Snake venom as a means of murder and suicide

The use of snake venom as a means of committing suicide and murder is a rare phenomenon. The aim of the study was to examine cases of violent deaths committed with the help of snake bites (venom) primarily in scientific literature. Materials and methods. The search for cases of murders and suicides using snake venom was conducted in the search engines Google, Yandex, Medline (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) and Wikipedia (https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki). The search strategy included the keywords: snake venom, snake bite, suicide behavior, and homicide. Results. Six cases of suicidal behavior (three fatal) and three murders (victims: three children, an elderly couple, a young woman) that occurred in the UK, Germany (2), Egypt, India (3), Russia and the USA are described and analyzed. Suicidal attempts were made by men aged 20- 50, against a depressive background with current psychopathological symptoms, unemployed, single or in conflictual relationships with their wives, with a history of suicidal activity, abusing alcohol, many (4 out of 6) of them were interested in (worked with) snakes and suffered from severe mental disorders (schizophrenia, depression, alcohol dependence). All of them chose highly poisonous snakes (cobra, mamba, viper, diamondback rattlesnake) to achieve their plans. The great rarity of the described cases as intentional acts of violence is explained by the difficulties of their verification, the approximation of poisoning with snake venom to natural conditions of an unforeseen event with an unexpected confluence of circumstances, resulting in rapid death. In suicide attempts, the phenomena of dissimulation of the suicide are highly probable, the active unwillingness to discuss their causes. Such suicides fit well into the so-called "masked" (undetected, unaccounted for) cases of voluntary departure from life, and murders – into the "ideal crime (murder)". All the aggressors are young men who killed close relatives for selfish purposes. Conclusion. The collected and described cases of suicide and murder supplement our understanding of possible and rare cases of violent death resulting from the effect on a person of snake venom (bite). In the media of different countries, especially recently, sensational reports on suicidal behavior, attempted murder and illegal behavior with the use of snakes periodically occur.