NCJ Number
246218
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 58 Issue: 5 Dated: September 2013 Pages: 1384-1387
Date Published
September 2013
Length
4 pages
Annotation
A 29-year-old man was found dead lying on the bed in a hotel room in a famous Slovak mountain resort.
Abstract
A 29-year-old man was found dead lying on the bed in a hotel room in a famous Slovak mountain resort. He had a full-face diving mask on his face, connected through a diving breath regulator to a valve of an industrial nondiving high-pressure tank containing pure 100% nitrogen. The breath regulator open-circuit type used allowed inhalation of nitrogen without addition of open air, and the full-face diving mask assured aspiration of the gas even during the time of unconsciousness. At autopsy, we found the typical signs of suffocation. Toxicological analysis revealed 94.7% content of nitrogen in alveolar air. Following the completion of the police investigation, the manner of death was classified as a suicide. Within the medico-legal literature, there has been only one similar case of suicidal nitrogen inhalation described. Abstract published by arrangement with Wiley.