NCJ Number
188655
Journal
Legal Medicine Volume: 2 Issue: 2 Dated: August 2000 Pages: 110-114
Date Published
August 2000
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This case study reports on an autopsy in Japan involving a severely burned body and in which a finding of suicide following arson replaced the initial suspicion of murder followed by arson.
Abstract
The body was in a two-story wooden apartment house and had an electrical cord around the neck. The head and neck were severely charred. The electrical cord left a furrow in the neck as a result of the tightening of the knot. The body had no other injuries or pathological lesions suggestive of the cause of death. The blood and urine had no drugs, poison, or alcohol. The noose used a clove hitch that made the noose tighten with an increased load. A fallen curtain rod had a bend with an acute angle that seemed to be the point of suspension in hanging. A lighter under the corpse appeared to have been used to ignite the gasoline sprinkled. Findings indicated a suicidal hanging after the start of the fire. Figures, photographs, and 7 references (Author abstract modified)