ISSN: 0022-1198
CODEN: JFSCA
Page Count: 8

Suicide Disguised as Murder: A Dimension of Munchausen Syndrome
McDowell, CP
Command crime advisor, Headquarters, Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Bolling Air Force Base, DC

(Received 1 February 1986; accepted 21 March 1986)

Abstract

This case study reports on a suicide made to look like murder. The case highlights the issue of false claims of criminal victimization and suggests the need for a reexamination of the dynamics of factitious allegations of criminal victimization. Factitious complaints of mental or physical illness are typically self-reported to psychiatric or medical authorities. This paper illustrates a different kind of phenomenon: one in which an injury or disorder is brought to medical attention by way of the police, who report the death or injury as arising from criminal victimization.

Keywords:
criminalistics, Munchausen syndrome, suicide

Paper ID: JFS12352J
DOI: 10.1520/JFS12352J
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