["Overkill" in a case of neonaticide]

Bianca Navarro1, Reinhard Urban

  • 1Institut für Rechtsmedizin der Universität Mainz.

Archiv Fur Kriminologie
|August 27, 2004
PubMed

A 14-year-old girl was found unconscious in a pool of blood by her mother in the family bathroom. A gynecological emergency operation revealed a state after spontaneous delivery. A few days later the corpse of a newborn, smeared with blood, was found by the father of the girl in a laundry basket in the bathroom. The autopsy revealed signs of blunt force against the cranium as well as multiple lesions caused by sharp force in the area of the neck and the thorax. The newborn died of hemorrhagic shock due to severance of the left subclavian artery. The pattern of injuries is presented. In addition, the girl's statement with respect to the course of events is discussed. Finally, this rare manner of committing neonaticide is compared with former reports in the literature.

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