Electrocution Stigmas in Organ Damage: The Pathological Marks

An instance of homicide by electrocution with hand-made electrode plates

Homicide by electrocution is rare in forensics, and the identification of the cause of death can be quite difficult when the electric device is removed from the scene. We present an instance where the police were unsure of homicide in the initial investigation. The offender used hand-made electrode plates for electrocution, which produced unique electric marks different from those produced by common electric devices such as electric wires. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of homicide by electrocution with electrode plates. We believe that the macroscopic and microscopic findings in this instance are quite valuable for forensic practitioners.

Low-Dose Electrocution and Atrial Fibrillation

Emergency electrocution incidents present with various injuries, which can range from minor to severe injuries including death. Cardiac-related complications have a higher mortality incidence among patients with low-voltage injuries (M. R. Zemaitis et al., 2023). When managing electrical injury patients, the literature recommends managing them as both trauma and cardiac cases. However, the diagnostic approach is based on each individual case and patient presentation. Electrical injury complications include arrhythmias, myocardial tissue damage, and conduction disturbances (Pilecky et al., 2019). The purpose of this case study is to discuss a postelectrocution atrial fibrillation case and common related arrhythmias associated with electrical injuries.

Autoerotic Death by Electrocution: An Atypical Case Study

ABSTRACT

Autoerotic death is defined as an accidental death that occurs when some type of apparatus is used to enhance sexual stimulation and causes an unintended death. We present the case of an atypical autoerotic death of a 23-year-old man found deceased in a bathroom. An electrical cord with a standard wall plug on one end and exposed wires twisted into loops on the other end was on the floor near his body. Minute black burns were present on each nipple. The outlet was protected by a ground fault circuit interrupter that was demonstrated to be in working order. An electrical consultant concluded that the cause of death could not be electrocution. Ground fault circuit interrupters work by detecting differences in current within a circuit. If a ground fault occurs, the circuit is broken to prevent a fatal electrocution. In the present case, the ground fault circuit interrupter did not shut off because the decedent had wired himself in parallel with the circuit. This, with the other scene findings, indicated this to be a case of atypical autoerotic death. Autoerotic deaths by means other than asphyxiation are rare. This case serves to illustrate the circumstances of an atypical autoerotic death by means of electrocution.

A Clue on the Skin: A Systematic Review on Immunohistochemical Analyses of the Ligature Mark

BACKGROUND

A ligature mark is a common injury in cases of hanging or strangulation. Estimation of age and vitality of the ligature mark can be crucial for differentiating antemortem and postmortem wounds and to distinguish between simulated suicidal hanging or accidental strangulation to conceal a crime and not simulated events. The immunohistochemistry has been recommended by several Authors as a reliable tool to determine whether an injury was sustained during life or not. Unfortunately, no general agreement on the immunohistochemical markers to be used has been found among the scientific community. The aim of the study was to detect the type and function of the immunohistochemical markers useful in the assessment of the vitality and age of the ligature marks for routine diagnostics.

METHODS

Papers available on Pubmed, Scopus, and Web of Science were reviewed according to the PRISMA statement.

RESULTS

Only eight papers satisfied all the following inclusion criteria: full texts in English dealing with human ligature marks and immunohistochemistry published on impacted or indexed scientific journals.

CONCLUSIONS

The assessment of the vitality of a ligature mark is still a challenging topic in forensic science. Under ideal conditions and in compliance with autopsy protocols, the diagnosis of death by hanging or strangulation on fresh bodies can be better supported by autopsy findings other than a ligature mark. The validation of immunohistochemical markers on large series could be of help in doubtful cases and differential diagnoses.

Advances in forensic diagnosis of electric shock death in the absence of typical electrical marks

Electrical injury is a relatively uncommon but potentially devastating form of multi-system injury with high morbidity and mortality. In common electric injury cases, it is usually difficult to find characteristic changes of electric injury in major organs by using routine histopathological test methods unless there are landmark traces of electric injury, known as electric marks. How to determine electric shock death, especially in the absence of typical electrical marks on the body surface in some cases (which account for about two-thirds of electric injury cases), remains a challenging problem in forensic practice. Our summary shows that many current related studies have focused their efforts to find characteristic histopathological changes in major organs of the body caused by electric injury. Based on the results obtained through comparison of the literature, we find that it may be more urgent and important to find the optimal autopsy or sampling sites in cases with no typical electric marks, knowing that these sites may often reflect the most significant histopathological changes of electric injury, for instance anatomy and sampling of the anterior wrist and the medial malleolus in cases involving the hand-to-foot electric circuit pathway. In this article, we make a summary of advances in identification methods of electric injury, hoping that it could provide some new insights for further research in this field.