EVIDENCE FROM THE DIRECTION OF A WOUND. 259 In a case of suicide, observed by Marc, the weapon had divided all the muscles of the neck, the windpipe and gullet-had opened the jugular veins and both carotid arteries, and had even grazed the anterior ligaments of the spine. A wound so extensive as this is rarely seen in a case of suicide, it there is no ground for the assertion that such extensive wounds in the throat are incompatible with self-destruction. (See also Ann. d'Hyg., 1572, t. 1, p. 419.) Incised wounds in the throat are generally set down as presumptive of aicide, but murderers sometimes wound this part for the more effectual Concealment of crime. Circumstances connected with the form and direction of a wound may in such cases lead to detection; for, unless the person attacked be asleep or intoxicated, resistance is offered, evidence of which may be obtained by the presence of great irregularity in the wound or the marks of other wounds on the hands and person of the deceased. The peculiar form of a wound on the throat has sometimes led to a justifable suspicion of homicide. In one instance a man was found dead with is throat cut in the manner in which butchers are accustomed to kill heep. This led the medical man to believe that the wound had been inficted by a butcher. The police, guided by this observation, arrested a batcher, who was subsequently tried and convicted of the murder. In some instances, however, it is extremely difficult to say whether the Wound is homicidal or suicidal, the medical facts being equally explicable on either hypothesis. (See case by Marc, Ann. d'Hyg., 1830, t. 2, p. 408; another by Devergie, ibid. 414; and a third by Olivier, Ann. d'Hyg., 1836, t. 1, p. 394.) Regularity in a wound of the throat has been considred to be presumptive of suicide. This was the publicly-expressed opinion of Sir Everard Home in the well-known case of Sellis. The deceased was found lying on a bed, with his throat extensively cut, and the edges of the incision were regular and even. This condition of the wound, it was inferred, repudiated the idea of homicide; but, as a general principle, this appears to be a fallacious criterion. A murderer, by surprising his victim from behind, by having others at hand to assist him, or by directing his attack against one who is asleep or intoxicated, or who from age or infirmity is incapable of offering resistance, may easily produce a regular and clean incision on the throat. 3. Evidence from the Direction of a Wound. The direction of a wound has been considered by some to afford presumptive evidence sufficiently strong to guide a medical jurist in his inquiry. It has been remarked that in most suicidal wounds which affect the throat, the direction of the cut is commonly from left to right, either transversely or passing obliquely from above downwards; in suicidal stabs or punctured wounds the direction is commonly from right to left and from above downwards. In left-handed persons, the direction would, of course, be precisely the reverse. Suicidal wounds are, however, subject to such variation in extent and direction that it is scarcely possible to generalize with respect to them. Nevertheless, an attention to these points may sometimes be of real assistance to the inquirer, especially when the body has not been removed from its position. It is recommended that the instrument with which the wound has been inflicted should be placed in either hand of the deceased and the arm moved towards the wounded part, so that it may be clearly seen whether the direction of the wound could or could not correspond to it in any position. It might happen that neither arm would reach the Wounded part, so as to inflict a wound of the particular direction observed : this may be the case in wounds situated on the back. It is obvious that if a murderer makes an incised wound in the front of the throat from 260 WOUNDS-SUICIDE OR ACCIDENT? behind, the direction may be the same as that commonly observed in ca of suicide. (See on this point the case of Reg. v. Dalmas, C. C C., M 1844.) Again, if the person attacked is powerless, the wound may deliberately made, so as to simulate a suicidal act; indeed, murder seldom attack the throat except with the design of simulating an act suicide. A homicidal stab may also take the same direction as one wh is suicidal, but this wound would be confined to those cases in which assailant was placed behind or aside. If in front of the person whom attacks, the direction would probably be from left to right; but in suici when the right hand is commonly used, it is the reverse. Oblique woun passing from above downwards, are common to homicide and suicide, those which take an oblique course from below upwards are genera indicative of homicide, for it is extremely rare that a person bent suicide, unless a lunatic, thus uses a weapon. Homicidal incisions, es cially in the throat, are often prolonged below and behind the skin form the angles of a wound, deeply into the soft parts. Those which suicidal rarely possess this character; they terminate gradually in a sha angle, and the skin itself is the furthest point wounded; the weapon not carried either behind, below, or beneath it. Suicides may graze ligaments in front of the spinal column, but that they should make de incisions into the bones, cut off hard bony processes, and divide the int vertebral substance and the vertebral arteries, is a proposition contrary all experience and probability. The case of the Earl of Essex, who w found dead in the Tower in 1683, bore somewhat on these points. T deceased was discovered with his throat cut, and a razor lying near hi This razor was found to be much notched, while the throat was smooth and evenly cut from one side to the other and to the vertebral colun Some considered this to have been an act of suicide, others of murd Those medical witnesses who supported the view of suicide were asked explain how it was that such an even wound could have been produced a notched razor. They attempted to account for this by asserting th the deceased had probably drawn the razor backwards and forwards acr the