North Carolina, USA. The body of a white female, 33 years old, who had recently been laid off from work, was discovered by an acquaintance, who became concerned when she couldn’t contact her. The victim’s friend, who had a key to the apartment, tried to get in, but a deadbolt had been secured, which could be unlocked only from the inside. She then notified another friend, who requested the maintenance man of the building to assist in the entry. The maintenance man used a ladder to climb to the second-floor balcony and then entered the apartment through a sliding glass door. He opened the apartment door and the three individuals began to search the premises. They discovered the victim hanging from the top railing of the sliding glass shower door.
Fig.1 This victim’s body was discovered after her co-workers became concerned with her absence.
The victim was completely nude and was in a semi-standing position. There was a restraint around the victim’s torso, which held her arms close to her body. The witnesses left the apartment and called 911 and reported the death as a possible suicide. The first responders observed the woman hanging by the neck and determined that the victim had been dead for some time.
Her body was cool to the touch and livor mortis was pronounced in her lower extremities. The responders did not cut her down or attempt any resuscitation, thereby preserving the death scene intact. The supervisor who noted that the victim’s arms had been bound and her right wrist had a binding secured declared the death suspicious and designated the entire apartment a crime scene. All personnel were ordered out of the apartment and investigators were notified.
Fig.2 The victim was suspended with ligature to the shower frame.
The reporting witnesses were interviewed. The victim’s acquaintance advised authorities that the victim had been laid off from work about a week earlier. The company had given her a generous severance package and was assisting her in finding employment. The victim was last seen by the reporting witness the evening before and was in good spirits. The two of them had planned on going to a hockey game the next day. However, when the victim did not respond to several calls, the witness decided to check on her friend and made the discovery.
Investigators entered the apartment and examined the body. The victim was totally nude and hanging by the neck from the bathroom shower frame. The victim had a piece of cloth around her neck with a slipknot in it. The victim had another piece of cloth around her arms just above the elbows binding her arms to her sides. There also was a piece of cloth tied around her left wrist. On the bathroom floor behind the victim was a set of black nipple clamps. On the floor in front of the victim was a large vibrator. On the bathroom sink, there was a vibrator dildo shaped like a penis. A search of the apartment revealed a number of sex toys and numerous items relating to sexual asphyxia, bondage, and auto-erotic sexual activity. There were several pornographic magazines, bondage movies, and videos, which were sexually graphic.
Fig.3 A penis-shaped, battery-operated vibrator was on the bathroom vanity.
The medical examiner conferred with the investigators and agreed that the death was an autoerotic fatality. The examination of the victim’s body did not reveal an assault or trauma and the restraints used to bind the victim could easily have been put on and removed by the victim herself. It was hypothesized that the victim had bound herself and used the ligature around her neck to restrict the oxygen flow to heighten the sensations she would receive while masturbating with the large vibrator found on the floor in front of her body. She most probably intended to stand up to relieve the pressure on her neck from the noose, but had misjudged the hypoxia and lost consciousness and hung herself.
Fig.4 Various erotica and sex toys were recovered in the crime scene, such as vibrators, ropes, nipple clamps.
The case was properly classified as an autoerotic fatality and not a suicide as originally reported. The fact that the victim was discovered hanging nude in a bondage scenario and was heavily involved in solo sexual activity as evidenced by the number of sexual fantasy aids and sex toys recovered in the scene, coupled with the lack of any suicidal intent on the part of the victim, makes this case a classic sexual asphyxia event.
Autoerotic death refers to the accidental death of individuals of either sex due to failure of devices, or unexpected effects 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.
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