Horticultural Homicide: Stab Wound to the Chest Masquerading as Impalement by Rose Bush

Instruments that create stab wounds are required to possess tips of sufficient strength and rigidity to breach the integrity of the skin. Knives, the most common weapons used to create stab wounds, have cutting edges that cleave the skin, leaving unabraded margins. On rare occasions, blunt objects are driven with sufficient force to pierce the skin and become impaled within the body. The morphologic differences between the cutaneous injuries and wound tracks of stab wounds from sharp objects and impalement with blunt ones provide clear delineation of the two. However, elements from the scene and obscuring hemorrhage can make initial differentiation difficult. The authors report the death of a 59-year-old woman found near the entryway steps of her home with a stab wound to her chest. Law enforcement did not discover any weapons. Investigation focused on blood around and on a broken rose bush planted near the steps with the belief that the decedent had fallen upon the vegetation. When presented with information that conflicts with autopsy findings, careful consideration of proposed weapons and thorough examination of the wound are required to discount confounding material.