Decapitation by the Force to the Body: A Case Report and a Review of the Literature

Abstract

Decapitation is rarely experienced for forensic pathologists except for the putrefaction corpus decomposed by invaders. However, it has been very important for forensic pathologists to think of the cause of death, antemortem or post-mortem decapitation, and the instrument for decapitation. Postmortem decapitation is often caused after hanging. Rarely, victim is murdered and the corpse is unlawfully disposed after death for the purpose of hiding or carrying easily. Antemortem decapitation is divided into suicide, homicide and accident by classification of the cause of death. Antemortem decapitation is generally performed by a lot of instruments, such as knife, saw, guillotine, rope, chain, and so on (Table 1). In most of the cases, these objects act around the neck directly. The force for decapitation by blunt instrument is strongish, such as vehicle-assisted ligature strangulation [1-8], suicidal hanging [9-12], rarely, attacks by animal such as dog and so on [13,14], and explosion [15]. However, any strong force is not necessary for decapitation by sharp instrument [16,17]. Most of suicidal decapitations can be performed by hanging rope [1,2,6,8-12], wheels of train [4], and sharp instrument [16]. Homicidal decapitation can be mostly performed by sharp instruments such as knife, saw and scissors [17]. Turk et al. reported four cases of homicidal decapitation, which decapitation was inflicted at postmortem after killing the victim in three cases and decapitation was inflicted during survival in one case [17]. Ihama et al. reported an accidental decapitation by the movement of the chain [5]. Buschmann et al. reported that the dogs attacked the neck of 3-week-old male infant and swallowed his head [13]. Therefore, decapitation can be caused by the force to the narrow width in the neck directly and strongly. Indirect force to the neck may be difficult to cause decapitation. In this report, we experienced rare case of decapitation due to the force to the body. Decapitation is caused by indirect force to the neck. Language: en