Throat-cutting of accidental origin

Incised wounds of the neck can be accidental, homicidal, or suicidal. In this paper, a death case has been presented where a spinning circular saw of a cutting machine in a workshop came off its place and cut the throat of a 30-year-old male who was operating the machine. There was an incision (15 cm x 5 cm) that began in the middle of the neck down the thyroid cartilage, extended horizontally to the left of the neck and ended on the outer part of the neck in the outer left side of m. trapezius. Death occurred because of exsanguination caused by the cutting of carotis artery and jugular vein. In the case we presented, although the cut in the neck initially suggested homicide, it was found to have occurred as a result of an accident after the autopsy and death scene investigation. © 2008 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.