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Suspected paradoxical undressing in a homicide case

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Abstract

Paradoxical undressing is a phenomenon associated with fatalities due to severe hypothermia, which is characterized by the act of active undressing, despite low ambient temperatures, as a consequence of peripheral vasodilation. A 51-year-old man was found lying naked and inanimate on a road. Articles of his clothing were scattered in surrounding bushes. A nearby handrail showed a partially washed away bloodstain pattern. A forensic autopsy was used to distinguish whether death was due to a hypothermic fatality or whether the deceased was a victim of an accident or homicide. Medicolegal autopsy revealed craniofacial dissociation with injuries to the thorax and extremities and established choking/asphyxia due to deep aspiration of blood in combination with external blood loss as the cause of death. In the absence of hypothermia-related signs and toxicological findings the case was considered to be a homicide. Police investigation led to the conviction of a man who confessed to having kicked and hit the victim and forced him to take off his clothes in a humiliation-related scenario.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Forensic Medicine, Goethe University Medical School, 60594, Frankfurt, Germany

    Mattias Kettner, Axel Schnabel & Frank Ramsthaler

  2. Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Saarland Medical School, Building 42, 66421, Homburg, Germany

    Mattias Kettner & Frank Ramsthaler

Authors
  1. Mattias Kettner
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  2. Axel Schnabel
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  3. Frank Ramsthaler
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Correspondence to Mattias Kettner.

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Kettner, M., Schnabel, A. & Ramsthaler, F. Suspected paradoxical undressing in a homicide case. Forensic Sci Med Pathol 8, 426–429 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12024-012-9337-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12024-012-9337-y

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