Unusual Suicide Cases of Asphyxiation by Ligature within the Vehicle

Korean J Leg Med 2020;44:31-36

Scientific Investigation Department, Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency, Andong, Korea,

Department of Forensic Medicine, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Korea

E-mail: sanghan1@knu.ac.kr

One of the most common methods of suicide is hanging, and suicide by ligature strangulation is quite rare. Vehicles have a confined space, making them an unusual place for committing suicide by hanging or ligature strangulation, because they are more typically the location of suicide by carbon monoxide intoxication by briquette or drug intoxication. Here, we present three cases of unusual suicide by ligature strangulation, discuss the mechanism of asphyxia in each case, and review the literature. In case 1, the victim used a backpack to perform reverse hanging by wrapping the shoulder strap of the backpack around his neck and then tossing the backpack behind the backrest of the driver’s seat. In case 2, the victim did not use the internal structures of the vehicle, but pulled down on a ligature wrapped around both his knees and neck. In case 3, the victim hanged himself using a package line fixed to the roof handle grab of the back passenger seat.

Key Words: Vehicle; Hanging; Strangulation; Backpack; Reverse hanging