[hermantheshocker]

I colorized the original black and white photos.

In the countryside outside Hamburg, Germany, a car was found in a ditch. In the driver’s seat sat the decapitated body of a man, the seat belt regularly tied. On closer inspection of the car, the head was found behind the driver’s seat. Sixty-eight meters away (223 ft), a metal rope was found tied to a fence. The rope was 40 m (131 ft) in length and was tied in a loop at its free end.


Fig.1 The decapitated body of a man sitting on the driver’s seat, with regularly fastened seatbelt.

At external examination of the body, the decapitation site was just above the larynx. The wound margins were clear-cut, with an adjacent sharply demarcated abrasion zone. In addition, fresh needle pricks were seen on the flexor sides of both elbow joints. Their origin could be made out at inspection of the victim’s flat, where syringes with needles and several bottles filled with blood were found: the man had unsuccessfully tried to kill himself by inflicting a major blood loss before committing vehicle-assisted suicide.


Fig.2 The man’s head is lying behind the driver’s seat.

Interviews with close relatives revealed depression, alcoholism, debts, and a recent separation from his girlfriend and his 2 children as possible suicide motives, and it was found out that he had had intentions of committing suicide for some time. The manner of death was thus termed suicide, and a medicolegal autopsy was not performed.


Fig.3 Situation at the death scene: the car is lying in a ditch.

Vehicle-assisted suicides where the victim ties a rope between his neck and a stationary object have rarely been reported in the literature, and complete decapitation in such cases is especially rare. Although hanging cannot literally be termed the cause of death in these cases, as the force leading to neck injuries is not the body weight, the morphology of the decapitation site strongly resembles that recently described in decapitations in suicidal hanging deaths regarding the clear-cut wound margins with an adjacent sharply demarcated abrasion zone.


Fig.4 A metal rope tied to a fence, 68 m away from the car.

The case presented here is also special regarding the methods of suicide employed by the victim. The case can be classified as secondary or unplanned complex suicide, where the second method of suicide is used after the failure of the first method. A plethora of combinations of suicide methods are conceivable, and many have been reported. A combination of 2 equally uncommon and violent suicide methods, as present in the case described here, seems to exhibit a very high readiness for self-destruction in the victim.

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This post is for educational purposes only and is nonprofit. Under Section 107 of the US Copyright Act of 1976; Allowance is made for "Fair Use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. OP is not a medical expert. No copyright infringement intended. This post does not encourage or glorify violence/harassment. Images might have been upscaled and enhanced. Text might have been shortened and simplified/reorganized for online view.

[mr_feelgood]

Sweet post as usual
Quality

[LittleNightmare]

[William May]

There have been a couple others like this posted since I got here. We should put them all in the same entry.
Very impressive, Herman!

[ride]

Creative and simple. I like it.

Herm,

[WonderMomma]

Damn. Seems like a lot of trouble to off yourself.

Great post Herman.

[gimlet]

Are those seat belts automatic, or did he put it on before driving off into Valhalla or wherever dead Germans go?

Jean jacket looks like a good fashion choice for self decapitation. I normally don't like them (jeans jackets).

[mart_knip]

I d'ont get how this would work I mean the cable did not cut trough the cab? Was he sticking his head through the window?

[mart_knip]

I got it!! Geez what a slow day for me!!

[Pyramid_Head]

Awesome post as usual. Shocker continues to carry the death images section as usual.