neck-bone; forgetting that before this could have been done by t deceased, all the great vessels of the neck must have been divided. E ceptions to these characters of homicidal and suicidal wounds may exi but in a dark and intricate subject of this nature we have only limit rules to guide us. The instrument with which a wound is supposed have been inflicted should be adapted to the edges of the incision, sharpness compared with the cleanness and evenness of the cut, and length with the depth of the incision or stab. It is no uncommon occu rence for a murderer to substitute some instrument, belonging to the d ceased or another person, for that which he has actually employed; a this by its size, shape, bluntness. or other peculiarities, may not accou for the appearances presented by the wound. It is not often that any difficulty is experienced in distinguishing suicidal from an accidental wound. When a wound has really be suicidally inflicted, there are generally to be found about it clear indic tions of design; and the whole of the circumstances are seldom reconc able with the supposition of accident. But if the position of the deceas with respect to surrounding objects has been disturbed; if the weapon h been removed, and the body carried to a distance; then it will not alway be easy to distinguish a wound accidentally received from one inflicted a suicide or a murderer. The evidence of those who find the body ca alone clear up the case; and the medical witness may be required to sta how far this evidence is consistent with the situation, extent, and dire WOUNDS-SUICIDE OR HOMICIDE? 261 tion of the wound found on the deceased. In the case of the Uxbridge Lurder (Reg. v. Elizabeth Gibbons, C. C. C., Dec. 1884), the situation and direction of four gunshot wounds on the deceased man were allimportant considerations; and from a careful consideration of these Bowlby was enabled to arrive at a conclusion adverse to suicide. (Brit. Med. Jour., 1885, i. p. 62.) Circumstantial evidence is commonly suffient to show whether a wound has been accidentally received or not; but as an accidental wound may sometimes resemble one of homicidal or -uicidal origin, so it follows that it is not always possible for a medical urist to decide the question peremptorily from a mere inspection of the wound. It would not be difficult to produce instances in which murderers have alleged, in defence, that the wounds observed on the bodies of their victims were of accidental origin, and the allegations have been clearly rated by medical evidence. A witness must be prepared, therefore, in all cases in which death has taken place in secrecy, and the nature of the wound is such as to render its origin doubtful, to be closely examined by counsel for a prisoner charged with felonious homicide, on a question whether the wound might not have been accidental. The law requires hat it should be made clear to a jury, before such a charge can be sustained, that the fatal wound could not have had an accidental or suicidal origin. The subject of wounds of the neck has been examined in relation to bomicide, suicide, and other medico-legal questions, by Güterbock. Vierteljahrsschr. f. Gerichtl. Med., 1873, 2, p. 1.) Wounds inflicted by the Right or Left Hand.-Some remarks have been made in reference to the direction of a cut or stab varying according to whether the right or the left hand has been used by a suicide. It is Decessary for a medical jurist to be aware that there are many persons who are ambidextrous, i. e. who have equal facility in the use of the right and the left hands. This may not be generally known to the friends of the deceased; and such persons are often pronounced, even by those who have associated with them, to have been right-handed. A want of attention to this point is said to have been one of the circumstances which led to a Suspicion of murder in the case of Sellis. (Wills's Circ. Evid., p. 97.) The man was found dead on his bed with his throat cut; the razor was discovered on the left side of the bed; whereas, it was generally supposed and asserted that he was right-handed. The truth was, he was equally expert in the use of the razor with his left and right hands; and thus the apparently suspicious circumstance of the razor being found on his left side was at once explained away. The importance of making due allowance for the characters presented by wounds in the throat is also illustrated by a case which occurred in London in 1865. A publican and his wife had been frequently in the habit of quarrelling. One night the wife gave an alarm, and the man was found dead on the bed, with his throat severely cut. On examination, the fatal wound had all the characters of a left-handed cut, while the deceased was generally believed to be righthanded; and there was bloody water in a wash-hand basin in the room. The wife, who had marks of bruises upon her, said that she had left her husband in the bedroom for a short time, and on her return found him dead. The suspicious facts were explained at the inquest by a daughter of the deceased by a former marriage. She stated that her father had been brought up as a wood-carver, a trade which requires a man to use both hands equally well; that he had frequently threatened to destroy hituself; and that the blood in the wash-band basin was owing to her having washed her hands after she had touched her father's head. This 262 SUICIDE OR HOMICIDE?-SEVERAL WEAPONS. satisfactorily explained the medical circumstance, which appeared at f to point to an act of homicide. The Presence of Several Wounds.