Suicide risk factors established during the forensic medical examination of a corpse

Domestic criminal law does not require the mandatory initiation of criminal cases on the fact of suicide. However, in the event of death in non-obvious conditions, it is required to check the versions of criminally punishable acts – incitement to suicide or disguise as a suicide of intentional murder. Aim of the study: search and systematization of practically the most significant risk factors for suicide, established on the basis of investigative and forensic medical expert material and important for the differential diagnosis of the type of death. Materials and methods: The article analyzes the materials of pre-investigation checks and forensic medical examinations of 200 adult men and women who died as a result of suicide, as well as annual reports of the Bureau of Forensic Medical Examination of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region on the structure of violent death (2020-2022). Mathematical processing was carried out using the SPSS-Statistics program). Results: An assessment was made of the influence of the characteristics of the scene of the incident and the anatomical and morphological features established during the study of the corpse on the likelihood of suicide. New data on the systematization of suicide risk factors according to their role in the occurrence of suicidal behavior and the completion of suicide are presented. It has been established that the background factors that create a predisposition to suicide include the gender of the individual (male – DC = 4.1), heredity (suicidal behavior, mental disorders in blood relatives – DC = 8.6), type of constitution (asthenic), significant deviations of body weight from the average values (cachexia, obesity), various mental disorders, as well as chronic somatic diseases (alcohol-associated, cardiovascular, oncological, infectious with cerebral manifestations), markers of dysmorphogenesis (p <0.05). Factors indicating readiness to commit suicide include age (adolescent for females, young and middle for both sexes, senile for males), traces of previous suicide attempts (pigmented stripes on the neck, linear scars on the inner surface of the forearms – for men – DC =36.7, for women – DC =13.3). The factors that make it possible to commit suicide in a certain space-time continuum include the season (autumn-winter period – for the Russian Federation), day of the week (Monday), place of deprivation of life (not a public place), method of deprivation of life (hanging – DC =99.0, not thermal injury, not transport injury, not drowning, not strangulation), traces of nervous stress (onychophagia – DC =5.6, trichotillomania – DC =6.0). Other well-known factors (spring-summer period, Sunday, drunkenness, types of injury – gunshot, acute, as a result of a fall from a great height) are non-specific, increasing the likelihood of not only suicide, but also other types of death (murder, accident). Conclusion: The identified risk factors for suicide expand existing ideas about its nature and can be used for a more objective investigation of cases of death in conditions of non-obviousness, as well as in the timely recognition and prevention of suicidal behavior.