Anesthetized by chloroform before hanging.

We present a unique case of suicidal hanging. The deceased was a 31-year-old male who was found hanging from a tree in a dense thicket, with his lower limbs in contact with the ground (partial suspension). There was an apparatus similar to a facial mask placed around his nose and mouth. A strong chemical smell was emanating from the apparatus, which was identified as chloroform (Formyl trichloride/CHCl3). A ligature with a soft cloth beneath it was around his neck. A ligature mark was present around the neck. The decedent's blood alcohol levels were 112 mg/dl. The blood and stomach contents were negative for chloroform. A complete death investigation, including scene investigation and complete autopsy examination, confirmed the cause of death as hanging. The manner of death was suicide. This case highlights how the deceased had used several methods whilst committing suicide to minimize pain, including the inhalation of chloroform, which would have also resulted in the inability to engage in protective actions during the act.

Asphyxia using a piece of a sarong at a psychiatric unit: a case of self-strangulation.

Self-strangulation should be cautiously determined following a comprehensive death investigation because the circumstance of strangulation is usually homicide. The deceased was a 33-year-old male who suffered from depression and was found missing from a psychiatric unit while on treatment. The deceased was found the following day in the doctors' car park of the unit. The deceased was in a prone position with a strip of material from the sarong he was wearing round his neck and features of strangulation. Scene investigation and autopsy with the history of psychiatric disease confirmed self-strangulation. The rarity of self-strangulation, especially in a hospital, and the ligature material used being a strip of material from the sarong he was wearing inspired us to report this case.