Murder Staged As Suicide

[Vedderman]

This 19 year old woman was found hanging, with part of her clothing as a noose, from a tree. Her hands were resting atop the branch, giving the initial appearance of being tied, but they were not actually bound. Nonetheless, there were some suspicious aspects to her death, both noted at the scene and during the autopsy.

Firstly, her hyoid bone was fractured. This happens very rarely in hanging suicides of people under the age of 70, but is quite common in manual strangulations. Her tongue was noted to be darkened and swollen, but not protruding past her teeth (this aspect is visible in the morgue photo but not the hanging photos). That fact wasn't necessary suspicious, but was noted in the autopsy. She had also urinated and defecated on herself while asphyxiating. This is common in both hangings and strangulations, but in this particular case the fecal matter she voided was smeared all over her buttocks even to the extent of being visible through her pants. (seen in some of the hanging photos, but not the morgue image) Normally when a body evacuates during a hanging, everything just runs down the legs or drops out into the underpants, depending on solidity. In her case, however, it was far more indicative of her lying on her back and very possibly struggling around when she voided around the time of death. She also had her cell phone neatly tucked into her bra with a short 'suicide note' typed into it.

Based on the above factors and some discussion with her family, the police opened an investigation and wound up arresting her brother-in-law a few days later. He confessed to having had sex with her (whether it was rape or an affair is rather unclear, due to some idiomatic expression in local dialect) and apparently decided to shut her up when she threatened to tell his wife. he took her out to a semi-remote area, strangled her to death, and then staged a hanging. Rather poorly I might add.

[SimoneFlen']

Great find, Ved'.

I always wonder how, with hangings like this one, the arms can stay up. Surely as soon as they lose consciousness the arms would flop down?

[akyan]

kool, thx for the upload

[GoreGirl89]

Originally Posted by Simone

Great find, Ved'.

I always wonder how, with hangings like this one, the arms can stay up. Surely as soon as they lose consciousness the arms would flop down?

Rigor is a helluva a force. My dad had a friend who killed himself sitting Indian style. He said when they picked him up his legs were stiffly crossed. I always think about that story when I see cases like this.

[Oswald2001]

And she was scheduled to be a Bollywood backup dancer on the Indian version of "U Can't Touch This!".

Well, I guess the Indian subcontinent comeback of M.C. Hammer has run into a bit of a snag.

[kellyhound]

Luckily the cops showed some common sense and willingness to treat this as murder.

[StephanieLyon]

That man with the towel on his head should cover up, he’s bound to get a sunburn.

[icehole]

That phone in her bra is a really stupid idea
I mean come on man, "I'll just put this here and then hang myself to dead"