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A 55-year-old man was found dead in his friend’s apartment. The victim’s body was suspended in a special metal construction by his legs, hands, and neck.

Fig.1 A 55-year-old man was found dead in his friend’s apartment.

Fig.2 The victim’s body was suspended in a special metal construction by his legs, hands, and neck.

The apartment looked like a sadomasochistic workshop/studio. There was a special cage for a “slave,” a special electric crane for lifting the body, many chains, dildos, leather belts, lashes, SM literature, and camouflage clothes in this apartment. The genitals of the victim were exposed. There was a sex toy – an “anal plug” in the victim’s anus. Toxicology studies revealed a blood ethanol level of 0.17%. The cause of death was asphyxia due to neck compression by ligature.

Fig.3 The apartment looked like a sadomasochistic workshop/studio.

Autoerotic death refers to the accidental death of individuals of either sex due to failure of devices, or unexpected effect of materials, that were being used to enhance the sexual experience. Although asphyxia from hanging has been described most frequently, a wide variety of other lethal situations have been reported. As there is great variability in the number and types of sexual aids that may be used by individuals, careful death scene examination is essential in helping to exclude suicide and more rarely homicide. The clandestine nature of this paraphilia may, however, make subsequent identification and diagnosis difficult unless the death scene features are typical. This is particularly so in the rare cases involving women.

Fig.4 The cause of death was asphyxia due to neck compression by ligature.

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