An Unusual Autoerotic Fatality Associated With Chloroform Inhalation

Abstract

We report the death of a young male attributed to chloroform poisoning during autoerotic asphyxia. He was found lying on the floor of his apartment, prone on a piece of foam and a towel. His eyes were bound with a towel, his lower face and nose were almost entirely covered with duct tape surrounding a rubber hose in his mouth. The other end of the hose was loosely sitting inside an open bottle which was in a box beside him. He was bound-up by an intricate system of ropes, handles, and rods, ending with a noose around his neck. Toxicology testing indicated chloroform concentrations of 18.1 mg/L in femoral blood and 1.5 mg/L in urine. Chloroform was measured by headspace gas chromatography with flame-ionization detection using 1,1,1-trichloroethane as the internal standard. The cause of death was recorded as "chloroform toxicity" with "autoerotic asphyxia" as a contributing factor, and the manner of death was "accidental".