Homicide with a screwdriver and simulation of a similar offence by self-infliction of injuries

Patterned injuries from screwdrivers

A 40-year-old man was stabbed multiple times with a cross-tipped, Phillips head screwdriver with many of the puncture wounds characterized by a cruciate pattern consistently measuring approximately 5 × 5 mm corresponding to the shape of the weapon. Death was due to a single penetrating wound to the chest that had transfixed the aorta. This report characterizes the features of injuries that may be inflicted by Phillips head screwdrivers, contrasting this with injuries that may occur if the weapon is a flat or slotted head screwdriver. Given their ready availability, ease of handling, and sharpness, screwdrivers are surprisingly rarely used in fatal assaults.

Penetrierende Schädelverletzungen mit elektrischen Bohrmaschinen – ungewöhnliche Verletzungsmuster

Zwei außergewöhnliche Fälle von fremdbeigebrachten penetrierenden Kopfverletzungen durch elektrische Bohrmaschinen werden präsentiert. Derartige Abläufe stellen als Tötungsdelikt bzw. versuchtes Tötungsdelikt eine extreme Rarität dar. Wenige Beschreibungen betreffen Suizide, Suizidversuche oder unfallbedingte Verletzungen durch Bohrmaschinen. Im Fall eines 47 Jahre alten Mannes wurde dem Opfer von seiner in Scheidung lebenden Exfrau mit einer ausgeschalteten Bohrmaschine im Schlaf durch das Ohr in den Schädel gestochen. Der Mann überlebte den Angriff. In dem anderen Fall kam es zu einer Auseinandersetzung zwischen zwei jungen Männern, wobei der Beschuldigte seinem Opfer zunächst Messerstiche und anschließend Bohrerverletzungen zufügte. Insgesamt konnten autoptisch drei durch das Auge in das Schädelinnere eindringende Bohrkanäle festgestellt werden. Das Opfer verstarb unmittelbar am Geschehensort.

Traumatic Brain Injury Due to Screwdriver Assaults: Literature Review and Case Report

Penetrating head injuries due to the use of screwdrivers as wounding agents in acts of interpersonal violence seldom occur. The aim of this article is to update and summarize the relevant literature on penetrating craniocerebral screwdriver stab wounds and to report a new case of screwdriver assault. A number of studies were reviewed to investigate the incidence, distribution, common findings, mechanism of injury, differential diagnostic criteria, complications, treatment, and prognosis of craniocerebral screwdriver stab injuries. It was observed that the degree of traumatic severity depends on the cross-sectional area of the screwdriver and the anatomical region of injury. Craniocerebral screwdriver injuries are mainly cases of interpersonal violence and the mortality rate is approximately 47.6%. In 23.8% of the incidents, the trauma is overlooked on admission because of the small entry wound and, thus, the severity of the injury is not initially appreciated.

Macroscopic characteristics of screwdriver trauma

The main objective of the study was to determine the type of macroscopic trauma created by a flat-tipped and a cross-tipped screwdriver. The second objective was to determine if the trauma inflicted by the two screwdrivers could be macroscopically differentiated. Three tests were conducted, each by a male volunteer. Each test consisted of 12 samples of fleshed pig ribs; six were stabbed with a flat-tipped screwdriver and the remaining six with a cross-tipped screwdriver (Phillips). Each sample received 15 stab wounds during the process. The stabbings were conducted at perpendicular and oblique angles, with fabric variables being utilized. Results illustrate two main categories of macroscopic skeletal trauma, fractures, and puncture wounds. By studying the macroscopic appearance in tandem with differing trauma frequencies, these two screwdriver types can be differentiated.

Self-inflicted injuries with negative political overtones

The report deals with two adolescents (a 17-year-old Turkish boy and a 15-year-old German girl) who simulated right-wing assaults by cutting National Socialist symbols into their own skin. The fact that Nazi symbols were chosen was obviously due to the idea that the alleged commission of the offense by right-wingers would not be doubted due to the negative image of this group. The alleged victims did not inform the police until the family or close friends urged them to report the incident. The rapid elucidation of the facts was possible because medicolegal experts were called in at an early stage of the investigations. The injuries showed typical morphological features of self-infliction (localization in easily accessible parts of the body, multitude of singular lesions with a linear or slightly curved course, equally shallow and non-penetrating cuts, arrangement in groups or over a defined area, lack of defense injuries, no corresponding damage to the clothing).

Clinical forensic medicine and its main fields of activity from the foundation of the German Society of Legal Medicine until today

The fields mainly covered by clinical forensic medicine are subject to time-related changes which are described on the basis of the German literature of the 20th century. Some fields of forensic sexual medicine (diagnosis of virginity, proof of criminal abortion, potentia coeundi, potentia generandi, potentia concipiendi) have become less important in the daily work of medicolegal institutes, whereas victims of rape and sexual abuse continue to form a major part of the forensic examination material in the German-speaking countries. The evaluation of suspected physical child abuse has grown in importance since the 60s, and it is essentially the merit of Elisabeth Trube-Becker that this problem is now dealt with also in scientific medicine. More recently, medicolegal experts are increasingly confronted with further groups of persons: victims of domestic violence, abused/neglected seniors, refugees from countries where torture is used. A new special field, which established itself only in the 90s, is the estimation of age with regard to the criminal responsibility of suspects who have no identity papers or pretend to have none. A phenomenon frequently observed in the last two decades is the non-accidental self-infliction of injuries. Whereas in the first half of the 20th century the motive for self-mutilation was typically to evade military service, this category of injury was later mainly seen in the context of insurance fraud; more recently most forensically relevant self-inflicted injuries refer to simulated offenses (fictitious sexual offenses and robbery, attacks allegedly having a political background). One of the traditional fields of clinical forensic medicine continues to be the evaluation of victims and suspects following bodily harm and attempted homicides. In the field of civil law medicolegal experts are particularly often concerned with controversial consequences of traffic accidents (e.g. alleged whiplash injuries after rear-end collisions at low velocities).