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Karakasi MV, Nastoulis E, Zisopoulos K, Markopoulou M, Alexandri M, Bakirtzis C, Douzenis A, Zaggelidou E, Pavlidis P. Investigating the phenomenon of overkill in Greece: A forensic psychiatric autopsy study between 2005 and 2020. J Forensic Leg Med 2021; 81:102184. [PMID: 34020236 DOI: 10.1016/j.jflm.2021.102184] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2021] [Revised: 04/14/2021] [Accepted: 05/07/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate overkill in the Greek population from a criminological and victimological point of view and explore possible correlations of the phenomenon with socio-cultural or psychiatric factors. Overall, 158 autopsies of overkill victims were identified throughout the 15-year records of the national forensic laboratories throughout the northern Greek mainland. The pattern that has emerged from the statistical results of the present study on the victims of overkill within the Greek borders was generally in line with global statistics on homicide victims, but also presented differences. The phenomenon correlated more with homicides in the context of mental disorders (within schizophrenia spectrum), other crimes (such as burglary) as well as domestic violence. Overall, males outnumbered females both as victims (approximately threefold) and as perpetrators in overkill homicide cases, but regarding domestic violence, the sad majority of overkill victims stood for females murdered with excessive violence by male relatives. Close female relatives (especially mothers and grandmothers) were also victimized by psychiatrically ill offenders. Female perpetrators tended to attack male individuals with whom they shared a relationship (intimate partners). An important finding was the fact that less than half the offenders' population with major mental disorders were diagnosed at the time of the offense. Overkill victims were found, on average, to be older than average homicide victims, being probably associated with the entailed difference in the physical strength ratio between the victim and the perpetrator.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria-Valeria Karakasi
- Third University Department of Psychiatry, AHEPA University General Hospital, Department of Mental Health, Aristotle University, Faculty of Medicine, GR 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece; Laboratory of Forensic Sciences, Democritus University of Thrace, School of Medicine, GR 68100, Alexandroupolis, Greece
| | - Evangelos Nastoulis
- Laboratory of Forensic Sciences, Democritus University of Thrace, School of Medicine, GR 68100, Alexandroupolis, Greece
| | - Konstantinos Zisopoulos
- Forensic Medical Service of Thessaloniki, Eleftherio Kordelio, GR 54628, Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Maria Markopoulou
- Department of Forensic Psychiatry, Psychiatric Hospital of Thessaloniki, GR 56429, Stavroupolis, Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Maria Alexandri
- Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, GR 11527, Goudi, Athens, Greece
| | - Christos Bakirtzis
- Second University Department of Neurology, AHEPA University General Hospital, Department of Neurosciences, Aristotle University, Faculty of Medicine, GR 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Athanassios Douzenis
- Second Psychiatry Department, Attikon University Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, GR 12462, Chaidari, Greece
| | - Eleni Zaggelidou
- Forensic Medical Service of Thessaloniki, Eleftherio Kordelio, GR 54628, Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Pavlos Pavlidis
- Laboratory of Forensic Sciences, Democritus University of Thrace, School of Medicine, GR 68100, Alexandroupolis, Greece.
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Gentile G, Boracchi M, Gherardi M, Maciocco F, Muccino E, Tambuzzi S, Zoja R. Cutaneous wound metallic residues pattern analysis with SEM-EDX in a forensic case of overkill. Med Leg J 2020; 88:155-159. [PMID: 32490709 DOI: 10.1177/0025817220923670] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The term overkill identifies the infliction of massive injuries that greatly exceed those needed to kill the victim both in number and intensity. We present the case of a Peruvian transsexual, who was choked and hit by 11 sharp-force wounds all in the facial area. The scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersion X-ray analysis carried out on the skin of the facial wounds proved crucial in proving that two different point-and-edge weapons were used, following the finding of metallic micro-traces of heterogeneous composition. This discovery and the autopsy highlighted the use of two distinct types of injury (mechanical asphyxia and sharp-force trauma) showed that this murder amounted to overkill.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guendalina Gentile
- Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche per la Salute - Sezione di Medicina Legale e delle Assicurazioni - Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy
| | - Michele Boracchi
- Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche per la Salute - Sezione di Medicina Legale e delle Assicurazioni - Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy
| | - Mirella Gherardi
- Dipartimento di Prevenzione Azienda USL Valle d'Aosta - Struttura Complessa di Medicina Legale - Via Guido Rey, Aosta, Italy
| | - Francesca Maciocco
- Ospedale S. Carlo Borromeo, Servizio di Immunoematologia e Medicina Trasfusionale (SIMT) - Via Pio II, Milano, Italy
| | - Enrico Muccino
- Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche per la Salute - Sezione di Medicina Legale e delle Assicurazioni - Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy
| | - Stefano Tambuzzi
- Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche per la Salute - Sezione di Medicina Legale e delle Assicurazioni - Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy
| | - Riccardo Zoja
- Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche per la Salute - Sezione di Medicina Legale e delle Assicurazioni - Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy
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Solarino B, Punzi G, Di Vella G, Carabellese F, Catanesi R. A multidisciplinary approach in overkill: Analysis of 13 cases and review of the literature. Forensic Sci Int 2019; 298:402-407. [DOI: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2019.03.029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2018] [Revised: 03/12/2019] [Accepted: 03/15/2019] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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