A recently deceased 48-year-old male was found supine, in a wooded area (Fig.1). There was a belt around his neck; with the hook of the buckle fastened into one of the belt eyelets. Next to the corpse was a torn-open bag with white powder, an empty water bottle, and a sausage jar containing a hardened, white plaster mass. There was also a teaspoon with a whitish plaster deposit on the man’s jacket near the right breast pocket. According to the police investigation, the man had a history of alcohol abuse, a prior suicide attempt, and recently expressed continuing suicidal intent.
Fig.1 The deceased in supine position with whitish material in the region of the mouth. Note the fastened belt around the neck as well as bag filled with plaster.
Exterior examination of the male corpse revealed a 3.5–4-cm wide, circular, pallid area around the throat. The skin of the face was dark red in color. There were individual punctiform hemorrhages on the skin of the upper eyelids. The same type of hemorrhage was also discernible in the heavily congested conjunctiva. Abundant white, crumbly plaster deposits were evident on the area around the mouth and within the oral cavity (Fig.2). On the flexor surface of the left lower arm, from the elbow to the lower third of the underarm, skin defects that were partially healed and partially scarred over were present. On the flexor surface of the left wrist was a 4.5-cm long, gaping incision wound, that was partially healed, with granulation tissue visible in its depths. In addition, both hands exhibited white plaster deposits.
Fig.2 White plaster material in the oral cavity and on the left cheek.
The autopsy of the man displayed hemorrhages due to congestion in the frontal portion of the scalp and punctiform hemorrhages in the epicardium. The palatine tonsils displayed massive blood congestion. After preparation, the neck displayed hemorrhage in a strap muscle to the right of the thyroid cartilage. In addition, the brain was edematous and the spleen was depleted of blood. In the pharynx and the esophagus, a white, partially solidified mass of plaster nearly completely filled the lumen. There was also a white plaster conglomerate in the area of the hypopharynx, almost completely occluding the laryngeal opening. The stomach contained 300 ml of a whitish-gray fluid that was interspersed with streaks of plaster.
According to the autopsy, cause of death was compression resulting from a force against the throat by a belt fastened around the throat with additional obstruction of the laryngeal opening due to a large mass of plaster.
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