Archiv für Kriminologie
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Archiv für Kriminologie · May 1989
Case Reports[Unusual suicide caused by a stab wound in the neck].
A case is reported of a man with a deep nape stabwound completely severing the medulla of the spine. A strangely formed bottle neck fragment is the assumed weapon. Further investigations allow a scene reconstruktion, police inquiries throw light on a previous acute psychotic disorder of the suicide.
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The case history of a suicide due to 120 stab wounds of the chest is presented. The victim was a 41 years old man with a paranoid-hallucinative psychosis. ⋯ Cases with more than 40 single lesions are normally homicides. However, the pattern of the injuries is more important than the number--especially in doubtful cases.
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Archiv für Kriminologie · May 1987
[A suicide decision as a motive for murder--an airplane as the murder weapon].
It is supposed that some fatal aviation accidents of "cause unknown" especially of light and private airplanes are possibly intended by a suicidal act. However it is difficult to prove this suggestion. A case of a light aircraft accident is reported in which the medicolegal autopsy and the police investigation revealed, unexpected, a simultaneous homicide and suicide caused by a stabbing attack on the pilot. This paper stresses the importance of autopsies of the victims in aircraft accident investigation and discuss the medicolegal and psychopathological aspects of the case.
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Archiv für Kriminologie · Jan 1985
Historical Article[Witch signs in forensic medicine of the 16th to 18th centuries].
Witch's marks and injecta, two magical phenomena discussed in the law-courts are here examined from the perspective of forensics and medical history. While stigmata were already deprived of their magical aura in the time of Zacchias, injecta continue to puzzle legal medicine for a long time. Gradually the solution is discovered in natural (diseases, dermatology) and psychological (simulation) phenomena.