Sexual Jealousy Leads to Devil’s Butchering: Case Report on Postmortem Mutilation

Abstract

A murderer may try several methods to dispose off or hide a dead body, so that his crime can remain undetected. The most frequently used methods include burial of corpse in an unusual or impervious place; charring the body beyond the state of recognition; dropping the weighted down body in the open sea or river; dismemberment of the body and further chemical treatment. Dismemberment is a relatively rare method in which, after killing the victim, the murderer uses a very sharp cutting heavy weapon (a saw, axe, meat chopper, etc.) to sever the limbs and cut the body into small pieces. This is generally done immediately after the crime, although a long time may pass between the two events. The dismembered body may then be further subjected to chemical treatment (acid digestion) that will result in non-identification of the deceased and hence non-discovery of the murderer. This presentation describes one such incident of dismemberment and mutilation of a dead body by the perpetrator, where the body was divided into 6 pieces and stored in a refrigerator, with the intention of disposing off the different segments in the near future by the perpetrator. Postmortem examination revealed the nature of weapon used to mutilate the corpse.