—In suicides, except in cases of throat, commonly one wound only is seen, namely, that which destroyed life, and the presence of several wounds on the body, or marks of several attempts around the principal wound, have been con ered to furnish presumptive evidence of murder. But any inferences this kind must be cautiously drawn, since not only may a murde destroy his victim by one wound, but a suicide may inflict many, or le the marks of several attempts before he succeeds in his purpose. Ogst Sr., has pointed out (Lect. on Med. Jurispr., p. 424) that in suicidal e throat the principal wound is often associated with small tentative in sions, near and parallel to this; but that in homicidal incised wounds the throat the tentative cuts, if present, do not preserve the same paral ism-obviously because the victim does not remain passive under attack of his assailant; and thus the relative positions of the assailant a the assailed are continually changed. Ogston, Jr., describes a case which a man was supposed to have committed suicide by cutting throat and chest, finishing by drowning himself. The superficial cuts this case might easily have given rise to a suspicion of murder, had moral circumstances led the examiner to conclude that the case was of suicide. (Edin. Med. and Surg. Jour., 1885, i. p. 689.) The Use of Several Weapons.-In general, suicides when foiled in first attempt continue to use the same weapon; but sometimes, af having made a severe wound in the throat, they will shoot themselves, adopt some other method of self-destruction. These cases can only appe complicated to those who are unacquainted with the facts relative to s murder. Neither the presence of several wounds by the same kind weapon, nor of different wounds by different weapons, can be consider of itself to furnish any proof of the act having been homicidal. In o instance, a lunatic, in committing suicide, inflicted thirty wounds upon head. In a case of murder, when many wounds are found on a dead bo it may happen that the situation or direction of some will be incompati with the idea of a suicidal origin. Thus a stab or cut may be close to contusion or contused wound, and, although a fall or other accident mig account for the latter, the former would indicate violence separately flicted. Two or More Mortal Wounds.-When we find several wounds on t body of a suicide, it generally happens that only one bears about it mortal character, namely, that which has caused death. On this accou it has been asserted by some medical jurists that, when two mortal woun are found upon the body, and particularly if one of them is of a stunni or stupefying tendency (i. e. affecting the head), they must be consider incompatible with suicide. An inference of this kind can be applied those cases only in which the two wounds, existing on different parts the body, were likely to prove immediately fatal. It must, however, borne in mind that all suicides do not immediately perish from woun which are commonly termed mortal; on the contrary, they have often t power to perform acts of volition and locomotion, which might by son be deemed wholly incompatible with their condition. It is difficult to sa whether one wound is likely to destroy life so rapidly as to render it in possible for the person to have inflicted another upon himself; but whe there are several distinct incisions on the throat, each involving importa blood vessels, there is good reason to infer that they have resulted from a act of murder. WOUNDS EVIDENCE FROM CIRCUMSTANCES. 263 Wounds produced simultaneously or at different times.—When several wounds are found on a dead body, the question is frequently asked, Which 18 first received? If one is what is commonly termed mortal, and the others not, it is probable that the latter were first inflicted. This remark applies both to cases of homicide and suicide; but it is apparent that when, in a murderous assault, a person has been attacked by several assailants at ce, the wounds may have been simultaneously produced. This is, however, a question to which it is not easy to give a specific answer. Each rase must be decided from the special circumstances attending it; and in most instances, unless some direct evidence is forthcoming, a medical pinion can be little more than conjectural. It is a question almost always put in a court of law; and a witness should at least prepare himself to meet it by a proper examination of the medical circumstances of the case. CHAPTER XXVI. WEAPON. IVIDENCE FROM CIRCUMSTANCES.-THE POSITION OF THE BODY. OF THE A Evidence from Circumstances.-In pursuing the examination of the question respecting the homicidal or suicidal origin of wounds, the attention of the reader may be called to the force of evidence which is sometimes derived from the circumstances under which the body of a person, dead from wounds, is discovered. It may be said that this is a subject wholly Dreign to the duties of a medical jurist, but we cannot agree to this statement. There are few in the profession who, when summoned to aid Justice, by their science, in the detection of crime, do not seek for circumstances by which to support the medical evidence required of them. practitioner would certainly be wrong to base his professional opinion on these circumstances, but it is scarcely possible for him to avoid drawing an inference from them as they fall under his observation. Care must be taken that this inference is not overstrained. The medical evidence may be of itself weak and insufficient to support a charge against the accused; in such a case, if any suspicious circumstances have come to his knowledge, the witness may be often unconsciously induced to attach greater importance to the medical facts than he is justified in doing. In short, he uay, through a feeling of prejudice, which it is not always easy to avoid, give an undue force to the medical evidence. But if a proper degree of caution is used in drawing inferences, and the circumstances are not allowed to create a prejudice in his mind against the accused, a medical man is bound to observe and record them; for, being commonly the first person called to the deceased, many facts capable of throwing an important light on the cause of death would remain unnoticed or unknown but for his attention to them. The position of a dead body, the suddenness of death, the discovery of a deadly poison, the distance at which a knife or pistol is found, the position of the instrument-whether situated to the right or left of the deceased-the marks of blood or wounds about the person, or of blood on the clothes or furniture of the apartment, are facts which must assist materially in developing the real nature of a case, and |