Lethal cranio-cerebral traumatism resulting through a very rare mechanism

C. L. Buhaș , G.Mihalache , C. T. Judea-Pusta, B. Buhaș, M. C. Jurcă , C. Iovan

Abstract: The case presented is a 54 years old male, deceased under suspicious conditions. Given the circumstances, the investigation takes under consideration the possibility of homicide, suicide or accidental death. The data received from the criminal investigation team states that the victim had in his care two stags kept in an outdoor paddock; he was found deceased on the outside of the paddock which had its gate open. The cadaver had dirty, torn clothes, and presented traumatic lesions on his head, torso, and limbs. The medico-legal autopsy was the only way to specify without a doubt the cause of death and the conditions in which the victim’s multiple lesions were inflicted. The case is pleading for the necessity of the medico-legal autopsy for deaths which occur under suspicious circumstances, considering that the European trend is to reduce the number of autopsies for violent, sudden and suspicious deaths
Keywords: suspicious death, stag antler, penetrating basilar cranial fracture.