ABSTRACT

The terms ‘complex suicide’ or “combined suicide” are used for the suicide performed by using more than one method of suicide previously planned by the suicidal person to prevent fa- ilure of the first method. The synchronal use of a second met-hod to prevent failure of the first method is defined as “pri-mary complex suicide”.

Our case is a 25 year-old male who was found in an empty field, on top of a lamppost, burned and was hanged with a cha-in, two ends locked with a padlock.

In his external examination and autopsy, his arms were in boxer position, and there was a furrow slanting upward to-wards to both mastoid region compliant with the chain and 2nd and 3rd degree burns were on all of the body with parti-ally observed demarcation zone. An ecchymosed fracture was found at the right horn of hyoid bone. There was ecchymosis on the right sternocleidomastoid muscle and around the 4th and 5th cervical vertebrae.

It was decided that the case was primary complex suicide with the combination of hanging and burning after all medico-legal investigations. The case was interesting with the combina-tion of scene and autopsy findings.

Keywords: Primary complex suicide, hanging, self-incineration