for assessing weight of evidence in the case where a finger mark from a crime scene is compared with a control print taken from a single finger of a suspect. The approach is based on the notion of calculating a likelihood ratio (LR) that addresses a pair of propositions relating to the single finger that was the origin of the crime mark. In practice, things are rather different because the crime mark will not just be compared with a single finger from a suspect but with a set of prints from all of his/her fingers; likewise, when the mark is compared with a database, this will consist of ten print records from random individuals. ⋯ It often is the case that information is present at the crime scene that enables some inference to be drawn relating to which of the offender's ten fingers left a particular mark of interest. This kind of inference may profitably be drawn into the formal analysis. We illustrate our approach with an example.
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This paper describes for the first time the epidemiology of homicide-suicide events in the whole of the United States using archival data. From 1968 to 1975, there were 2215 homicide-suicide events out of 123,467 homicides. ⋯ The murderers in these events differ from the typical murderer and the typical suicide in socio-demographic characteristics. Details of the characteristics of this population may be valuable for understanding the circumstances of homicide-suicide events and planning preventive measures.
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Review Case Reports
Esophageal injury in fatal rear-impact collisions.
Neck injuries resulting from motor vehicle collisions (MVC), often referred to as whiplash trauma and injury, often demonstrate little or no evidence of significant tissue damage. In rare instances, however, serious injury to the anterior neck organ injuries can result from such trauma. The present study describes esophageal injury associated with rear-impact collisions, based on a unique case report, review of the scientific literature and a query in the National Automotive Sampling System (NASS) database of the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. ⋯ In these 8 cases significant esophageal injury carried a substantial (50%) risk of mortality. Clinicians should be aware of the potential for significant complications in the whiplash trauma-exposed patient who complains of chest pain, mid-thoracic pain, discomfort in the neck and throat, respiratory distress, or hoarseness. For those forensic specialists involved in whiplash cases these study results highlight the need to consider esophageal injuries as a rare but potential consequence of whiplash trauma.