Dept of Forensic Medicine, Goa Medical College, Bambolim, Goa
In medical literature, there is mention of certain toxins as “ideal suicidal poisons” and “ideal homicidal poisons” which are highly debatable concepts. Rapid development has taken place in the fields of science and technology, and in methods of information dissemination over the past decade or two, greatly enhancing accessibility of deadly chemicals and toxins to the common man. This is also true with reference to pharmaceutical agents such as sedatives and anaesthetics. Toxins formerly classified in the manner mentioned are no more relevant today.
We report a case where police broke in to a hotel room, which was locked from inside, and recovered two dead bodies, of a young tourist couple, in a slightly decomposed state. The room was undisturbed. There were scalp vein needles present in situ on the backs of the hands of both dead bodies. There was also a 5 c.c. syringe attached to the scalp vein needle stuck in the hand of the female dead body. A few vials of thiopentone sodium and some sedative tablets were found at the bedside. The first impression on the part of the police was that it was a suicide pact by the deceased who were probably associated with the medical profession in some way.
When the police tried to contact the relatives of the couple based on names and addresses given by the couple in the hotel register at the time of check-in, it was revealed that these names and addresses were fake. Hence, the dead bodies remained in the morgue as unidentified bodies for a long period until finally the female was identified as a nurse who had been working in a surgical nursing home. Further investigation revealed that it was a case of double suicide involving this woman with a person having an extramarital relationship with her. The various toxicological and medicolegal aspects of this unusual case (where-in the method of suicide had helped in establishing the identities of the deceased) will be discussed.
