ISSN: 0022-1198
CODEN: JFSCA
Published Online: 1 September 2003
Page Count: 4

Suicide by Fire in a Car Trunk: A Case with Potential Pitfalls
(Received 15 March 2003; accepted 15 March 2003)

Abstract

We present an unusual case in which an adult female committed suicide by fire while enclosed in the trunk of her vehicle. A finding of suicide was reached only because several key investigative facts were uncovered. Without these discoveries the case may still remain open as a suspicious death. Fire is rarely used as a mechanism of suicide in Western culture, and, as such, similar cases should be reported to advance our recognition of this phenomenon.

Keywords:
forensic science, death investigation, suicide, arson, self-immolation

Paper ID: JFS2002367
DOI: 10.1520/JFS2002367
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