Suicide by home made "guillotine" to the chest: a case report

Cases of suicide by use of elaborate and complex devices are rare in the literature and popular media, despite the media attention such cases attract. These suicide cases have employed guillotines, contraptions involving guns and self-made firearms, and devices capable of delivering asphyxiating gases such as carbon monoxide. All previously reported cases of suicide by guillotine have been by decapitation. While suicidal sharp force injuries are rare, suicidal injuries to the chest are rarer still. This case is unusual because the lethal sharp force injury to the chest was inflicted by a home-made "guillotine". Investigators initially suspected a homicide because the body was found face down in the woods, far from human habitation. Thorough death scene and background investigation were essential in classifying it as an elaborate suicide.