[hermantheshocker]

South Korea. The victim was a 37-year-old man who lived with his wife. The day before his death, while drinking with friends at a restaurant, he had gotten into an argument with his wife on the phone. After finishing the meeting with his friends, he did not return home. The next morning, a friend who had been with him the night before discovered the deceased victim seated in the driver’s seat of his vehicle with the shoulder strap of his backpack tied around his neck.


Fig.1 The victim was sitting in the driver’s seat with his neck tilted backward.


Fig.2 The victim showed severe facial congestion.

The victim was seated in the driver’s seat with his head positioned in the space between the driver’s and passenger’s seats, facing the ceiling of the vehicle. His torso was facing the steering wheel, while his left shoulder was resting on the backrest with his right arm on the center console. The shoulder strap of his backpack was tied around his neck. The shoulder strap had a total length of 50 cm (19.7") and width of 2 cm (0.8"), too short to allow the victim to put his head through the strap without first pulling it out through the friction buckle. Therefore, it was suspected that the victim had pulled the strap completely through the friction buckle, wrapped the strap around his neck, and then reinserted the strap through the friction buckle. It was also suspected that the victim subsequently tossed the bag weighing 8.04 kg (17.73 lbs) behind the backrest of the driver’s seat, which caused his death.


Fig.3 The backpack was placed behind the backrest of the driver’s seat.

The autopsy showed that the victim had a slight build with a height of 174 cm (5′ 8.5′′) and a weight of 48 kg (105.8 lbs). Severe facial congestion and multiple petechial hemorrhages were found on his face and palpebral conjunctiva. The mark on his neck matched the fiber weave pattern of the backpack shoulder strap, leaving a parallel mark. Internal examination showed diffuse mild congestive hemorrhage in the subcutaneous soft tissue above the strangulation mark. Severe congestion was also found in the base of his tongue. Multiple dots and spotty hemorrhages were observed in the inner larynx, without thyroid cartilage or hyoid bone fracture. No specific pathological findings were noted in his internal solid organs and tissues.

Toxicology test results showed a blood ethyl alcohol level of 0.172%. All other toxicology test results were negative. DNA from another person was not detected under the fingernails of both hands. The trace evidence test revealed the same fiber as the backpack shoulder strap on both hands. The victim had no history of treatment for a mental illness, no history of prior suicide attempts, and no financial problems. The victim was under stress for business-related payment issues, although it was his usual disposition to anger easily. No suicide note was found at the scene.

Inspection of the inside and outside of the vehicle, nearby closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage, credit card use, and phone records did not reveal any evidence or anomaly indicating a suspicion of homicide. The medical examiner determined the cause of death to be suicide by self-strangulation.

One of the most common methods of suicide is hanging, and suicide by ligature strangulation is quite rare. Vehicles have a confined space, making them an unusual place for committing suicide by hanging or ligature strangulation because they are more typically the location of suicide by carbon monoxide intoxication by briquette or drug intoxication. In this case, the shoulder strap of a backpack was wrapped around the neck, and the backpack itself was tossed behind the backrest of the driver’s seat. Consequently, the weight of the backpack created a pulley action in which the backpack was continuously pulled down by gravity, which caused the strap to be pulled upward toward the point of suspension, resulting in the strangulation of the neck that eventually led to death.

Click here to see an extensive list of suicide hotlines, crisis lines and helplines from around the world.

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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.

[nudibranches646]

He shouldn’t have taken that call and just kept drinking at the restaurant.

[Brainplague]

Nice car!

[rohmell]

Originally Posted by Brainplague ↗

Nice car!

Feh, it's a Hyundai.

[morbidinterested]

Wow! I'm really surprised that would work! There must have been something VERY heavy in that backpack. It's a shame a mind so pragmatic couldn't have put his ingenuity to use in a way that could have made his life better instead.

[William May]

Originally Posted by rohmell ↗

Feh, it's a Hyundai.

Yeah, a Hyundai with a 10 year/100,000 mile warranty. What U.S. car offers that?

[Dodecahedron]

Very, very creative. I’ve read that only about 5kg of pressure is needed to close off the carotid, however the positioning of the strap looks like it painfully closed off the trachea. Especially with that internal damage around the throat area.

Can’t help by notice that this guy weighed absolutely nothing. I wonder if there is a link.

[Karma]

Originally Posted by rohmell ↗

Feh, it's a Hyundai.

Hyundai’s are great. I love them.

[WonderMomma]

Didn't you post another weird ligature vehicle suicide? The guy tied the other end to something outside the car or something. You find the most interesting, unique stuff.

Great post!

[Dr_Jackal]

Definitely a rare find. Nicely done!