An elderly male was found dead, slightly decomposed, lying on a couch with a pair of scissors protruding from the right eye socket. He had been attacked and murdered and died from sharp-force head and neck injuries. There were multiple stabs and incised wounds to the head, neck, chest, abdomen, both arms, and both legs. The only skeletal damage was to the skull.
Fig.1 Anterior view of the head and neck showing scissors in situ in the right eye and a series of sharp-force trauma injuries to the face and neck.
Fig.2 Anterior view showing multiple stab and incised wounds across the body.
There was a stab wound to the right orbit, which is associated with a pair of scissors with white- to cream-colored handle. The skin defect was roughly horizontal measuring 23 mm (0.9″) and is seen at the inferior aspect of the right orbit. Linear defects extended from the right frontal region and through the orbit, through the nasal cavities, through the maxilla, and down to the upper lip region.
Fig.3 Left lateral view of the head and neck showing scissors in situ in the right eye.
Fig.4 Right lateral view of the head and neck showing scissors in situ in the right eye and a series of sharp-force trauma injuries to the face and neck.
Fig.5 Anterior view of face following the removal of the scissors from the right orbit.
Fig.6 Detail of the sharp-force injury.
Further investigation showed the scissors penetrated the orbit to a depth of 80 mm (3.15″) but did not quite enter into the cerebral cavity. The path of the scissors was slightly upward and toward the midline. The cause of death related predominantly to injuries to the head and neck. Three incised injuries to the neck were likely to have caused significant blood loss in addition to blood loss involving the face and some blood loss from injuries involving the chest and the abdomen.
Fig.7 Superior view of the endocranium showing the tip of the scissors (white arrow) in the greater wing of the left sphenoid.
Fig.8 Scissors after removal from the right orbit of the deceased.
Injuries to the hands and forearms were consistent with what is termed “defense wounds.” The use of scissors to inflict fatal stab wounds to the chest has been reported in the literature. Penetrating injuries to the skull resulting from scissors do not, however, always result in death. No info about the perpetrator.
Fig.9 VR images of six standard views of the skull showing scissors penetrating the right orbit.
Fig.10 Clipped VR image of the skull showing the path of the scissors which penetrated through the right orbit.
Fig.11 Axial reconstruction of the head showing the path of the scissors which penetrated through the right orbit.
Fig.12 The tip of the scissors in the greater wing of the left sphenoid.
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