Homicide by drowning

• Published in: Forensic Science, Medicine and Pathology
• Main Author: Leth, Peter Mygind
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2019
• Subjects: Child; Drowning; Exposure; Greenland; Homicide
• Online Access: https://portal.findresearcher.sdu.dk/da/publications/9dc2f38a-5a0c-4d32-aaa6-397f7494cca5; https://doi.org/10.1007/s12024-018-0065-9; https://findresearcher.sdu.dk/ws/files/146158475/Homicide_by_drowning.pdf

In this paper we have reviewed the literature regarding homicidal drowning. Homicide of a child by drowning occurs occasionally, but it is much rarer that an adult is murdered in this way. When the victim is a child, there will often be few or no signs of violence due to the difference in size between the assailant and the victim, unlike the evidence of a struggle that is often found in adult victims of homicidal drowning, unless the victim was incapacitated by alcohol, drugs or physical weakness, or was unexpectedly pushed into or dragged under water. The incidence of cases in which the manner of death is undetermined is high in bodies retrieved from water. Therefore, a thorough investigation of such cases is needed.