Singular stab wounds to the trunk: Is this suicidal or homicidal?

Abstract

Differentiating homicidal or suicidal deaths in presence of a singular stab wound to the anterior or lateral trunk is still a challenge in forensic practice. There are numerous criteria in the literature and in current forensic textbooks to distinguish between self-inflicted injuries and homicide. The applicability of these criteria in single stab injuries was examined by elucidating 12 suicides and 33 homicides, each with a single stab injury to the anterior or lateral trunk and were largely confirmed. An instrumentality still stuck in the corpse was always associated with a suicide in the given cohort. In summary, the final evaluation should always be based on an interpretation of the post mortem findings together with the circumstances on site of discovery as well as the results of the police investigation.