NCJ Number
212931
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 51 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2006 Pages: 137-139
Date Published
January 2006
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This paper describes what is apparently the second known case of a death in the course of pursuing an autoerotic experience through asphyxia due to submersion in water, combined with elements of anguish and fear associated with the risk of drowning.
Abstract
Autoerotic deaths are accidental deaths that occur during a usually solitary pursuit of heightened sexual stimulation that uses a device, apparatus, or prop for either direct stimulation of erotic regions, stimulation of the sexual centers in the central nervous system, or creation of fear and anguish in the context of masochistic perversion. The vast majority of accidental deaths from autoerotic activities result from asphyxia by hanging or ligature, thus intending to stimulate sexual centers in the central nervous system. In the case reported in this paper a 25-year-old man was found floating on a lake in the summer. He wore a hockey helmet with a safety grid on his head. His clothing consisted of a two-piece black snowmobile suit and ski boots. On top of the black suit, a complex bondage system joined the waist, knees and ankles of the victim. The bondage network was secured at the pubic region with a padlock, keeping the victim's legs tightly together. Under the winter garments, the victim was wrapped in a transparent plastic jumpsuit from head to toe. The only air supply was a black tube joined to the mouth and sealed to the suit by silicone. The victim had linked the tube from his mouth to an open plastic container floating on the lake, thus creating a system for air supply. The air supply system was flawed, however, creating his death. The exhaled air through the tube was mostly re-inhaled, thus causing a progressive lowering of oxygen intake and a progressive inhaling of carbon dioxide. 6 figures and 18 references