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Killings of human beings involving animals have rarely been described in the forensic literature. In the present case, the decapitated corpse of a woman as well as the decapitated, castrated and partially disemboweled corpse of a dog were found together. Both bodies also exhibited analogous, distributed massive sharp-force traumas. The approximately same pattern of actions as well as findings consistent with an exaggerated killing are particularly noteworthy. The perpetrator was found to be the son of the victim and had long exhibited psychological abnormalities. He was acquitted of the charge of manslaughter due to mental incapacity and was subsequently placed in a psychiatric hospital., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Accidents constitute one of the greatest risks to children, yet there are few medical reports that discuss the subject of accidental asphyxia. However, a systematic analysis of all documented cases in Germany over the years 2000-2008 has now been conducted, aiming at identifying patterns of accidental asphyxia, deducing findings, defining avoidance measures and recommending ways of increasing product safety and taking possible precautions. The analysis is based on a detailed retrospective analysis of all 91 relevant autopsy reports from 24 different German forensic institutes. A variety of demographic and morphological data was systematically collected and analysed. In 84 of the 91 cases, the sex of the victim was reported, resulting in a total of 57 boys (68 %) and 27 girls (32 %). The age spread ranged between 1 day and 14 years, with an average of 5.9 years. Most accidents occurred in the first year of life (20 %) or between the ages of 1 and 2 years (13 %). In 46 % of cases, the cause of death was strangulation, with the majority occurring in the home environment. In 31 % of all cases, the cause of death was positional asphyxia, the majority resulting from chest compression. In 23 % of cases, the cause of death was aspiration, mainly of foreign bodies. Today, accidental asphyxiation is a rare cause of death in children in Germany. Nevertheless, the majority of cases could have been avoided. Future incidence can be reduced by implementing two major precautions: increasing product safety and educating parents of potentially fatal risks. Specific recommendations relate to children's beds, toys and food.

Suicides with chain saws and circular saws are extreme exceptions, in particular with regard to females and concerning the neck region. We report two of such rare cases involving young women. A 30-year-old female with a known schizoaffective psychosis killed herself with an electric chain saw. The autopsy revealed a deep saw cut of the neck and shoulder with partial transection of the cervical spine. Several tentative saw cuts were present on the right lower jaw. A 29-year-old woman suffering from depression committed suicide by use of a circular saw. She inflicted herself fatal neck injuries with at least three separate cutting procedures. Our cases were characterized by the following features: female sex, young adulthood, no occupational experience with saws, psychiatric disorders, absence of alcohol or drugs, use of an aggressive method of suicide, focus of saw injuries on the right side of the neck, detection of tentative saw cuts or several trials, identical causes of death (exsanguination and blood aspiration).

Despite a large number of publications on sharp force injuries, there are no specific reports on homicides with nearly complete penetration of the weapon into the body of the victim. We present three cases in which the crime was committed in this unusual way. The victims were males aged between 28 and 71 years. They were killed by multiple sharp force. The weapons used were knives with a total length of up to about 20 cm, which penetrated into the body (almost) completely including the handle. Involved body regions were the front and back of the chest and the neck. In one case, two different sharp weapons were found in the trunk. The injuries inflicted on the internal organs by the penetrating knives caused massive bleeding and were the leading cause of death. Additional remarkable features were complex patterns of injury by further sharp and blunt force and, in one case, tying. The victims were highly intoxicated (by alcohol and, in one case, illegal drugs), which made them nearly incapable of acting. All perpetrators were male, between 23 and 33 years of age, strongly influenced by alcohol and loosely acquainted with the victims. The kind of committing the offence seems to be explainable only against the background of an absolute will to annihilate ("overkill").

The problems of postmortem examinations and the associated dark figure of undetected homicides are well known and have been repeatedly discussed in Germany. The article deals with the case of a 73-year-old woman whose death was initially certified as being natural ("sudden cardiac death"). When secondary suspicious circumstances turned up, an exhumation was ordered three weeks after the burial. At autopsy, signs of multiple blunt force to the occiput, the thorax and the upper extremities as well as compression of the neck were found. The findings proved foreign intervention and suggested death due to suffocation. In the court trial, the accused pleaded an accidental event (fall down stairs). He was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder. The presented case of homicide remained undetected at first, as due to the deceased's advanced age a natural death had been falsely assumed. An obviously very superficial external postmortem examination by the physician was probably the main reason for the misjudgement. The factors "advanced age" and "homicide leaving few external traces and no visible injuries" seem to present special problems and essentially contribute to the dark figure of undetected homicides. Physicians performing postmortem examinations and the general public should be made aware of the problem by regular further education and discussion.

The clarification of deaths from electric current can be difficult when electric skin marks are missing or overlooked. In the following, the fatal electric accident of a 21-year-old man in prison is reported with a scene which primarily seemed to be inconspicuous. The autopsy disclosed typical electric marks in the skin of the left thumb and the corresponding part of the left index finger. A second inspection of the jail room, which was large enough for three men, but occupied by the deceased alone, led to the finding of widely spread utensils (two forks with signs of corrosion and deformation of the prongs, radio cable with socket, water container) for the self-construction of a kind of "immersion heater" for the heating of water. The man must have suffered electrocution when touching the prongs of the forks. Death supposedly occurred due to disturbances of the cardiac rhythm after a longer interval of maintained ability to act. The case again proves the difficulties in the detection and examination of possible electric deaths in which unusual sources of electricity must be considered.

In 2006, 67 persons were killed in aircraft accidents in Germany and involving German aircrafts abroad. In spite of extensive investigation of each aircraft accident, there are no reliable data as to the number of suicides by aircraft. We report on a 50-year-old man who committed suicide by willfully crashing his Beech "Sierra" aircraft minutes after take off from an airport close to the town of Rendsburg, Germany. Before killing himself, the intoxicated pilot had sent an SMS announcing his suicide plans to a friend. The findings of the medico-legal investigation and the results of a review of aircraft accident reports by the German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Investigation (BFU) regarding suicidal plane crashes are presented.