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Article: Suicide Investigation
- Article from:
- World of Forensic Science
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Thomson Gale. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Suicide Investigation
When the medical examiner (ME) is faced with an unexplained death, he or she has to determine whether the manner of death is natural, accidental, homicidal, or suicidal. The first involves disease, the other three manners involve some form of physical trauma. In a suicide, trauma is inflicted by the victim on himself. Gunshot wounds, jumping from a great height, hanging, and drug overdose are common causes of suicide. However, such deaths can also be caused by homicide or accident. In the case of a shooting, it can sometimes be obvious from the
autopsy
whether or not the death was likely to be a suicide. With a drug overdose, however, the autopsy findings are the ...